King Of Fighters: Maximum Impact - Maniax

Fighters come and go, but they never seem to learn much from one another. The latest in the King of Fighters game, Maximum Impact - Maniax is, to put it bluntly, a failing effort that tries to deliver, but doesn't put enough in one package to be worthwhile.

Naturally, any transition from 2d to 3d can be traumatic and unusual for the game in question, and this is certainly no exception. As a 3d fighter, KOF runs into several problems, chief among them the actual fluidity and smoothness of any given fight. The most annoying feature I found the game to have was the mystifying ability for the computer to interrupt attacks at any time. After significant amounts of practice, my ability to land super moves was still under 50%, and given the amount of work that I put into gameplay, I'd have figured that I'd have been able to use something besides frenzied momentum to put myself in first place. Next time, give me a game where I don't have to do Mortal Kombat style combos, and can instead mix it up with my own play style. Last, in a 3d fighter of this generation, you'd think that there would be some interactive environments to play with, but no.

For the rest of the game, I am divided. Graphically, the game looks good, although the super moves and other flashy abilities are essentially duldrum compared to other titles. I can't say as I wanted to play this game without a set of earplugs though, as it wouldn't save my options to play the game in Japanese, and the English voice acting is intolerably bad.

I'm giving this an extremely low Fans Only rating because I don't think it's horrible, but at the same time, it's a completely weak title. If you're a diehard KOF fan, you might find something worthwhile here, but I can't say as I found more than a few minutes of fun.