KOF: Maximum Impact (KOFMI) is a fighting game developed by SNK subsidiary Noise Factory and published by SNK Playmore for the PlayStation 2 in 2004. An enhanced version was released for both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 under the title KOF Maximum Impact: Maniax. The PS2 version of 'Maniax' was only released in Japan, and the Xbox version was not released in Europe.
While the version released in the U.S. featured an English dub that was met with much derision (with IGN's Jeremy Dunham going so far as to label it "piss poor"[6]), further releases for the Xbox and European PS2 add a choice of English and Japanese language options. The Xbox version also includes an online match mode where matches can be fought between players via Xbox Live.
Unlike the 2D games from the series, Maximum Impact breaks the team system, causing all the fighters to fight alone (as it depicted in Art of Fighting 2, Fatal Fury 2/Special and Garou: Mark of the Wolves). The story mode is experienced as a single character through the "Mephistopheles Fighting Tournament". For most characters, this consists of fighting six characters, with Duke's cronie / Consigliere Hyena announcing the next opponent between matches. For the final match, one faces Duke himself. For a few "featured" characters (Alba Meira, Soiree Meira, and Lien Neville), the story is more intricate and fleshed out.
The gameplay is similar to those of Tekken, Street Fighter and Bloody Roar series, such as having a more combo command moves system and players being capable of executing juggle combos freely.
In Versus Mode, a single match (be it a one-on-one fight or a 3 vs. 3 battle) is fought against either the computer or another player. In Mission Mode, the player is faced with four levels of ten missions each. Each mission has settings and conditions to be completed. Most of the game's unlockables come through this mode. In Time Attack Mode, the player has to defeat a number of characters as quickly as possible. The online mode is available only on the Xbox version, and features online matchmaking for play between two players.
Addis was the most powerful gang in Southtown. Its leader, a man known only as Fate, was considered a modern-day Robin Hood to the poor and downtrodden. He himself had adopted two twin brothers, Alba and Soiree Meira, and trained them to be successors to his legacy. Six months before the in-game events, Fate is killed by Duke, the leader of the up-and-coming Mephistopheles gang. Duke then proceeds to exploit the poor to serve his thirst for power.
In the present day, the "Mephistopheles Fighting Tournament" is beginning, with the venue being all of Southtown. The participants (minus the Meira Brothers and Lien) believe that the tournament is being sponsored by a charity organization known as the Metatron Foundation, but they soon learn that its true sponsor is the Mephistopheles gang. Alba, Soiree and Lien are contacted directly by Hyena, so they know Metatron has nothing to do with this.
KOF: Maximum Impact has twenty playable characters. Six additional characters make their debut in this game, and most of the remaining roster is inherited from The King of Fighters series, in which only half of the roster made it into the final game. One noteworthy exception to the rule is Rock Howard, brought in from the most recent Fatal Fury chapter, Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
Each character features at least one alternative costume. Some alternate costumes are radically different from the defaults, such as Terry's Garou: Mark of the Wolves look and Clark's professional wrestler persona. In addition to the alternate costumes, characters can be modified with unlockable "rigging models," which add details to the available costumes, such as a wolf mask for Terry or a party hat and banner for Seth.
Several of the new characters from the game were designed to be the counterparts of other KOF characters. Both Meira brothers were initially conceptualized to be the counterparts to Fatal Fury stars, Terry and Andy Bogard, given the game's setting is the same as their predecessors. Lien conceptually began as a contrast to fellow KOF participant Mai Shiranui. While Mai represents a "sexy and beautiful kunoichi", Lien represents another counterpart: the "sexy Western femme fatale". Her outfits are purposely designed to be "tight and constricting" to contrast Mai's clothing, which is made to allow for easy and quick movements.[7] To further the contrast between the two assassins, efforts were made to make Lien more serious and darker than Mai, despite being one of the heroines in the series.[8] Similar to how Lien contrasts Mai, Mignon was designed to be the rival to Athena. Her magical powers were created to counter Athena's Psycho Powers, which is interpreted by Falcoon to be akin to witchcraft.[7]
Prior to its release, KOF: Maximum Impact was a finalist from GameSpot's "Best of E3 2004" in the category Best Fighting Game. However, it lost to Mortal Kombat: Deception.[17] Ben Herman, president from SNK Playmore USA, commented that although he received complaints about the English voices for the game, Maximum Impact sold over 100,000 units as of May 2006.[18]
As indicated by the game's name, it takes place two years after the last canonical The King of Fighters game, The King of Fighters 2001. According to the game's storyline, a new King of Fighters tournament is organized by an unknown host. The several new rules are instituted, including a whole new team system, based in Tag-Battle Team, which allows the player to change his choosen character at the time of the fight. Only in console mode, there is a fighting option without this mode (The Team Play).
At the end of the tournament, depending on how players defeat the mid-game boss, Kusanagi, the players will either face Adelheid Bernstein or learn that the tournament organizer is Chizuru Kagura and that a group known as "His Distant Land" is working in a secretive plot. After defeating the mysterious stone fighter known as Mukai, Ash Crimson appears before Chizuru, attacks her in her weakened state and steals her powers. Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami come to Chizuru's aid as Ash tells Iori that he's his next target.
The game was first revealed in Tokyo Game Show 2003, originally planned to be developed on the Atomiswave hardware before settling on the Neo-Geo MVS hardware. In North America the game was released alongside The King of Fighters 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game was solely released for Switch on February 21, 2019. The title was developed as the first chapter of a new story arc, Ash was designed as an "attractive evil character", in contrast to previous King of Fighters heroes. Due to Ash's late appearance in The King of Fighters 2003, the staff joked that teammate Shen Woo seemed more like the series' main character than Ash did. The two boss characters, Adelheid and Mukai, had no problems during their designs with the former being the last added to expand the narrative of the series. While Kusanagi was first introduced in The King of Fighters 2002 without a plot focused on him, KOF 2003 gave him the idea of being a clone of Kyo Kusanagi created by Chizuru Kagura while also intending to include his school uniform highly popular within Kyo's fans.
The King of Fighters 2003 returns again with its 3 vs. 3 team battles. For the first time ever in the series, the matches are taken place in a single 3-on-3 round, unlike the 3-5 round matches, as seen in previous installments. This due to the new Tag Shift mechanic, where fighters can switch out with other members during a match, similar to the Marvel vs. Capcom series. By pressing either BC or CD, players can switch place with any standby team members, with BC switching out with the second member and CD switching out with the third member. Because of this, CD Attacks do not appear in this game.
Another mechanic introduced in this game is the Leader System, where one member of the player's team becomes a "Leader". The leader will always be the first character which the player chooses when picking his team, and during the match.
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