The King of Fighters 2006

good
key review info
  • Game: The King of Fighters 2006
  • Platform: Playstation
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: N/a
  • Reviewed on:

A game with such a pretentious title shouldn't be rubbish, because it would make the fans of the previous installments angry. The first game of the series was released in 1994 and it was a hit creating fans instantly and a strong competition for the acclaimed Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter games. SNK released the first 3D title of the series in 2004 and the original games had some connection with the producer's similar game, Fatal Fury.

Story Fighting games never excelled in the storyline field, because somehow producers never expect the fighting games fans to have enough patience to go through the whole story. The initial cutscene delivers a big part of the plot and the rest is silence, because all the other bits of the story can be found out through the text that appears when you select a certain player in the story mode. It's as simple as it gets: a rich man organized a fighting tournament with cash prizes. He must want something and that something is claiming the bodies of the fighters that die in the confrontations, which will be used for his devious experiments. It doesn't all come down to money as many of the fighters have their hidden reasons for fighting in the competition. The grudges are known from the stories in the previous games in the series and you'll notice that our Elvis-wannabe, Iori enters the tournament with the hope of defeating Kyo, his sworn enemy. There are many other characters that want vengeance or just beautiful girls that like fighting.

Concept Analog is dead, long live the directional pad! Although most of the games nowadays have analog-based controls, specially fighting ones, SNK tried something different and used the D-pad control system. It might just be the fact that The King of Fighters isn't as 3D as it seems and there's not as much free roaming as we'd like to. After seeing the first cutscene you'll be taken to the menu screen and surely you'll be puzzled by the multitude of options that await you. There's the obvious Story Mode that grants you access to costumes and additional fighters if you complete it. It was kind of disappointing to see that each character's motivation is delivered through a series of scrolling sentences at the beginning of the battle. At least the producers could have created separate cutscenes at the end of the game for each character, but all we get is the same boring FMV.

However, gamers will find true delight in the versus mode, leaving the single player mode aside. Versus is just a name, because there will be single battles too, even if you select this option. You'll be able to start a one-on-one fight againt the CPU, or a team battle, perhaps even a customized battle. Other than that it's the good old versus, that involves two joysticks and two people that want to prove who's the best. If fighting isn't enough for you, there are some conditions to set before the battle begins. These will make the fight more interesting and there's not much of a choice in this field, because players get handicaps or boosts through a roulette system. Two cursors will pass over 20 battle settings and only two of them will be picked, randomly setting super moves off, or starting the battle with less health for one of the players.

If you're not ready to get kicked by your best friend, I recommend that you try the practice mode and start learning combos and super moves. There are many options to toy with while you're practicing, as you can choose the opponent's initial damage, an environment, the size of the power gauge, the spring or the guard. If you thought that all these options kept you busy for a while, wait till you see the challenge mode. This will even threaten the versus mode as it's an exciting way to pass the time and SNK did a pretty good job by adding these modes to the game. Check out the time attack to speed things up a bit or try the survival for a real challenge. I've never seen something as challenging in any of the fighting games I've ever played. In order to complete the Survival Mode you must defeat 200 foes consecutively! That may seem impossible, but you won't be helpless in the task, because you can earn points and "buy" some more time or health. Yes, you heard me, there will be a time limit attached to the 200 foes that want to make a trophy out of you. You'll get about 10 points per battle which is enough to buy health to last for another 10 battles, but you can use those points for more useful improvements.

The attack level can be increased and also the power gauge can go up, so you'd better be careful with your points. There are other things to do if killing 200 guys seems like a walk in the park and one of those things is called: "easy mission". Well, Easy Mission Mode must be fun, but it comprises 10 levels, each with 10 missions to complete. Completing the missions isn't an impossible task, as each of them is a battle that starts with your character having some sort of a handicap. You'll have 75% attack power, or no guard, your life will start dropping or maybe you'll have the task to defeat an opponent by using only one special move. For me, this was better than training, because I was able to learn faster when the enemy fighter would strike back. I must say that describing the challenge mode has been challenging so far and the sub-mode I forgot to tell you about is pretty much the most interesting of them all. The Extra Mission Mode is not as much a fighting game, as it is a button mashing against time.

Pick a character and start trashing a car, sculpting boulders or fighting tanks and hurry because the clock is ticking! Many fighting games have had side-quests or fun minigames to increase the fun level, if the producers felt that their game was too short. Could the many challenge modes be telling something about SNK? I had a lot of fun by playing the extra mode, because the AI was very tough to beat, specially when I had to defeat a huge tank and avoid land mines, all of them done in 30 seconds. The King of Fighters may not be Mortal Kombat, but there are quite a few fighters to pick from and the original list offers you 24 unique characters and you'll unlock 14 more by performing different tasks like completing the game over and over again.

Since King of Fighters has some really beautiful girls as playable characters, you might want to check out the costumes and their many variations, which are, of course unlockables. It would be a pity to have a cute girl like Kula Diamond wear ugly clothes, when you can unlock her angel costume and enjoy the...game. SNK did a great job with the backgrounds as well and you'll fight in catacombs, ruins, some sort of Chinese temple or in a castle's main hall. If you're curios enough to look at the options menu you'll discover that there's an option called record that shows which was the most used character during your play. You'll develop a style and become the master of one specific fighter.

Gameplay Gameplay is all about moves in a fighting game. Combos can make or break a game pertaining to this genre, thanks to a perfect flow or by having original moves and animations. The King of Fighters 2006 has it all: special moves, desperation moves and super moves. In the midst of a raging fight, you'll be able to do the special moves by using button combinations. Nothing new so far, but wait till you experience the desperation moves, that can consume your power gauge.

If you look at the bottom of the screen you'll notice a blue gauge that gets filled from time to time and the word "max" will appear if that happens. Desperation moves require full power gauges and they are worth it as they really can break the foe's back. There's also a guard gauge, underneath the health meter, it's usually green but when it becomes red you should start worrying because you're about to get a guard break and some serious damage. Sometimes you'll just need to step aside and do the sidestep attacks, that will surprise the enemy and catch him off-guard. SNK really created a production that can compete with Tekken and Mortal Kombat without their beautiful engines and press hype.

If you're looking for blood and gore, The King of Fighters 2006 is not the place to find them and you won't even see a drop of blood, let alone demons of other creatures. This game is entirely based on a tournament between human beings, well...they may do pretty impossible moves, but they're still human. Nothing compares to the satisfaction you get when you parry a hit and start a chain of moves that look like a beautiful animation. There are lots of sparks to be seen during the battles and there's never a dull moment in SNK's game. Players can even use the environments and push the enemies against the wall to start a series of deadly hits. You won't find pickups of weapons lying around like in Mortal Kombat, but there will be some characters that use sticks, guns or swords during the fight. Those will be their default weapons and also every character will be able to grab, throw or break the guard of their adversaries. Tekken was a game in which you could parry all the match and eventually hit the enemy fighter once and he would drop dead. These things don't happen in KOF 2006 and the game is more offensive, while parrying remains a pretty neat concept, without much of an application.

Video Beautiful girls can make any game more appealing just by starring in it. This is not the case, but who can say no to some feminine eye-candy? The fighters are well drawn, with pretty anime style: big eyes, round faces, small waists and big arms. One of the girls will be skating and shooting icicles, there's a girl that looks like an angel (literally), there's a childish one with blue hair and I can go on and on about this. This is not Dead or Alive however and there are masculine presences in this production. You'll witness the duel between the Meira brothers and the facial expressions make up for the boring story that's told during the game.

The graphics during fights are not something you could compare with Tekken, but you'll see helicopters passing by, the angry crowd screaming your name and many victory dances. There isn't a fatality concept, but there are moves that a player can do while fighting which are remarkably good from a visual point of view. Colored sparks fill the screen and there will be a lot of motion blurring when the characters move around. This is almost a playable cartoon, only with less blood and sick humor.

Sound If you're a techno and rock fan KOF 2006 will suit your taste with its energetic songs. What else could you expect while playing a fighting game? I'm not the one to kick somebody's behind while listening to Beethoven. There are times, however when the songs that are repeated over and over tend to become annoying. The same can be said about the character's taunts or dialogs. They might sound cool the first time, but two fighters monologuing before each battle can get on my nerves. Girls usually have the coolest taunts and they call the foes "idiots" and try to break their concentration with pickup lines. While scrolling through the menu options you'll hear a music that's more arcade than PacMan and reminds me of the days of the good old Ridge Racer and its midi tunes.

Multiplayer There's not much to say about the multiplayer, because it's not something you've never ever seen. The fact that the battles are not entirely 3D will make the game less interesting for those who like to run around the level while practicing moves and combos. Battles are very active and sparky and the only moment of peace will be obtained by pressing the Start button to pause the fight. It's not quite fair that some combos can eat up your whole life and some of the two players enjoying the versus mode will eventually get frustrated and leave. Too bad that SNK didn't create an online multiplayer mode, because online fighting would have been interesting especially with the team battle option. Till the next installment, that will probably have online support, I'll just have to do with a team battle of 3 against 3, all of them under my command.

Conclusion Are fighting games a solution to all the violence between kids nowadays? Maybe, maybe not. Who are we to pose such questions? In-game violence is not a felony, but rather a sport or a game feature. SNK know the rules of the game and they kept the traditional style of fighting games that got Fatal Fury and Street Fighter to the top back in the old days. With a touch of new graphics and more characters, KOF 2006 is a perfect game to take with you when you're attending a teenage birthday party. It's also a pretty good relaxation "tool", because battles are not as stressful as they were in other games of the same genre, but more praised by the press.

Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
Review image
story 5
gameplay 8
concept 8
graphics 7
audio 7
multiplayer 8
final rating 7
Editor's review
good