For those individuals that feel that they have already bought the title over a decade ago, The King of Fighters ‘98: Ultimate Match represents a re-make of the original game, which of itself was a culmination of the yearly titles that SNK created (King of Fighters ‘94 to ‘97). However, aside from the graphical improvements, there have been a few major changes made to the game to make the title worth the price point (a smidge under $20) that Ignition has placed on it.
This means that the title contains 2 discs, which contain the original and updated versions of the title, along with a set of wallpapers and a trailer made specifically for the title. For fans of The King of Fighters, the biggest inclusion has to be the added characters that are present, bumping the total to 64 (the entire Boss Team, along with Kisaragi, Orochi, and Goenitz, are able to be chosen. Far from trying to get a port of the original title or paying for the ability to play the original title on another system, The King of Fighters ‘98: Ultimate Match provides the perfect opportunity to see how the game translated from the arcade to the home console, and how the game has been able to be tweaked in the decade since it was originally released. I personally dig the recreation of titles that would normally fall by the wayside, but know that there have been some pretty big stinkers when it comes to the recasting of games.
Ignition, through their King of Fighters remakes, has further solidified their place among the best game publishers currently making games. I personally cannot wait to see what the rest of 2009 holds for the company, and exhort you to purchase Ultimate Match if you fancy yourself to be a connoisseur of any type of fighting games. There may not be the storyline that was present during The Orochi Saga, but sometimes, players just need to beat the crap out of computer and other player-linked characters.
Rating: 9.0/10
The King of Fighters ‘98: Ultimate Match (Playstation 2) / 2009 Ignition / http://www.ignitionent.com