SNK Playmore and Ignition have a lot of fighter fans buzzing about their upcoming King of Fighters XII release, due sometime this summer. To help hold over fans of the fifteen year old series, King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match was recently released on the PS2.

Ultimate Match

King of Fighters (KoF) 98 may seem like an odd choice to be released, but it's actually the first time that the original '98 has come to the PS2 in the US. That said, this Ultimate Match release does include both the original version, and the new Ultimate Match version, which has additional modes, characters, stages, and more, although truthfully only the hardcore KoF fan will notice or care about the differences.

Let's start with the number of available fighters in the roster. With Ultimate Match, gamers will have their choice of an impressive 64 playable characters, including ten that were not seen in the original KoF 98. This is actually the most characters ever in a KoF game; it's interesting to note that the upcoming King of Fighters XII is apparently going to have “just” twenty characters, the fewest in any KoF. That said, the available fighters include all of the regulars like Andy, Joe Higashi, Ryo, Kim, Blue Mary – the list goes on (and on), and includes a few newcomers too, like Geese Howard, an antagonist character from the Fatal Fury universe.

Outside of the massive roster, there is also a new command system in Ultimate Match simply called Ultimate. This is also something geared towards more advanced and seasoned players, but this mode allows players to combine elements of both the Advanced and Extra modes to suit their particular play style. The Advanced and Extra command modes are still accessible and intact, but with Ultimate, you can tweak aspects of both. For example, for the Move Action, you can choose to use the Dash from the Advanced mode or Step from the Extra mode. You can additionally customize the Evasion Action, Power Gauge Type, and the 'Max Power Activation' setting. Once again, just like the massive roster, this addition is really geared more towards advanced players.

If you aren't that advanced with KoF, and I certainly don't consider myself to be, there is a great Practice Mode with a ton of features that can help. The Practice Mode is extremely helpful in learning about the different moves and modes which are so essential to KoF. In addition to Practice Mode there are Arcade, Single Play, Vs, Challenge, Endless. Most of these are self explanatory, but the difference between Arcade and Single Play may not be as obvious. The only difference between the two is that with Arcade, battles are 3-on-3, while Single Play is your more typical 1-on-1 mode.

Endless mode is basically a survival mode whereby players take on an endless stream of CPU enemies until their life gauge is empty. The Challenge mode is just that, a mode whereby the game gives you a challenge that you must complete. Challenge mode is pretty fun in itself, but I've found it can also be a nice break from the arcade mode too when you're tired of getting beat up, which isn't too uncommon for me. One nice thing that a lot of the KoF games have (on PS2 at least) is the ability to alter CPU settings after losing a battle, should you choose to. Certainly the more prestigious way to beat KoF is without any of these services, but it's a tough fighter and the services can be helpful. These services include the ability to decrease CPU difficulty, reduce their life gauge to a third, and give you a Max Power Gauge at the start of the match. Actually, I would also like to mention that the manual is very well done and includes a lot of information about both Ultimate Match and the original 98 to help you learn the ropes of the game.

Inside the KoF 98 Ultimate Match case, you'll also find a nice double-sided poster with a promotional KoF 98 Ultimate Match image on one side, and a KoF XII one on the other. Furthermore, there is a second DVD included that has about a dozen other wallpaper images of KoF 98 and XII, as well as trailers for KoF 98 and XII. This is a nice bonus, but I'm sure there are still a few gigabytes on that DVD that could have been used for some other cool extras; regardless, it's a nice plus.

Conclusion

King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match for PS2 is a nice stop-gap until the new King of Fighters XII rumbles its way onto the next-gens. Ultimate Match is more so of a hardcore fan or collector's release though, and it may not find its way into too many gamers' library, even at the nice $20 price point. That certainly doesn't mean it's not an excellent fighting game from a truly epic and classic series though, and if you're looking for a great old school 2D fighter, KoF 98 Ultimate Match is a fine choice.