Tried out King of Fighters 2006... and it's pretty sucky

[Mondain]

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/705/705199p1.html

First the voice overs are awful. It already doesn't suit a fighting game to dub the fight taunts in english, but the voices they've picked are some of the most uninspiring ones ever. Mai will shout "YES! JAPAN'S BEST!" and it feels so awkward, ewwww...

It does appear slightly improved from the previous one (King of Fighters Maximum Impact), however I really don't like this. It moves weirdly and the animations are poorly done. The impact of all hits is laughable when compared to those of other 3D fighting franchises like Tekken and Virtua Fighter, and it's sometimes kinda confusing to tell what's going on since of the poor movements.

SNK is fairly small now and it seems to show, as this game is decent and worth a look for the fans... but pretty low-key. They'll need years before they're able to craft a decent 3D fighting engine. Although, an eventual sequel has been announced for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, so here's hoping.

But for now the gameplay is so-so, the art style is good, and ultimately this doesn't play really well... you're better to pass on it IMO.

[brawndolicious]

didn't you play this over the summer?  you started a thread about the japanese version being downloadable.

[Van Cruncheon]

You can turn on Japanese voices.

[Mondain]

Good God, what a relief! 

[Van Cruncheon]

FIrst thing I did. I actually like it a fair bit -- I think the hits and animation look great inasmuch as they aren't designed to be anything BUT over the top -- but I got a few complaints as well. Character balance is shot to hell (KoF has never been a balanced series), many of the unlockable characters are just stupid, and Mai's breast physics show you don't need a 360 to have independent teta jiggle. Oh, and Jivatma's not only a stupid final boss design, but a total pushover to boot. Actually, I hate all the Falcoon designed characters -- Nagase and Mignon are the worst, but I hate the Meira folks too. Yuck! All of the non-standard costumes are over-designed ass.

Still, it's $30 worth of fun. The actual model detail is amazingly high, and some of the hits just look OUCH. Music is MUCH better than the original MI. I'd give it a 7 outta 10 or something in that ballpark.

[Mondain]

yes, the actual special moves are really cool

[MrAngryFace]

Wtf is with Mai's boobs, jesus christ.

[bork]

It does appear slightly improved from the previous one (King of Fighters Maximum Impact), however I really don't like this. It moves weirdly and the animations are poorly done. The impact of all hits is laughable when compared to those of other 3D fighting franchises like Tekken and Virtua Fighter, and it's sometimes kinda confusing to tell what's going on since of the poor movements.

The game play was slowed down a bit in comparison to the original; it's easier to tell what's going on now.  I think you're looking at this as something close to Tekken and VF, and MI is not that kind of fighter.  It's still closer to being more of a 2D fighter on a 3D plane, IMO, than it is the standard type of "3D" fighting game.

Actually, I hate all the Falcoon designed characters -- Nagase and Mignon are the worst, but I hate the Meira folks too. Yuck! All of the non-standard costumes are over-designed ass.

I'm not a fan of Alba or Soiree either.  Nagase is all kinds of weird, but she's fun to use so I don't mind so much.  The nice thing about this game is that all the characters have a total of 16 outfits each, so you're bound to find something you like for almost everyone.  The worst designs by FAR are Hanzo's alternate "Bugman" superhero outfits.  What.  The.  Fuck.

Still, it's $30 worth of fun. The actual model detail is amazingly high, and some of the hits just look OUCH. Music is MUCH better than the original MI. I'd give it a 7 outta 10 or something in that ballpark.

Me being the huge SNK fan that I am, I'd give it an 8, but yes, it's far far far better than the original game, and I like all the changes made and characters added.  There is no doubt that KOF XI is a much better game and is the KOF to have, but MI2 is still good and a nice alternative.  It's just that XI is more balanced (home version feature) and still plays far better. 

Also speaking of music, once you get the Neo-Geo Land stage unlocked, you get a CRAPLOAD MORE BGMs from older Neo-Geo games...something like 35 or so, and some of them will be character specific if you pick certain fighters.  It's a nice extra.

What hidden characters are you referring to be sucky, Drinky?  Also it's weird; according to Falcoon himself, the weakest character in the MI games is Lien, yet I remember getting my ass handed to me by players using her all the time in MI Maniax on XBox.

Wtf is with Mai's boobs, jesus christ.

Wait until you see B. Jenet.   

[Van Cruncheon]

I hate the fanservice characters like Fio and her gun attacks, and Hyena (wtf), and why do we have Hanzo in this fuckin' game? I kinda like the characters to be from a specific theme, rather than just arbitrary company mascot fanservice. At least they gave me good ol' Geese Howard.

[Van Cruncheon]

Oh, it's definitely better than Maximum Impact (I played the Xdude "Maniax" version). God, though, Falcoon can NOT design a decent costume to save his life. Nagase, Alba, Mignon, Lilly and  Luise(sic) look like shit in all their gear, and what's with Kula and Lien's ugly-ass second costumes? Who names characters "Soiree" and "Mignon", anyhow? As embarrassing as those names are for me, it has to be doubly so for a Frog speaker (Jotaro, weigh in here).

[MrAngryFace]

All the Falcoon characters look like they came from Wonkas Chocolate Factory

[Mondain]

yeah these names are weird as hell, especially since these are just common words... but it happens pretty often in Japanese games... japs are fascinated with french for some reason

[Mondain]

The game play was slowed down a bit in comparison to the original; it's easier to tell what's going on now.  I think you're looking at this as something close to Tekken and VF, and MI is not that kind of fighter.  It's still closer to being more of a 2D fighter on a 3D plane, IMO, than it is the standard type of "3D" fighting game.

Yes it isn't bad, but this still doesn't look very polished, SNK is going to need a couple more iterations before they're able to nail it down. As I said initially, maybe the next generation of consoles will give them enough horsepower to make an over the top 3D fighter that looks like 2D animation.

Though of course, I think that King of Fighters will always be primarily a 2D series. I was happy to see the news of a King of Fighters XII at TGS. Wonder if it will end up ported on PS2 or on a next-generation system though. They said they'd draw brand new sprites for the first time in ten years and that's nice, now if only it could also be a next-gen 2D fighter in HD... that's probably too much to ask though.