SNK Neogeo Consumer Corporation Inc., the US branch of the latest incarnation of SNK, was at this year's Electronics Entertainment Expo, and invited us to take a look at the latest entry into the King of Fighters series, a real departure from the series formula: King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, one of the three original SNK games on display at the show. Maximum Impact will be the first King of Fighters to move from 2D to 3D, although this move seems to be primarily superficial at the moment. (The version on display at E3 had no controls for moving on the Z axis.) It may not be terribly 3D, but it is fairly pretty, as all of the charaters move smoothly and all of the special attacks are sufficiently flashy.

Maximum Impact isn't the next King of Fighters in the annual series; the 2D series, with its ever-increasing cast, will continue as normal. Instead, it is a side-story, only a fraction of the cast. That means it will have only about two-dozen characters, including the newcomers Alba, Soiree, Mignon, and Lien. The core of the KoF cast will be present; the characters on display included Ryo, Kyo, Terry Bogard, Iori, Ralf, and K'. The switch to 3D means each character gets a seperate skin instead of a recolor, and some of the new designs are truly goofy. For example. K' is sporting shades and jeans and not much else in his alternate skin, a long-haired Terry wears a bomber jacket with his familiar star logo in his, and Mignon wears a frighteningly cute bunny suit.

While the 3D movement wasn't evident in this version, several other 3D fighting elements were present. It's possible to knock opponents off of the wall to set them up for further attacks, Virtua Fighter-style. This was still a tad unreliable, but there is probably a technique to it that isn't immediately clear. Likewise, getting up isn't automatic; breakfalls, rolls, and down attacks have all been added to the KoF formula, adding an entirely new element. Hopefully, there will be a working Z-axis control, to allow players to actually take advantage of the fact that Maximum Impact is a 3D game.

At this point, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact isn't so much defined by what it is as what it isn't. It won't be coming to arcades. It won't be 2D. It won't be using the team fights that have dominated King of Fighters in recent years. It's an alternate path of evolution, turning Maximum Impact into a simpler, more elegant fighting game than its crowded 2D cousin. It remains to be seen how well the transition to 3D will work, and how well the long-term SNK core crowd will respond to this departure.