Review: King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match (PS2)
Fighters, Reviews — By Jeffrey L. Wilson on May 12, 2009 at 12:46 am
Created in in honor of the 10th anniversary of the most popular entry in SNK Playmore’s long-running fighting franchise, King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match attempts to do what die-hard KOF ’98 fans consider an impossibility: Honor SNK Playmore’s landmark fighter by actually improving upon the foundation laid by the near-perfect original.
Indeed, this release sounds quite appealing when one considers the new characters, revamped backgrounds, and new fighting system, but the hardcore want to know one thing: is it at least as excellent as first KOF ’98? In one word: Yes. In several words: It’s better than the original in nearly every aspect.
KOF ’98:UM is, of course, based on the magnificent KOF ’98, which I considered the last truly great series entry until I sampled the goodness that is King of the Fighters XII. A decade ago, KOF ’98 was the culmination of the old SNK magic before the company’s bankruptcy and rebirth as SNK Playmore, and as such featured the classic 3-on-3 non-tag dynamic, lush backgrounds, and fantastic music. More importantly, it eschewed a storyline for a “Dream Match”, which was SNK’s way of cramming a crapload of characters into the game regardless of past plots.
Why is that important to know? KOF ’98: UM adds a ton of extra characters (including several fan favorites left out of the original), which brings the grand total up to an incredible 64 fighters. Meet the cast.
- Hero Team: Kyo, Benimaru, Goro
- Ikari Team: Leona, Ralf, Clark
- Kim Team: Kim, Chang, Choi
- Yagami Team: Iori, Mature, Vice
- Edit Team: Eiji, Kasmui, Shingo
- Fatal Fury Team: Terry, Andy, Joe
- Psycho Soldier Team: Athena, Kensou, Chin
- Orochi Team: Yashiro, Shermie, Chris
- Master Team: Heidern, Takuma, Saisyu
- Art of Fighting Team: Ryo, Robert, Yuri
- Women Team: Chizuru, Mai, King
- ’97 Special Team: Yamazaki, Blue Mary, Billy Kane
- American Sports Team: Heavy-D!, Lucky, Brian
- ’96 Boss Team: Geese, Krauser, Mr. Big
- Rugal
And that’s just the default lineup; there are EX and hidden characters that add onto the sizable roster. With the return of Eiji and the ’96 Boss Team, you have virtually every character to appear in a KOF game from ’94 to ’98, and unlike Neo Geo Battle Colesium where the mish mash of game characters produced an uneven, MUGEN-like feel, the returning fighters are right as home in terms of appearance and gameplay. Eiji looks right at home next to Geese, Billy Kane, and other South Town thugs.
Thankfully the remarkably tight gameplay of KOF ’98 is in tact, and dare I say, made better in Ultimate Match. How so? Calm down, baby birds, Papa’s going to feed you.
The original KOF ’98 (like KOF ’97 before it) utilized two gameplay modes: Advance and Extra. With Advance, your character dashes to quickly charge toward/retreat from an enemy, rolls to avoid incoming attacks, and unleashed MAX Super Special Moves when the power meter is in MAX condition and you have at least one power stock. Extra mode lets you do a short-hop toward/away from opponents, dodge attacks to avoid getting hit, hold down the attack buttons to charge the power meter, and unleash MAX Super Special Moves when the power bar reached MAX and the life gauge flashes red. In short, SNK included two very different, but balanced systems – - but blokes like me said that wasn’t enough. Surprisngly, SNKP listened.
KOF ’98:UM‘s dreamy Ultimate Mode lets you combine elements of Advance and Extra mode to create your own hybrid style. For example, when using a grappler like Clark, I like to stay all up in an opponent’s grill, so I use Ultimate Mode and cherry pick Advance’s dash, Extra’s dodge (so I can avoid blows and still stay within grapple range), and Extra’s power gauge (which lets you charge the super bar). Combos flow effortlessly in the hard-hitting SNK style, but the “smiley face” team chemistry indicators are M.I.A. Included are Practice, Vs. Endless, and Challenge modes.
Some characters move sets have been tweaked, mostly for the better. For example, Andy’s fireball is now a large globe of energy similar to what came in KOF ’99, which makes for a decent anti-air; Geese has the Fatal Fury: Real Bout version of his Raging Storm super, which is different from the version seen in KOF ’96, his previous KOF appearance.
The old school character designs (“rugged sprites” as I like to call them) are still some of the best in videogamedom despite being a decade old. The cast of characters move fluidly for the most part (Goro is admittedly a bit stiff), and the special attacks and supers provide the flash that a fighter needs. It should be noted that Athena is still a pain in the ass after all of these years; she counters absolutely everything and has the single most annoying and shrill voice actor in gaming history.
The one area that KOF ’98: UM disappoints is in backgrounds. They’re not bad per se, but the mix of 2D and 3D just doesn’t gel with me. Some areas, such as the stage with the hydraulics-powered cars all a-bouncin’ look awesome, but the others range from “decent” to “meh” on the internet mood meter.
Ultimately, King of the Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match is one of the ballsiest games available on any console. SNK Playmore took its much revered title and went a-tinkerin’, and produced a game so thoroughly enjoyable that I find it difficult to return to the original (which is included here in “Neo Geo” mode), a testament to a job well done. The appetite is officially whetted for King of the Fighters XII.
Thank you for supporting 2D-X, the very best in 2D (and 3D!) video games. If you’d like to help us grow, please take a second to download the free Alexa toolbar for IE or Firefox and continue surfing 2D-X (and the Web) as you normally would. Think of it has the Nielsen ratings of websites–by simply reading with the Alexa toolbar installed, you’ll boost our popularity. And please digg, Stumbleupon, and Twitter us via the links at the top of the page (or on your own)!
You can also support the site by copping some cool 2D-X gear or by following us on Facebook or Twitter. We appreciate it.
More 2D-X News, Features, and Reviews:
Tags: king of the fighters 98, king of the fighters 98: ultimate match, king of the fighters XII, KOF XII, neo geo, playstation 2, ps2, snk, snk playmore
Tweet This
Share on Facebook
Digg This
Bookmark
Stumble
Loading ...
7 Comments