King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match (XBLA)

King of Fighters has never been as popular in the US as Street Fighter has, and I think that’s a shame. The series is pretty fast-paced and has a nice variety of characters, rightly making it a classic in the 2D fighter genre. And with King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match, we get the definitive edition of a great game. It plays like most other games in this genre, scrolling from side to side on a 2D stage, but there are a few major twists. First, you don’t normally fight in the best two out of three format, but rather you field a team of three fighters and the winner is whoever still has someone left at the end. Second, KoF ’98 has lots of tools to help you move around the stage quickly.

The first thing that stands out is a massive roster; it’s around sixty characters (though admittedly about a dozen are just alternate versions of a character, chosen by holding Back while selecting them) spanning the franchise’s history from 1994 to 1998. Nearly every play style is covered, and there are usually variations within them. If you don’t like big and slow grapplers like Daimon, then perhaps the smaller and faster Vice is a better choice for you. Or perhaps you like defensive play revolving around projectiles, long-reaching ’poke’ attacks, and counters that catch an enemy’s strike; you have your choice of at least three characters in that style too. You’re sure to find some characters you like, and that’s one of this game’s best features.

You also get access to a lot of universal features that speed up play. Depending on which mode you select, you can either have an evasion roll (which safely moves you toward an enemy and goes through fireballs, but you can be thrown out of it) or a ’spot dodge’ which sidesteps an attack. Several other features exist between these modes, though a third mode tries to mix their abilities and trade-offs. Regardless, these features are easy to use and mean even novice players have lots of options for dealing with opponents who play keep-away with fireballs. This promotes fighting up close and building solid combos, and is a very good thing.