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Review: King of Fighters ‘99: Evolution |
It’s been just under a year since SNK released King Of Fighters: Dream Match ‘99 on the Dreamcast - an impressive, if slightly flawed first attempt at porting their legendary fighting series over to Sega’s 128-bit bastard. Ever since ‘99 proper was announced for the DC - I’ve been hoping beyond hope that with a years extra experience in programming for the machine, they’d have been able to iron out the glitches that stuck in the throat of DM99.
Well, it’s with a big smile on my face that I can report that they have. That’s not to say it’s absolutely perfect, but I’ll be perfectly content if the DC KOF2000 remains at this high standard.
At this point, I’d like to state that I do not intend to review this game with regards to its game engine or characters. There are two KOF’99 reviews on this site, which can be found here and here and do that job very well.
There have been a lot of changes made in the port from the Neo ‘99 to this version, much more than from Neo ‘98 to DM99. For a start, the presentation has been given a radical overhaul. Gone are the brown stone “backgrounds” of the old game, and in are psychedelic images of DNA strands and other biological data type things. Everything has a more technological feel to them, more in line with the story.
The player select screen has undergone similar changes, and the order select (where you choose the order your characters fight in) has a completely new look and new mode of operation.
There are the usual transparency effects present in projectiles and hit sparks, but the biggest overhaul is the stage backgrounds themselves. Once again SNK have replaced the old levels with 3D “remixed” versions, but this time they’ve gone a step further - each stage now has two variations (which may mean a different colour scheme, different objects and sometimes a completely different perspective) plus there are two brand new stages, again each available in two different flavours. The Fairground; with carousel, boat ride, fireworks and people dressed up as animals, and the Clock Tower, which could be counted as two separate stages - one inside the clock, with cogs turning, and one outside on the parapets of a castle, with the tower visible in the background.
The 3D is more impressive than last years’ effort - there’s more detail, grandeur and finesse, and there are some intelligent and attractive moments of composition (for example the shadow the boat ride in the fairground casts on you as it swings overhead, or the lights and shadows from the carousel) and they are certainly an improvement on the slightly bland backgrounds of the Neo-Geo ‘99.
Ever wondered how the combatants got from the sewers to the lift in the final pre-boss fight? Well wonder no longer! After the first fight, ankle-deep in sewage (eugh) - a gate comes up and the platform you were fighting on begins to descend! It gets better - the third round takes you on the lift down to the final stage, but this lift is no longer just restricted to vertical movements, oh no, now the stages are in full 3D - this lift takes you down, along, and *into* the screen, passing a lot of scary looking blast doors and much mechanical junk on the way!
And the final fight against Krizalid is made all the more awesome by the inclusion of a huge device of some kind at the back, which periodically “fires” a huge beam of energy which lights up the stage and makes a really loud noise. I guess you have to see it to appreciate it, but it makes the final battle all the more atmospheric.
You even get a very short intro to each stage before the fight, where the “camera” flies about and objects in the stage come into place - a feature I might add that was rumoured to be in DM99 but shows up instead one year late.
The only thing fans of ‘99 may miss with regards to the BGs are the “advancing” stages. When you fight on the grounds of the English manor house for example - no longer does the stage begin in sunlight, darken in a later round, then pour with rain later still. No, now there’s just two types of stage - ’sunny’ and ‘rainy’. And you’re stuck with whichever one you’re put in. Oh well.
Unlike DM99 - there’s no new intro, though the original ‘99 one has been altered to show the new strikers. For some reason it looks *worse* than the Neo-Geo version. It seems to be a very poor FMV clip of the Neo original - the final shot of K’ throwing an arc of fire looks like something from the Genesis Mortal Kombat. Ugh.
The new strikers…ah yes. The biggest..well…the only significant gameplay alteration. For a start, there are two new strikers who are apparently characters from KOF2000. Seth and Vanessa. Is it a little early to profess my undying love for Vanessa? Oh, it is. OK. Like all the “striker-only” strikers - they can’t be selected to fight, just to…strike. Those two are the only two available at the start. But there are plenty more to find….
Like many new fighting games, points means prizes - plus an easy way to extend longevity. Your “battle ability” points can now be saved up to purchase a whole bunch of “new” strikers which can be used in combat. These guys are mainly made up of KOF97/98 characters who never made it into ‘99, but there are a few surprises in there.
Because the focus on secrets has switched to the strikers, the old secrets - namely Real Kyo, Iori and Krizalid are unlocked from the start. Krizalid (2nd form only) has undergone the necessary tweaks to make him a decently playable character, but he is still obscenely overpowered. Connecting with either of his SDMs means it’s pretty much lights out for the other player.
The usual extra options apply here, pretty much as they did in DM99. Survival modes, training mode, connect with a Neo-Geo Pocket Colour (anyone done this?)
There a couple of nice options, the chance to move the life/striker gauges around the screen to suit your TV size/aspect is useful, as is a total play time and stats for which characters have been used how many times. The button configuration can be a real pain, seeing as it’s in Japanese.
Fortunately there is an English language option for the important text - meaning the win quotes, and fortunately the story and endings are comprehensible to western importers.
KOF99:E even comes complete with its own screensaver. If you leave the machine on for 10 or so minutes, the screen will go black, and the two characters who were fighting before the pause can be seen running about and posing.
My biggest gripe with KOFDM99 was the loading between fights. Not so much that it was there - as it was only a second or two, but the fact that the screen went black and (horror of horrors) the music restarted, meant it was a fractured experience, and never being able to hear more than about 30 seconds of the excellent music was a real let-down.
With a year of further experience with programming on the DC, this problem has all but vanished. The music plays between rounds, and the load time goes on while the VS screen comes up, meaning it’s pretty much invisible. It’s a bit more obvious when playing the single or survival modes - but it’s still virtually nothing.
King Of Fighters 99: Evolution was released on the same day as Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and thus seems to be a little overshadowed by the button-bashing behemoth. They are very different games, both strong fighters in their own unique way, and I recommend this wholeheartedly to Dreamcast owners the world over.
The only real question over this games lastability depends on just how much you played the Neo/Arcade ‘99. If you never really touched it - then you’re looking at months of creamy goodness here. On the other hand, if you’re a veteran of the game, you may find yourself lacking the motivation to play it obsessively. After you’ve admired the new backgrounds and bought the new strikers (which is actually quite a boring thing to do) - what else is there? Just a rehash of that game you played last winter.
It is an excellent piece of software I agree and KOF99 is an excellent game - but there’s a touch of sameiness about it, brought on no doubt by my over familiarity with the game in question. You may wish to ask yourself just how much you want to play KOF99 all over again with 3D backgrounds and a few new strikers.
