There is something about fighting games. They bring out every human emotion available in a person.  Frustration, when you can’t land your punches. Sadness, when you get knocked out. Scared, when your opponent is ten times bigger than you, and happiness when you combat all those emotions, and finally win against your most rivaled opponents. The King of Fighters series has been a staple in the genre for a long time in Japan, but is not as well known in the good ole US of A. Thus, a port has been made from King of Fighters ’98 from the NEO GEO system. It has been brought to the US, and quite possibly the most popular system to hit the US market, the PS2.

This new fangled King of Fighters port for the PS2 offers up some new things that we didn’t see in the first version of the game. It offers up many more characters, 10 to be exact. This brings the total number of characters to 64. Not many fighting games have that many characters, and that’s a pretty special achievement. It also has the original game released for NEO GEO on the disc, and you can play it at anytime. Its new offerings not only include new characters and the NEO GEO version, but also a new mode called Ultimate. Is it harder? Well yes, but it doesn’t have Ultimate Match in the title for nothing.

King of Fighters also brings different modes to the table, all of which are fantastic. Arcade Play, Single Play, Endless, Practice, and Challenge are all of the modes. Arcade Play is obvious in its title. In Japan, KOF ‘98 was re-released in the arcades in 2008, so the arcade play is just like in the Japanese arcades. Single Play is where you will play a game against your friend or the computer. Endless is much like many other fighting games, where you have to fight every fighter until you are finally KO’ed or you claim victory against all your opponents. Then practice is a mode where you learn all of the sweet moves available to you, so you can squash that one guy who always thinks he is better than you. The last mode is Challenge where you have a goal to achieve, and if you are a good fighter, you will achieve it.

What can I say about the rest of this game? If you are looking for a next-gen game, this game isn’t for you. Although, it has the finest “old-school” graphics, it isn’t PS3 or even PS2 material. The controls work like any other fighting game, so that works well, especially when you are trying to kick butt. But the one thing that really stood out to me was the music. This is one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in a game. A variety of songs that make you want to punch someone in the face, virtually, of course, automatically puts it on my “top 100” of gaming soundtracks.

Overall, King of Fighters is really the king of fighters. It is one of the best fighting games you can find out there. No, it doesn’t look as good as the new Street Fighter or have the hype that other fighting games have. But if you have a little nostalgia, and want to play an old 2-D “beat the crap out of your opponent” fighter, then this is the game for you on the PS2.
 

Gameplay: 9.0
Tons of characters, tons of environments, and tons of different styles of fighting make King of Fighters a wonderful fighting experience.

Graphics:  7.5
I know you may be thinking that’s a little high for 2-D action. This game is still beautiful after 10 years, and there isn’t anything wrong with retro graphics. You got to enjoy them.

Sound: 9.5
Although, the voice over’s were pretty funny sometimes, the game’s main soundtrack adds a ton to the game.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 6.0
They didn’t add much to the PS2 port of the original. A few new features keep the score up, but overall the concept was lacking.

Multiplayer: N/A
You can only play with your two players or by yourself on this one.

Overall: 8.5
In today’s world, a lot of gamers are looking for high-def graphics. As King of Fighters lacks that, it makes up for it in gameplay and sound, presenting a fighting experience that you won’t soon forget.