Fans of the series know the score. Another beat-em-up in an already overcrowded market. Will this game stand out? Unfortunately not.Since 1995, a new King of Fighters game has been released every year! (Although some never reaching our shores) The game from SNK has continued since its origin to include more characters, more moves and has taken pride in its combos (You can pull off a thirty hit combo in the new one.) So whats different?
Graphically, this is a MASSIVE advance. To mark its ten year anniversary, this is the first King of Fighters game to be fully 3D. Amazingly enough, the conversion seems to have gone smoothly with many old favourite charcters looking extremely impressive next to their 2D counterparts. The game flows well, but seems to have lost the pace and speed it had in previous installments, that is its major setback. However, the locations are incredibly detailed.
So, whats the gameplay like. As said before, the game is a little slower than the previous two, but combos are still pretty fast. The new sidestep feature and the aversion rolls are nice additions and back the genuine feel of 3D. Arenas dont feel particulally big though, theres no smashing people over the edge or level and this seems to limit the depth of the overall game. There are over 20 characters to play through, you unlock their profiles in story and unlock additional stuff in challange mode. Unfortunately, thats about as far as it goes! HOWEVER, this special edition comes bungled with a bonus DVD, which although it isn't brilliant, is what has knocked this from a 3 to a 4.
This is a good game, not great. But its a lot better than death by degrees! Sides of which, what else is there at the moment, Tekken 5 isn't out for months. This will fill the void until that time.
