Racketboy

King of Fighters: Maximum Impact is a spinoff game series, produced by former SNK subsidiary Noise Factory. One of SNK’s first console-only games since the NES, and their first attempts at 3D fighters since the Hyper NeoGeo 64. It was released on the PlayStation 2 on Oct 12, 2004, than later ported to the Xbox as “KOF: Maximum Impact – Maniax“, with additional content and online play. There is the possibility of a PSP version coming some time in 2006.

Although the title suggests a link to The King of Fighters, the game has a closer resemblance to Fatal Fury in mood and story. While the first game did not have any notable connections with the main KOF series, other than having the same characters (and indeed conflicted with several established pieces of continuity)

Magic Box has some new images of the game, each character will have an original 2P outfit, which were never seen before in the series. The game is scheduled to release in Japan on August 12, for 6800 yen.

This is the new 3D version of The King of Fighters that SNK has been working on. It will be interesting to see (or play) how SNK’s transition to 3D with be. Personally, I’d rather them just keep with 3D and use high-res sprites ala Guilty Gear XX.