King of Fighters Dream Match 1999
- January 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
SNK enters the ring of 2D fighters on the Dreamcast with King of Fighters Dream Match 1999. Sega's new home console has the proven muscle to bring arcade-perfect 2D action home, but will KOFDM99 be the king of the world or just another contender?
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Anime Action
With the stunning (and pre-rendered) animated opening sequence, KOFDM99 starts with a bang, bringing the high energy of anime under your control. Or at least, that's what you're expecting. After scores of frantic battles in Marvel vs. Capcom and going a few rounds in Street Fighter Alpha 3, you'd expect the same kind of fast and furious battle from SNK's newest title, but alas, you are left disappointed. KOFDM99 features a whopping 38 characters to choose from and even the option to connect and share information with a Neo Geo Pocket Color. But those impressive features do little to cover the fact that the game, the graphics, the animation, and even the engine, seem quite dated. With all of the eye-popping titles that have hit the shelves since the Dreamcast launch (and so many of them fighting titles), it seems that KOFDM99 will just get buried in the back of the shelves, and justifiably so.
Wail To The King
Graphically, KOFDM999 is totally unimpressive. The character design continues in the same anime character style that the series is known for, but the animation is very choppy. Some moves are hard to make out because they need several more frames of movement. It takes a bit of the "wow factor" away from completing a big move if you can't really tell what you just did. Also, the backgrounds are nothing special; they're not supposed to compete with the stunning visuals of a Soul Calibur, but they just look second rate to Capcom's 2D Dreamcast titles, too.
It's the yipping, yelling, squawking and moaning that dominates the soundtrack in this game. Just like a subtitled anime movie, if you're sitting in the other room and don't see what's on screen you'll be annoyed by the constant racket coming from each of the characters. The sound effects seem as paper thin as the characters as well, with very little feeling of solid contact conveyed.
Control-wise the game seems stuck in a rut. It's basically a stripped down version of the Street Fighter engine with fewer bells and whistles. It's fairly easy to learn, but can wear out into button mashing rather quickly.
Queen of Fighters?
With so many other solid fighters, both 2D and 3D, already battling it out for the attention of Sega Dreamcast owners, King of Fighters Dream Match 1999 doesn't hold the throne.
