REVIEW : THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’98 ULTIMATE MATCH FINAL EDITION (PS5)
The final iteration of the adored fighting game is King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition by SNK. This is the fifth instalment of the popular combat series, which debuted with The King of Fighters ’94 and most recently delivered us the superb KOF XV. The game was first released in 1998, as you can probably assume, and the Ultimate Match upgrade came out in 2008. Now in the year 2022, we’re getting one of the greatest fighting games ever in its Final Edition.
There are 64 combatants available to choose from in The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition, including The Awakened Orochi, which consists of Orochi Shermie, Orochi Yashiro, and Orochi Chris and will be appearing in KOF XV later this year. Along with Challenge Mode and Practice Mode, the Ultimate Mode system offers you a revised and rebalanced experience. You’ll be glad to know that The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match Final Edition has rollback netcode, with lobbies for up to nine players and a spectator mode, so you can play this one online. If you like, you may even play the original Neo Geo version!
Although there isn’t really a story in this game, the Orochi Saga provides sort of the backdrop for it. The King of Fighters ’98 features characters from the older games as well as some brand-new ones. This is because the game was designed as a fantasy match scenario. When the game was first published in 1998, the roster was already crowded, and the 2008 redesigned version added even more fighters on top of that.
Your characters can move around the screen, leap, and block as necessary with the left analogue stick or the D-Pad. Strong fists are linked to the Triangle button, while strong kicks are mapped to the Circle button, while light kicks are mapped to the X button. The light punch and light kick buttons can be combined by pushing the R1 button, and the strong punch and strong kick buttons can be combined by using the R2 button.
The introduction of sequences of button pushes unique to each character, some of which are shared by multiple characters because that’s what fighting games do, unleashes special attacks. These include punch or kick button presses while performing half-circle, back to front, or front to back motions, as well as the standard forward, down, forward, or back, down, back, and a punch or kick button as necessary. Charge motions also include pressing and holding back for two seconds and then pressing forward.
Your character will begin to fill up a special power bar at the bottom of the screen by executing special attacks, dealing damage, or taking damage. With each fill-up of the bar, you’ll receive a charge that you may use to unleash a desperate move that will either be a single damaging strike or a series of damaging attacks. Kyo Kusanagi, for instance, can use his Saishuu Kessen Ougi panic move by moving forward in two-quarter circles and punching the air. He will make this desperate motion to launch a powerful fireball at the ground in front of him so that the flames would subsequently amplify his blows. Pressing both punch buttons will execute a stronger variation of this desperate action, dealing more hits and damage if you do have more than one full bar. There really is no Platinum trophy for this new iteration of the adored fighting game classic. It has a short trophy list. 9 Silver trophies and 3 Gold trophies are divided up on the list.
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