Recommended Soundtracks: King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2

| January 2, 2010 | Features, Music | No Comments
recommendedsoundtracksbanner.jpgYou’re bound to get a mixed reaction whenever you mention any of the King of Fighters: Maximum Impact games when talking to fighting game fans. That’s because fans of the series, or fighting games in general, are mixed when it comes to precisely how it represents the franchise’s gameplay. Oh, and because it’s 3D, and it sure isn’t the best use of 3D polygons we’ve ever seen, even for 2004. But it helps if you can accept it as a different, interesting, and fun alternative to the standard 2D games. And it also makes the transition from 2D to 3D much better than any of the Street Fighter EX games.
But if there’s one thing that absolutely no one can deny — not even the most die-hard, stubborn opponent to the game that just has to vocalize their emphatic dislike to the game to the whole internet — it’s the music. It’s really some of the best music I’ve heard in the series, with the exception of a few main games in the series. (And no, I’m not just saying it’s better than the music you’ll find in King of Fighters 2001 and 2002, because that’s too easy.) You’ll only find one familiar King of Fighters theme here (hope you’re a big fan of Geese Howard), but that doesn’t mean most of it isn’t memorable.

kofmi2ostpic_010210.jpgThe game being featured here, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2, also includes a few of the best tracks from the first game. In other words, it includes the tracks without the lyrics that would raise anyone’s eyebrow from being ill-fitting for a fighting game. If there’s one qualm I have with its soundtrack, it’s that the tracks themselves are too short. When you listen to a good track, you want it to go on for as long as it can, while simultaneously not overstaying its welcome. Here, each track plays once, and that’s it, making most of the tracks two minutes at most. It’s a departure from the first game’s soundtrack, which had each individual track loop its tune once (which was perfect). 

Also, the second disc includes a bunch of fan-favorite arcade (as opposed to remixed console) tracks from the 2D series. If you ever wanted a convenient collection of some of the best tracks — subjectively, because there’s bound to be something you like that’s not included here (plenty of my personal favorites are missing) — here you are.
KoF: MI2 is a Japanese fighting game involving quite a few characters of Asian descent, so you know it’s bound to have some music themes that are derived from eastern sound styles. Of the tracks, Taiko Man is definitely the best.
When you see a track named “There’s a Semi-Sale in That Forest,” you’re not likely to think that it’s a wonderfully ambient track that feels like it should be used as an RPG battle theme (that’s a compliment). No idea what this has to do with sales though. Or semi ones:
Last, we have “Giving a Manicure to the Fingernails of Darkness,” which is the final boss stage’s theme. As such, it’s perfectly epic, and gives off the sense of danger. Said boss doesn’t have dangerous fingernails through:
(It’s only by writing this that I realized how weird some of these track names are.)

The music is only one part of what makes the Maximum Impact games a fun little alternative. Unfortunately, things aren’t too good for SNK financially at the moment, so they recently had to cancel some of the games in the franchise. The last game in the MI series, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation A2, is apparently pretty good according to fans. It’s a shame it never received a release outside of Japan, though. I’d like to see a game in the series made for a current generation console, but as of right now, the chances of that happening are around the same as Sega porting Virtua Fighter 5 R to consoles; i.e. zilch.

(Also, please don’t refer to this game as the SNK Playmore USA-given King of Fighters 2006.)

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News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter

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