An ultimate upgrade.
Originally written 11-1-10
The King of Fighters Tournament features the best fighters of various disciplines and supernatural powers in the world to compete in 3 on 3 competition. Some seek vengeance, some want to prove they're the best, others seek world domination. But who will see their dreams realized? -summary
In all honesty, there is no real story to this game because everything was wrapped up in King of Fighters 97. In fact, there's no real character endings. The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match is a beefed up version of the 98 original. The game features more playable characters with a line up of 45 characters(not including unlockables), better controls, graphics, fight engine, and challenge modes. When looking at this game, think Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and you will pretty much be in the ballpark. The series came a long way from its 1994 debut by this time. This 98 upgrade proves that The King of Fighters (KoF) is no doubt SNK's lead fighter franchise.
Gameplay:
The game still uses the 2-D fight engine and it combines all of the elements of the previous installments. There are three modes that can be chosen at the fighter select screen. The game allows you to choose your fighting style, which is very similar to Street Fighter Alpha 3. The first choice is Advance Play. This features the stock build up power gauge which was introduced in KoF 97. The character can build up his spirit by performing power moves to charge up the power gauge, and it's stored as stocks that can be used at any time. This allows the player to perform super special moves that deals out massive damage when they connect.
The second choice is Extra. This features the original power gauge that can be charged up by performing power moves or manually by holding down the power button. This mode also allows the player unlimited use of super specials when facing defeat, which occurs when the health bar is flashing. The final mode is Ultimate, this allows the player to choose from either advance or extra, as well as choose the evasion type for defensive fighting, such as dash-ins, dash-aways or side stepping.
The game features the 3 on 3 mode and allows the player to edit teams, by choosing whomever they want and discarding worthless or uninteresting partners, thus,creating that 3 man or woman dream team. This also includes using an all boss team. The game features all of the bosses from the previous series; Rugal Bernstein, Omega Rugal, Goenitz, and Orochi. These guys together form an almost unstoppable force. Also playable are the bosses from the 96 version; Geese Howard, Mr. Big, and Wolfgang Krauser. The game also features 1 on 1 play. This mode is very hard to complete because the battles are decided in 3 out of 5(optional) battles, and the bosses always begin with a full health bar, unlike when it's 3 on 1 in the team mode. During team mode, the boss doesn't recover full health if you dealt out serious damage in the previous matches.
The AI is still tough as hell which shouldn't be a surprise. The regular characters will fight you hard and the boss battles are much tougher. Once again though, you can adjust the difficulty but sometimes it really seems there isn't too much of a difference.
The training mode is also very good, and it displays the characters complete moves list. In addition, if you should happen to forget your characters moves. You can always view the moves list during battle after pausing.
Controls:
There's been a hell of an improvement here. It's far easier to link quick jabs into power moves for damaging combos. Performing specials and super specials is almost a breeze. The controls are far more responsive and fluid. They no longer require over exaggerated directional pad movements. Although they can be a little better, but when comparing them to the rest of the series. There really shouldn't be any complaints. Linking Kyo's power move combos are pretty easy as well as unleashing Geese Howard's Raising Storm technique.
Graphics:
There's also been some improvement here. Although the backgrounds can be a little weak when concerning spectators movements. The environments are kind of nice and the stages switch from morning, to evening, and night after each round. The stages consist of battles on boat rides, or in the middle of the street in front of crowds. The character designs are done pretty well with a minimum amount of pixels.The animation is pretty good during combat and when showing off bouncy female characters(they never forget that for some reason). However, when compared to the Street Fighter Alpha series which still holds up, the game does feel a bit dated.
Music/Sound:
The voice overs are slightly better this time around, as well as the sound effects. The light and heavy blows can easily be distinguished. The power move sound effects are also pretty good. The soundtrack is very, very good. There's a noticeable difference between this version, and the 98 version found on the King Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga. The character select song in this edition actually has a bassline, while the earlier version only consists of a bland, half dead beat. Once I hear that music, I'm always amped to play this game.
Once again, the songs are character specific, there is no stage music which is very good. Characters with their own BGM shifts flawlessly to the next once they've been defeated. For example, you will get the chance to hear all three boss themes for Geese, Mr. Big, and Krauser, this also goes for the Orochi Team, which creates an epic feel. The soundtrack can also be played in the options section, and it contains many fan favorite songs of various characters such as; Eiji Kisaragi's - Way of the Ninja from Art of Fighting 2, Krauser's - Requiem in D-Minor, Kyo's - Esaka, Geese Howards two themes - Geese in Stiff Neck/Geese in Soy Sauce, Mai Shiranui - Mai My Love, with a nice Japanese traditional guitar sound, as well as Chizuru's - Fairy.
Overall:
The game once again has a challenge mode with various missions. There are unlockable characters such as alternate versions of the Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and some KoF characters. Along with the Riots of Blood versions of Iori and Leona. The game has an Endless mode, where you select a character and engage in a never ending bout of 1 on 1 sudden death matches. You can also play the original Neo Geo version. In addition, there's a second disk containing trailers and wallpapers for the King of Fighters XII.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Pros: Improvements in all areas, features all characters from previous installments
Cons: Can be very difficult, very very minor control issues
