Post by Kazuya_UK on Dec 29, 2004 20:04:34 GMT -5
I am working on a review for this as you may have noticed (if you bother to read my crap at the top of the page ;D), but I thought I'd throw up a few early impressions of the game for those interested. Bear in mind this has not taken me long to write, so there may be mistakes/typos and my proper review will be a lot better and more in-depth. Here goes!
First off, I have to say that I was eagerly awaiting this game being a huge fan of old-school KOF, and I've always loved 94. If you don't feel the same way then I suggest you stop reading an forget about this game... although it has updated graphics, the gameplay is the same, so you probably still aren't going to like it.
Intro:
The game kicks off with a surprisingly decent, and surprisingly long anime intro. It's actually pretty damn good, especially after a couple of watches... the animation isn't the best ever, and it's not as amazing as the anime intro that was added to Dreamcast KOF '98, but it's nice all the same; the artwork is ok, and I dig the music in it personally. One annoying thing is that on my TV there is a distorted line at the very bottom of the picture for some reason; it's nowhere near the actual intro itself so it doesn't interfere, and perhaps my TV is shifting the picture up a bit so you might not notice it on other TV's... but it shows a bit of carelessness on SNKP's part. It makes absolutely no difference though, so it's perhaps just me being anal
Options
When I booted the game the first time, I went straight into it with the default options. On default, the new hi-res sprites look good but perhaps a little smaller than they would be on the original (like most ports, probably due to the different resolutions of the systems in question) and you get 3d backgrounds. If you don't like this, a quick trip to the battle and graphics setting screens on the main menu will fix things up. Here's your options:
Screen type: A is default, B stretches the pic a little bit and makes the sprites look bigger (same as the option you got in the other KOF ports and SVC). In the other games this option made the sprites look even more pixellated, but with the hi-res sprites it seems ok to me, so I prefer to use mode B with this one.
Focus: Options are normal and soft. Soft filters the sprites a bit, and it's something I liked to turn on when playing the KOF 2003 port as I think it made it look better. In this game there's not a massive difference due to the new sprites, but I prefer to have it on anyway.
System: (Chosen under the battle setting menu). Options are Normal or NeoGeo. In normal you get 3D backgrounds, in NeoGeo you get the original 2D backgrounds!!! ;D I really like some of the new 3D backgrounds, but I kind of prefer playing with the old backgrounds as they have more atmosphere in my opinion. Surprisingly the new hi-res sprites actually look ok against the old backgroundsif you ask me... I mean WOW... hi-res *sprites* against low res backgrounds... isn't it usually the other way around?
But anyway, the choice is yours!
BGM: Arranged music or original AES/MVS music. I still have a soft spot for the normal Neo tunes, but I prefer to play with arranged music. It does of course mean that you get to listen to Athena sing the Psycho Soldier theme song on the China team stage... while that may be a bad thing for some of you, I *love* it... so there!
Gameplay
On the gameplay end of things, you get the usual team play, team vs, single play and single vs as you would expect, as well as edit play and edit vs (where you can pick your own team instead of thr set ones). Then we have practice mode (which is nice considering we never had that in KOF 94), Endless mode, which is basically survival (and there is team edit in this mode)...
The remaining two options are NeoGeo Mode, and network mode. NeoGeo mode is obviously a direct port of the AES/MVS version, which is nice to have on the disc, but to be honest if I want to play that I'll stick to the original, partly because I'd rather play the Neo version, especially as the sprites look a little worse on the PS2 due to the resolution issues or whatever, which I suppose can't be helped. This mode seems like a direct port, maybe even emulated... what's also strange is you can't listen to the arranged music in NeoGeo mode, only the OST, so this makes it look even more like it is a slightly re-coded and emulated version of the original or something. It's nice to have it on there anyway
Network mode is online play, I haven't checked up on this much and I haven't had the ability to try it online yet (probably will soon), but from what I am told you can fight other people online. Pretty cool, I wonder how many people you'll find on there though? If what they say about a KOF '94 port/remake being one of the top requests in Japan, hopefully there will be a few!
Final Thoughts:
Anyways, so far I am digging this game. It plays exactly the same as the original (unless there are experts out there who can pick out inconsistencies?), and I really like the new sprites overall. One or two look a little bit dodgy, but most look pretty darn good, and way better than the original screenshots might have suggested. They are more than just "filtered sprites"... I'd say they are the original sprites, but cleaned up greatly and with a bit of extra detail added to them. They do look better in motion, the only thing letting them down is perhaps the lack of animation as that is exactly the same as the original KOF '94. Then again, if they had messed with adding more frames of animation then that *would* have changed the timing and stuff, so I am sure many people would have complained about that.
Background wise, as I mentioned the 3D ones are good, but I have two problems with them: The first is that most of the originals probably had more atmosphere to them, while these new ones can seem a bit bland at times, and they don't quite capture the feel of the originals properly. On the other hand a few like the England stage are pretty nice and as good as the old 2D ones, but for the most part they could have been a bit better.
My other problem is the ridiculous amount of cameos in these new stages. Sure, I like to see cameos from other SNK characters pop up here and there, but we are talking more here than even KOF 2002 had!!! (ie a LOT) The dumbest thing about them is that you can see characters that weren't even around back at the time of '94, like Rock and Tizoc, so it just seems a bit silly. I've managed to get used to these now, but I wish they had done these cameos a little bit more tastefully. Ah well, as I said earlier on, you can always play with the original 2D backgrounds on
Right, I am done for now! If anyone has any questions then I'll try to answer them if I can, but I'll be concentrating on writing the proper review... won't promise when it will be done, but I'll keep updating the status thing on at the top of the forum as I do more work on it
Kaz
First off, I have to say that I was eagerly awaiting this game being a huge fan of old-school KOF, and I've always loved 94. If you don't feel the same way then I suggest you stop reading an forget about this game... although it has updated graphics, the gameplay is the same, so you probably still aren't going to like it.
Intro:
The game kicks off with a surprisingly decent, and surprisingly long anime intro. It's actually pretty damn good, especially after a couple of watches... the animation isn't the best ever, and it's not as amazing as the anime intro that was added to Dreamcast KOF '98, but it's nice all the same; the artwork is ok, and I dig the music in it personally. One annoying thing is that on my TV there is a distorted line at the very bottom of the picture for some reason; it's nowhere near the actual intro itself so it doesn't interfere, and perhaps my TV is shifting the picture up a bit so you might not notice it on other TV's... but it shows a bit of carelessness on SNKP's part. It makes absolutely no difference though, so it's perhaps just me being anal
Options
When I booted the game the first time, I went straight into it with the default options. On default, the new hi-res sprites look good but perhaps a little smaller than they would be on the original (like most ports, probably due to the different resolutions of the systems in question) and you get 3d backgrounds. If you don't like this, a quick trip to the battle and graphics setting screens on the main menu will fix things up. Here's your options:
Screen type: A is default, B stretches the pic a little bit and makes the sprites look bigger (same as the option you got in the other KOF ports and SVC). In the other games this option made the sprites look even more pixellated, but with the hi-res sprites it seems ok to me, so I prefer to use mode B with this one.
Focus: Options are normal and soft. Soft filters the sprites a bit, and it's something I liked to turn on when playing the KOF 2003 port as I think it made it look better. In this game there's not a massive difference due to the new sprites, but I prefer to have it on anyway.
System: (Chosen under the battle setting menu). Options are Normal or NeoGeo. In normal you get 3D backgrounds, in NeoGeo you get the original 2D backgrounds!!! ;D I really like some of the new 3D backgrounds, but I kind of prefer playing with the old backgrounds as they have more atmosphere in my opinion. Surprisingly the new hi-res sprites actually look ok against the old backgroundsif you ask me... I mean WOW... hi-res *sprites* against low res backgrounds... isn't it usually the other way around?
But anyway, the choice is yours!BGM: Arranged music or original AES/MVS music. I still have a soft spot for the normal Neo tunes, but I prefer to play with arranged music. It does of course mean that you get to listen to Athena sing the Psycho Soldier theme song on the China team stage... while that may be a bad thing for some of you, I *love* it... so there!
Gameplay
On the gameplay end of things, you get the usual team play, team vs, single play and single vs as you would expect, as well as edit play and edit vs (where you can pick your own team instead of thr set ones). Then we have practice mode (which is nice considering we never had that in KOF 94), Endless mode, which is basically survival (and there is team edit in this mode)...
The remaining two options are NeoGeo Mode, and network mode. NeoGeo mode is obviously a direct port of the AES/MVS version, which is nice to have on the disc, but to be honest if I want to play that I'll stick to the original, partly because I'd rather play the Neo version, especially as the sprites look a little worse on the PS2 due to the resolution issues or whatever, which I suppose can't be helped. This mode seems like a direct port, maybe even emulated... what's also strange is you can't listen to the arranged music in NeoGeo mode, only the OST, so this makes it look even more like it is a slightly re-coded and emulated version of the original or something. It's nice to have it on there anyway
Network mode is online play, I haven't checked up on this much and I haven't had the ability to try it online yet (probably will soon), but from what I am told you can fight other people online. Pretty cool, I wonder how many people you'll find on there though? If what they say about a KOF '94 port/remake being one of the top requests in Japan, hopefully there will be a few!
Final Thoughts:
Anyways, so far I am digging this game. It plays exactly the same as the original (unless there are experts out there who can pick out inconsistencies?
), and I really like the new sprites overall. One or two look a little bit dodgy, but most look pretty darn good, and way better than the original screenshots might have suggested. They are more than just "filtered sprites"... I'd say they are the original sprites, but cleaned up greatly and with a bit of extra detail added to them. They do look better in motion, the only thing letting them down is perhaps the lack of animation as that is exactly the same as the original KOF '94. Then again, if they had messed with adding more frames of animation then that *would* have changed the timing and stuff, so I am sure many people would have complained about that.Background wise, as I mentioned the 3D ones are good, but I have two problems with them: The first is that most of the originals probably had more atmosphere to them, while these new ones can seem a bit bland at times, and they don't quite capture the feel of the originals properly. On the other hand a few like the England stage are pretty nice and as good as the old 2D ones, but for the most part they could have been a bit better.
My other problem is the ridiculous amount of cameos in these new stages. Sure, I like to see cameos from other SNK characters pop up here and there, but we are talking more here than even KOF 2002 had!!! (ie a LOT) The dumbest thing about them is that you can see characters that weren't even around back at the time of '94, like Rock and Tizoc, so it just seems a bit silly. I've managed to get used to these now, but I wish they had done these cameos a little bit more tastefully. Ah well, as I said earlier on, you can always play with the original 2D backgrounds on
Right, I am done for now! If anyone has any questions then I'll try to answer them if I can, but I'll be concentrating on writing the proper review... won't promise when it will be done, but I'll keep updating the status thing on at the top of the forum as I do more work on it
Kaz
