The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact

The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact is a fighting game for the PlayStation 2, produced by SNK subsidiary Noise Factory published by SNK Playmore in 2004-2005. An enhanced version was released for Xbox and PlayStation 2 under the title KOF: Maximum Impact — Maniax. Marketed as a spinoff of SNK's major fighting series The King of Fighters, from whence many of its characters originate, KOF: Maximum Impact also contains elements of the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series. KOF: Maximum Impact is the first 3D fighter made by SNK since 1999's Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage for the PlayStation. The game was followed by KOF: Maximum Impact 2.

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" ), 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. 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.

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 complete four levels of 10 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. This online mode is available only on the Xbox version, and features online matchmaking for play between two players.

Source: Wikipedia, The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact , available under the CC-BY-SA License.