The best of what makes SNK!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Lots of characters, good graphics, survival mode, plenty of moves and good backrounds

Cons: Single Player kinda useless

Author's Review
This has to be one of the best team battle series of all time (not to mention one of the first games to orignate the team battle interface). I have played back to the days of 94 and 95, and i have to say i have been waiting my whole life for a perfect home version of a king of fighters and i have to say it has arrived! This one has all the characters from previous ones like Ralph and Kyo for example to new people like Vice and Mature. The anime intro they have at the beginning is also a real killer with it's awesome animation and cool introduction to the game!! There are so many people to choose that it leaves plenty of room to decide on what group you may be good with (i have three groups!).
After choosing your dream team, which you can also try by playing the training mode to see what characters have what moves that may fit your style (like a fireball uppercut person to a charge player), you will also notice the look of the backrounds are different from previous King of Fighters with new backrounds and a sort of 3D look to them. This makes them look nice and some stages if you hold the "start" button allow you to get a different looking version of that backround for even more variety. The character graphics and animations are all grade A and intact with very little load time between matches to keep the action up to speed.
The entrances are all diverse and different depending on the order the person was chosen and who the opponent is can also affect it (like King meeting Joe Higashi is always funny!), it is cool to see. The number of moves in this game are also mind boggling, with over a hundred i might guess and two or so super moves with each character, there will be a lot to see in a battle, keeping nothing the same.
The Single Player modes are both ok, but after going through them once you kinda wonder what else the people who made this game were expecting you to get out of it besides just getting by some matches and seeing the ending credits. This doesn't keep this game from being a solid one though! Those features ain't bad, and one feature to balance it out would be the survival mode which has you go through all the people in the game and times how long it takes you; this tests to see how much of a king you are among the fighters! Beat em up and throw out the wussies! ha ha ha ha!
A thing that has made these games some of the best is the fact that all the characters are unique individuals who are just too cool to miss. I also would say that i am going to buy the soundtrack to this game, it is just the best music i have heard out of all the king of fighters with its cool blues and rock riffs, with the occasional party beat. This is a must have for hardcore fighting game fanatics like myself who just dig the best offered, on a nice platter like this one is on!