King of Fighters: Neowave  Preview for Xbox

- William Usher, " Cyguration ", Senior Staff Writer

Monday, January 16, 2006

Game Info

News

Review

Preview

Videos

Screenshots

Cheats

Title: King of Fighters: Neowave .............................................. System: Xbox .............................................. Genre: Fighting .............................................. Publisher: SNK NeoGeo .............................................. Developer: SNK PLAYMORE .............................................. Release: February 7, 2006 .............................................. Online: Yes .............................................. ESRB: T .............................................. King of Fighters is a long endearing series. The game featured some of the most unique fighters with some of the most original fighting styles featured in a fighting game. KOF Neowave hit the arcades using new technology since the Neo Geo hardware was finally abandoned for something more up-to-date. While the new board technology, Atomiswave, housed the Neowave, KOF still played very much like its predecessors. That's a good thing. Like in previous KOF games, Neowave is jam-packed with the most favored SNK characters. Favorites such as Terry, Joe, Kim, Kyo, Iori, K’, Athena, Choi, Mai, Saisyu Kusanagi, Mary, and Billy Kane are just a few of the names present among the 43 selectable characters. SNK has also brought back a re-drawn Geese Howard wearing his Art of Fighting 2 garb. So players can fight the crime bosses, Yamazaki and Geese were also included and finally go at it with their original moves and SNK’s playing style. Don’t get me wrong you could also have both Geese and Ryuji go at in other Capcom vs. SNK games, and yes they did have some good moments. But as a true SNK fan it felt a bit like the SNK characters were weakened to compensate for the bosses and the weaker Capcom fighters. Many of Ryo’s and Kim’s moves seemed to do only half their normal damage and many of the moves (of other characters) weren’t as powerful and relentless as they were in previous SNK games. Thankfully, SNK had their opportunity to turn out a cross-over title; SNK vs. Capcom Chaos. However, this wasn’t the greatest showcasing of SNK’s fighting scheme. Gladly, though, it is good SNK has gone back to the roots of their fighting trend...even with the game running on new hardware specifications. This means that there will be more and prettier background activity and animation capabilities. Yet despite the shift of KOF going from the Neo Geo hardware to the Atomiswave board, the sprites are only slightly modified and seem to look like touched-over sprites from the older KOF games. Unfortunately, if you're a 3D fighting fan you might not be too fond of the 2D sprites. As for the combat in King of Fighters: Neowave it's still very similar to the favored KOF games mostly from 2002. Except now players will have several different selections for the kind of fighting style they would prefer to use for the match. Just like in other SNK related games (Samurai Showdown, CVS 2001, Last Blade, etc.) players will have the choice of three different fighting styles that change certain move sets and techniques for their chosen fighter: Super Cancel, Guard Break, and Max2. Fans of the series might already have an idea of what each fighting mode consists of, but for those who are new to the series (or just a bit rusty) here’s a quick rundown of the differences: The Super Cancel is like the SDM cancels from prior KOF games. This ability allows the fighter to link special moves with Super moves. Players can cancel out and combine Super moves from a special attack seamlessly. This gives the player the opportunity to do massive damage to an opponent. The Guard Crush hasn’t entirely been disclosed. But if it's anything like the one from previous games, this should grant players the ability to crush through an opponent’s defenses with successive special abilities. The Max2 mode is very similar to the super-attack modes from the previous games. This feature basically enables players to execute devastating attacks that can be unleashed when the power-bar has reached a certain limit. There’s also a Heat mode that can be activated with a single button on the controller. This mode is more for the experienced player, or for the rookie-player trying to capture a really quick win. Mainly Heat mode depletes the player’s life in exchange for faster, and more powerful attacks. There was a similar mode like this in KOF98, but it didn’t drain your life, it just took down your special meter. Some fans of the series might be complaining about the lack of other fighting modes, such as the Armor mode or Counter mode. However, like most SNK fighting games, KOF: Neowave probably combines the elements of many other past fighting modes into the three modes provided within the game. SNK normally does try to reinvent past fighting modes by adding them into the core gameplay. King of Fighters: Neowave also contains a standard accompaniment of game modes: Single Play, Team Play, Versus, Practice and a survival feature called Endless mode. If the Endless mode is as fast-paced and fun as the one from Last Blade 2 or KOF98, it could easily add to the replay values outside the Live multiplayer feature. Speaking of multiplayer features this game like past 2D fighting games from SNK made for the Xbox features a comprehensive on-line multiplayer mode. Players can brush up their skills and take the fight to their opponents in versus or three on three team battles on-line. This was always a strong point for the previous 2D fighting titles released by Capcom and SNK. Considering that this game has much smoother gameplay and far more improved fighting mechanics, players should have a blast going at it on Xbox Live. You can look for King of Fighters: Neowave to hit shelves for the Xbox on February 7, 2006.

More Reviews for this game: (displayed by authors name)
Cyguration