Welcome to World Zero - Reviews for the hardcore gamer

Despite whatever risk this brings to my reputation as an uber-hardcore gamer, I really don’t want to start this review under false pretenses, so I have a bit of a confession to make. I, Man9child, defender of all things 2D, great and small – really don’t like King of the Fighters. There’s always been an off-putting quality to the series that fully prevented me from ever really appreciating it at anything other than a superficial layer of depth. Maybe it was the awkward and complex joystick motions for some of the specials, or maybe it was that every line of dialogue felt to be an in joke that I just didn’t get. Having not been with the series since the get go, things like that just made it seem as if SNK was actively trying to make their games inaccessible. It’s with that said that I tell you that I genuinely like KoF:MI. So where does that leave your average KoF fan? Out in the cold, most likely. But hey, it’s about time SNK made a game for the rest of us. So here it is, King of the Fighters, all dressed up, dumbed down, and ready for mainstream consumption…kind of.

But instead of being the Tekken in dungarees and Converses that it could have been (God bless the fashion sense of Terry Bogard) what we’re handed isn’t a complete departure from the roots of KoF. Maximum Impact is more Street Fighter EX than Virtua Fighter, rest assured. Maybe that’s not the best comparison (as Maximum Impact is better than SFEX was back in its day, methinks). But in any event, what’s remarkable about KoF: MI isn’t how much that it has changed, but rather, how much has stayed the same. Maybe the game got all washed up and trimmed a little off the sideburns, but that’s as far as it goes. KoF: MI is the same King of the Fighters you’ve always known, it’s just that now it’s dressed in its Sunday best. Compared to the grainy, stiffly animated (but charming nevertheless) sprites of the Neo Geo installments, the beautifully rendered character models of this new installment just scream out for mainstream acceptance. Now, I’ll be the first one to stand up and defend the now defunct MVS hardware, but SNK was not going to convert any non believers here 10 years after the series debut with hardware that predates some of the 16 bit systems. KoF was never ugly– but Maximum Impact is a different kind of attractive. If KoF proper was the type of girl with a smile that lit up a whole room, than MI is the ditz with the gi-normous knockers.

As a preference thing, I find SNK’s hand drawn art to be tons more interesting. It’s probably what I always admired most about KoF given my deterrence to its gameplay. Truth be told, the art style found in MI is a little too slick. Everything’s just a little too polished for my tastes, but if you’re trying to compete with Tekken, Soul Calibur, and the other homogenous, highly budgeted 3D fighters that dominate today’s market, that’s the price you’re going to pay.

But the (arguably) dated graphical style of the last few KoF games weren’t what kept me from playing them to their fullest extent. It was more how each successive entry built upon the last so that it was near impossible to jump in mid-stride and understand all that was going on, both as far as plot and character development are concerned, yes, but also in terms of gameplay. Each new entry refined and added to the previous and the play mechanics got increasingly complex as a result. Both in terms of gameplay and story, KoF: MI is a convenient starting point for many reasons.

Mainly, the game takes place in an alternate universe. I think. At the very least, there is a new plot line forming with this one, so there is zero research required before getting into things. Now I’m not arguing that this is necessarily a good thing – depth is rarely something I’ll knock a game for– but MI serves kind of like the shallow end of a deep pool. It’s nice to just be able to get your feet wet without being in past your shoulders. These sentiments carry over to the gameplay itself, which has been substantially simplified. Gone are armor systems, strikers, and even the team based format that has been the series calling card since the original hit arcades back in 94. Jumping into KoF was hard at first (especially for those of us weaned on Capcom fighters) because you didn’t have to learn one new character, you had to learn three. Keeping things confined to a single combatant lessens this burden significantly.

Aside from that, Maximum Impact has been made slightly more accessible by hyper responsive control, a very forgiving juggle system, and the inclusion of Tekken inspired, Real Bout Fatal Fury-esque dial-a-combos. That’s not the only nod to Fatal Fury either. The sidestep function is pretty much what the two line system of the early FF titles was trying to emulate, but only on a 2D plane. Now the concept seems to work the way it was intended to originally, being in full 3D. And finally, the game’s pace now resembles more that of the frantic Real Bout titles than with KoF’s characteristically slow and deliberate style. Limited block meters, an effective side step maneuver, and the sheer speed, effectiveness, and nonlinearity of the chain combat system combine for one absolutely chaotic, engrossing experience. If this is KoF-lite, then I like it.

Rating	The rating scale in detail
7.5	+ Beautiful character models, nice and clean all around. - Stages seem to be a little sparse.
7.0	+ Suitably rocking tunes. - Voice acting is hit or miss. A lot of it is laughable.
8.0	+ Still a fundamentally 2D fighter, just with popular elements of 3D brawlers like dial-a-combos and evasive maneuvers. While maybe a little too bare bones for the series vet, the intricacies of MI are more easily understood by casual fans.
8.0	- The character models are just a little too polished. Even Iori, a badass among badasses, would be presentable at the family table. The grit that has defined KoF for so long - part technical limitation, part stylistic choice - is gone.
8.0	+ Great multiplayer mode, and enough extras and unlockables to keep the main game interesting. Ultimately, like most games of its type, it’s the gameplay that’ll keep you coming back for more.
7.9	+ Maximum Impact is the gateway KoF game. It’s neat, self contained, and easily accessible. If you’ve never liked the series before, you owe it to yourself to give this game a chance.