King of Fighters 2006 for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

Probably worth renting as it has a lot of characters which is the good thing. Graphics are decent but not great. Gameplay is pretty good. Once you beat a story mode with the character you have chosen you can unlock new characters, new stages, new costumes. If you like fighting games, this game doesn't compare to Tekken 5 or Soul Calibur 3. King of Fighters is not worth owning but worth renting but you'll be disappointed if you love Soul Calibur 3 or Tekken 5.

While not offering the depth of the latest VF offerings, KoF MI2006 presents 3d fighting aficionados with something that KoF fans have enjoyed for years: unique characters and fast-paced action.

The story mode is fairly bare bones, but enough to keep your interest. Completing it also unlocks a costume for the selected character, so it's well worth pursuing, particularly late in the game.

The story comprises of a tournament (King of Fighters, anyone?). Within that, there is a preliminary text block explaining your character's past, and then after three matches there is a battle with a rival/friend that involves some voice-work and is overall enjoyable for most characters. Proceeding the boss battle, there is another cut-scene with more voice-work which is an appreciable reward for "winning" the tournament. Don't expect too much depth here, as it is a fighting game and if they're talking, then you can't be fighting.

The boss battle is normal KoF fare, which basically means the boss is overpowered with Super Combos that can literally rip away 60-70% of your life gauge if you're uprepared. If by this point you have not become acquainted with the new 3d dodge implementation, then you'll walk away well versed in its usage.

There are several additional modes, including a mission mode where you have to complete certain tasks such as "strike 10 times (easy)" to "Defeat this opponent who has twice as much life as normal and yours gradually decreases (even without taking damage)." The missions are skill building, and after spending some time there, you will be considerably better. There are also mini-games, including one where you have to defeat the tank from Metal Slug, which all sorts of amusing at times.

Overall, I can easily recommend it to both fans of KoF and fighting gamers alike. There's much more depth to this game than Mai Shiranui's jiggly chest: the fighting engine is solid and the fighters actually play differently from each other.

If you expecting Tekken or VF5, keep looking but if you looking to just have a lot of fun playing a great fighter your in luck, and if your a fan of KoF you better have your copy already.
Game play wise this game is perfect. There aren't to many pick up and play fighting games anymore. All the moves are nice and easy to pull off. This is a big improvement from Maximum Impact where a few of the moves didn't pan out like you'd like them to. No online play however kills in this day and age. GAME PLAY- 9
Visually Kof 2006 looks great for what it is. Being only SNK's second offering to the 3D realm of fighting you have to appreciate what they've done here. Nice smooth frame rate keeps the fighting feeling…well smooth. Graphic- 8
The sound was my biggest problem with KoF 06. I do think SNK needs to fire all there voice actors. I mean really, why do some of the fighters sound like 12 year old boys going through puberty? Music is just as forgettable. Your better off muting your TV and listening to your own ipod. SOUND- 4
The story absolutely sucks! Really what makes it worst is the voice acting. But hey, that’s what RPG’s are for not fighting games. STORY- 6
If you’re a fan of the KoF series(and if your not you must have been playing Street Fighter 2 or Mortal Kombat for most of the 90’s) you need to pick this game up. With 3 on 3 battles and a challenge mode it will have you playing until you unlocked everything in the game, which is a lot. REPLAY- 9
There are a few problems I had with the game the need to be fixed for Kof 07. The games overall balance. Some the fighter are to overpowering while others are far to weak. This can be a huge problem especially if this is your first KoF game. Online play is a must to have. There is just no excuse for it. If your going to do voice over work on a Japanese game hire people to speak ENGLISH! And not 12 year old kids! To SNK, real breast don’t move the way Lien’s and Mia’s do.

very good fighting game with 2 players. Problems start when you play story mode with more then one person. They don't realy dive into a "story" as much as they do a quick phrase from each fighter to progress the "plot". Also why do all the girls chest area bounces around when the move the slightest bit. I've never such movement from that part of the body before. And where is Mai's ending pose, get the camera back in front of her for that if your gonna have all that movement! But really though, 2 players is great, but the story mode gets a bit boring after a few fighters have cleared it. I kinda miss some of the moves from the 2D version (the 3-peat Power Geiser for example).

Like the title says, this game is a button mashers dream. If you are a button masher that always gets their you know what handed to you in fighting games by those guys that spend time learning the moves, then here is your great equalizer. The graphics are good. The surroundings are nice, but need to be more reactive to the player. The story line and upgrades need to be vastly improved. I say it was worth a play, but could never be compared to Tekken or Mortal Combat.

It's pretty descent game, especially with a little competition. My only problem is that each character doesn't have a balance of abilities. for example, Terry boguard is just too powerful. On-line play would probably make this game a eight even. but SONY please. a little on-line play. all of the classic king of fighter characters would have been nice too

Ugh. This game gave me a headache. The voiceacting is annoying. Very annoying. It's extremely easy to repeat moves, so the battle shouts of your character are called out over and over... and over... and over.. Not to mention that the last guy has the same script, just your character responds in a different way.

A little info on this game; the reason it's been named 2006 instead of Maximum Impact 2 is due to the previous 3D game having performed poorly. Don't let the title confuse you - this isn't the next step in the "main line" of KOF games. This, as was the previous, is the franchises attempt to break into the 3D gaming genre.

Even if this game is not the original story of King of Fighters, it still boasts a good deal of story for each character as well as a decent fighting system to back it all up. Parry is a new feature to the game that lets you knock your opponents attack out of the way, temporarily causing them to break stride and open them up for a quick sequence of attacks. It's not overly useful, but neither is it useless. Combos are not entirely limited to the "stylish moves" that are described for each character, but they are the most prudent chain of attacks. Special attacks can be chained into your combos to add extra lethality, and being bounced off walls is just as common (and deadly) as it was in the last.

This sequel has improved a great deal on its predecessor, not only in terms of fighting fluidity but also in story. The combat is still on the slower end and the pace of battle does not really stack up to other popular, well established 3D titles. Chances are you'll want to play only a few of the characters before you get tired.

In short, KOF2006 plays well, with the only real problem being that it brings nothing new to the genre. While it may not be on the level of Tekken or Viruta Fighter, any KoF fan will enjoy spending a few rounds with characters not open on in the main line of the series and in nice 3D. Casual gamers of the genre will likely find the game lacking.

I should also mention, the game offers Hatori Hanzo of Samurai Showdown fame as a secret character - someone who has yet to be in a recent 3D fighter. Old lovers of that franchise may find him as a unexpected surprise.

The fighting is just way too cluncky, most moves arent very good or too slow so button mashing is pretty much better. The characters are pretty cool, but after playing a game like tekken, its impossible to enjoy this.