Ask anyone who their favorite fighting game character is and I doubt you’ll hear names like Athena Asamiya, K', Mai Shiranui or Terry Bogard. Ever since I was introduced to the King of Fighters series in the late 90’s it’s been “that other 2D fighting game” only the hardcore play. King of Fighters 02/03 and a few crossovers have graced the Xbox since its launch and now Neowave shows up tired and exhausted as the curtain is falling on the console. Is it worth dusting off the old Microsoft brick for one last budget fighter?

For starters, Neowave features a fifth button. This may seem like nothing new considering most fighters these days require three hands to play. For those new to the series, King of Fighters began life as a Neo Geo game and was limited to four buttons due to the arcade hardware. For the last umpteen years it hasn’t strayed from this basic setup. While I was a bit surprised to see the control change, the fifth button is subtle. It activates a new Heat Mode that makes your character flash red. While in Heat Mode you’ll do extra damage, but you’re health bar will drain slowly. It adds a nice new layer of strategy that can turn a losing battle into a come from behind win.

The next feature is where causal players like me get lost. Before selecting your characters you’re presented with three mode choices. Each one reflects systems used in various versions of King of Fighters. Super Cancel mode enables the player to cancel a Desperation or Super Desperation move midway through the animation. Experienced players can use Super Cancel mode to regularly bluff their opponents into making mistakes and opening themselves up for devastating combos. Guard Break mode features an unblockable Guard Break move that makes the character invincible for a few moments before attacking. It also features the Just Defense technique that, when used correctly, allows a player to cancel their blocking animation and retaliate with an attack of their own before their opponent can react. Lastly, is the newbie friendly Max 2 mode that increases base attack damage and greatly increases damage dealt in Heat Mode. To keep things balanced, players utilizing Max 2 mode lose the ability to perform emergency evasions and other defensive maneuvers. While a bit confusing, the multiple modes allow a good bit of player choice and adds a layer of strategy that is missing in other 2D fighters.   

Besides the various modes and the fifth button, Neowave feels a bit thin. The game features 36 playable characters with a handful of unlockable characters that bring the total to more than 40. The initial characters are broken up into teams such as the KOF ’96 team, the Women Fighters team and the Fatal Fury team to name a few. Any character can still be chosen for your three-person team, but it’s sort of fun trying to play with a themed team. You can also choose to play single-character matches or endless mode, but there are no gameplay options beyond that. A story mode or a mission mode would have made a welcome addition to the game. At least there is Xbox Live play so you’re sure to be able to find an opponent in the wee hours of the morning.

Graphically, Neowave is a little new with a lot of the same. SNK had new arcade hardware to play with when designing Neowave and they created fairly nice-looking 3D backgrounds for the game. Unfortunately, they slapped the same old 2D sprites they’ve been using all this time on top of these new backgrounds and the result is less than eye catching. The Xbox version features a softening filter that blurs the sprites in an attempt to make them look better but to my eye they just look blurry. After playing Guilty Gear on the Xbox, I know that it’s more than capable of running high resolution sprites. If 2D fighting games are going to stand any chance against their younger 3D siblings, they’re going to have to upgrade the in game character artwork substantially.

Gameplay: 6.8

A new button and the three different modes keep KOF Neowave from being just another mediocre King of Fighters release. It’s an incredibly solid fighting game with layer upon layer of complexity. Lack of options such as survival or story modes limit the games potential a good bit.

Graphics: 6.1
While the backgrounds are shiny and new they don’t make up for the fact that you’re watching 10-year-old sprites. If SNK would stop recycling content and make the in-fight sprites look as good as the artwork on the character select screen I’d be intrigued by the series again.

Sound: 7.3

Neowave has a throw-away techno-inspired soundtrack that fits the action but doesn’t really stick in your head. The rest of the audio experience is a series of grunts, groans, yells, and short Japanese phrases. Bonus points to SNK for not punishing us again with the terrible English voice work in Maximum Impact.

Difficulty: Hard

Unless you’re a KOF veteran you’re in for a grueling time. The combo system in KOF has always been complex, but throw in the three game play modes Neowave boasts and you end up with a whole lot to learn.

Concept: 6.6

Choose three fighters and try to beat up the other team before they beat up you. That’s about it.

Overall: 6.4

Even taking into account the budget price point, I’d only recommend KOF Neowave to fans of the series. The mediocre graphics combined with the serious lack of options guarantee that it will end up collecting dust on my shelf.