Xbox

The King of Fighters: Neowave

The King of Fighters: NeoWave is a game that won't change the mind of anyone who has yet to get into the series to date, but one that all fighting gamers should be thankful to be able to get their hands on here in North America. Thanks to some stupid happenings on the business side of the game industry, nobody here can take even the best SNK releases for granted anymore, with such titles as Samurai Shodown: Tenkaichi Kenkyakuden, NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, and the aforementioned Mark of the Wolves falling through the cracks. With NeoWave as a clear-cut highlight of the KOF franchise, SNK is practically giving it away at the $19.99 price point. Snap it up.

KOF Neowave is one of the last few good games left in the Xbox. Its excellent Live features and minimal lag make it one of the best online fighters on the console, as well as one of the best 2d fighting games this generation. To make it even better, the game has a $19.99 price tag. Anybody who has actually played it will agree that this is a fighter worth checking out.

It is more or less a rehash that doesn't bring much new to the series, but Neowave is a dream match that really feels like one, bringing together all the best characters from eight installments of this long-running series, adding grooves, tossing in online play, and slapping on a $20 price tag. It's fun for a KOF fan, and a great place to start for anyone looking to get into what, for me, is the king of fighters.

It is more or less a rehash that doesn't bring much new to the series, but Neowave is a dream match that really feels like one, bringing together all the best characters from eight installments of this long-running series, adding grooves, tossing in online play, and slapping on a $20 price tag. It's fun for a KOF fan, and a great place to start for anyone looking to get into what, for me, is the king of fighters.

There are only a very small percentage of gamers that would be interested in this game to begin with but with its varying play styles and loaded cast of great characters, Neowave is actually a great little fighter and a brilliant introduction to the King Of Fighters series for those that have never sampled its delights. It's still overshadowed by the oft-cited ruling duo of the 2D scene - Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and Garou: Mark Of The Wolves - but as with crossover title Capcom vs SNK 2, it's the freedom to play characters in different ways that will allow Neowave to coexist with the big boys of the genre without getting its lunch money stolen. Live play adds to the package on the condition that you can find people out there that a) aren't still wasting their time on Halo 2 or b) haven't gone 360 bonkers, but even if you just get a few mates over now and then for a scrap, Neowave will sit happily alongside more popular games as something a little different.

If you're a hardcore fan, you've probably already bought this. If you've already got one version of King of Fighters sitting at home, NeoWave is going to offer only minimal upgrades and content expansions. It's nothing truly new, just refinements on what was already there. It's a better package than the recently released Samurai Shodown V, but it's not anything so good as to draw disillusioned 2D fighting fans back into the fold. If anything, King of Fighters: NeoWave proves once again how desperately this genre needs a rejuvenating adrenaline shot to the heart.

It’s hard to say for sure if The King of Fighters Neowave will do better as a standalone title instead as if it were an Xbox Live offering. Fans of SNK’s catalog will surely be willing to plop down twenty bucks for a slightly older but very competent fighter. Those merely curious will likely be scratching their heads, wondering why they can’t download this on their Xbox 360 (Capcom’s route).

In the end, KOF NeoWave is a decent 2D fighting game that's recommendable only to those looking for more King of Fighters, for better and for worse. It's not a substantial or impressive upgrade for the series, but if you're still a fan, chances are you enjoy picking apart each new installment, noting subtle differences to moves and abilities, comparing additions and omissions against past versions, and so on. And being able to play online against other fans is nice, too.

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.

King of Fighters: Neowave has so much potential just waiting to be tapped, with new powerful hardware, a fighting engine based on a winning formula, and a dream collection of 43 fighters, but the things that it didn't do would fill up an entire stadium. Neowave is no KOF 2002, but by default it's the only KOF game right now that's worth playing on Xbox Live.

At its core KOF: Neowave is a solid fighting game with a tried and true combat system. But the game's graphics and somewhat thrown-together modes show that this series is in desperate need of major overhaul. The game's characters deserve better treatment and the fans would no doubt mind the change. The technology is now available for SNK Playmore to produce something amazing if they're willing to try. In the meantime, Neowave's hefty roster, online play, and $20 price tag will offer SNK and serious fighting game fans a good fix while we wait.

If it's the core gameplay that matters, you can find it in your heart (and your wallet, remembering the twenty-dollar price tag) to enjoy this game. If you're relatively new to the series, or in the extremely rare event that you're getting into 2D fighting for the first time, definitely look for the superior KOF: 02/03 collection first. While it's tough to give NeoWave a recommendation, there's no real reason for interested parties to avoid it. KOF is still KOF, and this game is what it is.

King of Fighters: NeoWave is basically treading water. Its appeal will be limited to fans of the franchise that will defend the game to the death - as long as it's priced under twenty bucks. Taken as a whole, NeoWave is a classic fighting game - but it's essentially a remake of a classic fighting game. The fact that it doesn't offer many new features in the gameplay makes it appear like nothing more than a cash grab. It's time that SNK started to cultivate some new fans for its fighting titles instead of taking advantage of its loyal ones that deserve more than this.

That said NeoWave is reliable. While even die-hard fans have to be tiring by now, they're not going to be disappointed either. Besides, this is only a $20 disc, a far cry from the days of $350 AES carts.

It was kind of SNK/Playmore to bring this game to U.S. shores, so I'm not going to cut them down personally. They are trying to satisfy who that would rather not miss out on games – at least one more time before the ultimate insult of re-branding a reviled series as a revered one with the flick of a wrist, as they have planned. If you do buy this, buy it for Xbox Live compatibility. I can't recommend it over King of Fighters 2002/2003, which you could find on clearance for much less than Neowave.