3RRDC KOF Dream

This is it. The game that all other fighting games are measured up to.
Some will argue that the honor should go to Soul Calibur. But for me, if I
want pure fighting bliss, I turn to the masters at SNK. Here is a game
that has old 2D sprites. Here is a game that does not have a treasure
chest of unlockables. Here is a game that truly deserves the title of
the king of fighters.

The King of Fighters (KOF) series has been going since KOF 1994.
Since then we have seen a yearly installment. Taking characters from
other popular SNK fighting games like Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting,
KOF has enjoyed years of success on the Neo Geo, Import Saturn, and
other platforms. Here, it makes its Dreamcast debut with Dream Match
'99. Actually this is KOF 98, but with a few updates and such. It is
called Dream Match because it has no story. The purpose is to bring
back a lot of characters from the older games and put them all into
one huge game. So the story won't wow anyone. But the characters
will.

When I think of the characters of KOF I think of cool. Fashion and style
are just two of the main themes that these characters represent to
me. Bad boy Iori Yagami and his cool white and black shirt, with those
hot red pants. To top it off, he has a belt connecting both his legs. Very
weird yet very cool. Or take the main good guy, Kyo Kusanagi. Who can
forget his classic black pants and coat, with that simple white
undershirt. But besides fashion, the mere fact that previous
characters are back, is reason enough to love them. Thank God for the
Orochi team.

Game modes include the traditional arcade, vs, training, and survival.
Now then, with KOF, you pick a team of three characters. Unlike
Marvel vs. Capcom 2, you cannot switch between them at any time.
Instead, once one dies then the next one goes out. Or you can just
play 1 on 1 and go a few rounds with that. Vs mode is very fun,
especially (or is that only?) if you have another SNK fan playing with
you. Survival mode pits you against all the characters, so see if you
can beat them all. So the basic gameplay modes are all here, so no
complaints. Furthermore, when fighting, you can choose either "Adv"
or "ex". This is basically your beginner/expert kind of deal where
specials and certain techniques are made easier in one version. So it
has a little customization.

Those new to KOF will first have to recognize how to work the
controls. Unlike older Capcom fighters, there is not a
light/medium/hard attack for punch and kick. SNK just lays out light
and hard. So you don't have to use the L/R triggers like in Street
Fighter Alpha 3. You do have to use the d-pad, but if you're hardcore,
you'll probably just buy an arcade stick. Me, I'm fine with the way the
controls are set up. So you can do combos, roll, dash, and charge up
your special meter all you want while having fun.

The graphics will not wow the casual gamer. You have to have a deep
sense of love for 2D to love this game. If you want Soul Calibur or Dead
or Alive graphics, you have come to the wrong place. Being a fan of 2D
graphics and biased towards it, I feel just fine with the slightly dated
pixels. Characters are jaggy, but again they still all look cool.
Backgrounds are updated from the original version. There are now
some 3D elements thrown in there to make it look better. Personally I
think it makes it look worse. But they are only minimal touches to this
masterpiece. If you want a King of Fighters with better graphics please
see KOF Evolution or import 2000-2002.

The music in this game is some of the best that has ever come out of
my Dreamcast. Period. In fact it's some of the best video game music
ever. Too many games rely on some mindless techno/rock garbage
that leaves you forgetting what it was the next day. This KOF goes for
a more jazzy approach that just makes the whole thing so memorable. I
haven't heard music this good in a fighting game, since Super Street
Fighter 2 on my Super NES. But it's not all jazz. There's still some
rockier stuff in here to suit your needs. Musical variety. What an
interesting concept. Also as a side note, character voices in taunts
and win poses are very memorable. Lori with his twisted laugh, and the
odd little Choi with his strange...strangeness.

Raise your hand if you have a Neo Geo pocket color (sees 1 hand go
up). Ok. There's a gallery mode where you can look at character art
and designs. To unlock the pictures you need points. You can get
points by either beating arcade mode over and over and over, or by
uploading points from KOF r2 on the Neo Geo pocket color. Not having
a NGPC, I had to do things the old fashioned way. And it took a while to
unlock all the pictures, though there aren't that many. Some pictures
show characters and costumes from the next installment also
available on Dreamcast.

Since you already get a bunch of characters, there aren't many more
to give. By holding start in the character select screen over certain
characters will give you their KOF 95 (I think) version. This means
same dude different moves. Or hold start over Yahiro, Shermie, and
Chris. Then select them to get their Orochi versions. Rugal, the final
boss, also has an alternate version to play as. Also one last note for
endings. What do you do for endings when there is no story? Simple,
give the player a nice piece of art. Beat the game with the set teams,
or find secret teams (meaning mix and match various people from
various teams and see if they give you a drawing). If you just play with
only one character, or use a team that is not one of the set ones, you
will get a generic picture of all the characters. Too bad you can't save
the pics.

So really it all boils down to your love for 2D fighting games. To me, this
game is in the top 10 of Dreamcast's best. It has style and it has the
music. As well as the fun gameplay and all the moves and great
characters. The only real fault I can find for this game is that there is
no real story and that the graphics are a little old, but I still don't mind.
I've always preferred jaggy 2D sprites over blocky 3D polygons. Your
friends might laugh at you at first for playing such an "old and poor
looking game", as they go back to their Tekken, but maybe you can
get them to play this. If that's not gonna happen then let this game be
your little secret.

Review by: Orochi Sonic

P.S. We all know where the Sonic comes from in my name. Orochi is
from the KOF series.