A classic series casually taken into new realms

Overall, King of Fighter 2006 is a more polished version of the original Maximum Impact.

SNK Playmore's The King of Fighter series has returned for another round in the 3-D realm. After suffering from meteoric gameplay and lack of characters in Maximum Impact SNK began work on their next project. Based on the ONA series The King of Fighters: Another Day artist Falcoon took lead control over the designs, and knew what die-hard KOF fans wanted. King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2 (North American title King of Fighter 2006) has a lot of offer, but has the gameplay evolved?

The opening movie clearly shows the player the direction SNK is going towards. The opening and ending CGI are stunning, ranking next to Square Enix's Final Fantasy X. As for the actual gameplay graphics, you basically have revamped models and textures from the first Maximum Impact. Being one of the high points, this offers smoother skin textures. Backgrounds are composed of true 3-D with 2-D sprites. Levels are much larger than the original, and each have two versions; for example night / day level. Overall, King of Fighter 06 has a much more polished version of the original Maximum Impact.

With the removal of the rap music from the previous series, it has not changed much. The same melodic soft symphony metal that was featured in Maximum Impact still exists. As for the sound effects, be sure to expect every battle cry from all your favorite characters. Everything from Billy Kane's signature "Hey, hey, hey!" to Terry Bogard's – "come' on, come' on!"

Extras, extras, and more – you guess it, extras! When SNK decided to make a sequel not only did they improve the graphics and speeds, but added a bunch of surprises. New modes include Mission mode in which you complete specific tasks and earn new stages, for example destroying a Metal Slug tank under certain conditions. After completing Story mode, you unlock new costumes, new colors, new fighter, and character profile page.

Take the speed of Sammy's Guilty Gear series, and mix it with graphics of Namco's Soul Calibur then you have King of Fighter 2006. Having all the original moves and dozens of new ones features including; sidestep, parrying ability, and super cancel. More depth has been added in gameplay. The game features 24 initially selectable characters, as well as 14 secret characters, for a total of 38 playable characters.

If only Capcom would take a few tips from SNK from the result of suffering from Street Fighter EX series.

The controls are above average. Perfectly ported from the original 2-D King of Fighter titles with incredible re-action speeds.

King of Fighter 2006 proves a 2-D conversion to 3-D fighter can also be done successful. The only down side would be the loading times, having to load after each round in Team Versus mode. All in all, King of Fighter 2006 is a must own for any fighter fan.