KOF 2006

The new king of fighters is coming out it was going to be called maximum impact 2 but thats only going to be the name for the japanese version. Its the sequal to maximum impact and will be completly in 3d. The game will also feature bonuses such as car breaking and matches against tje metal slug, it even has a secret character roster!

Jivatma
Classic Kyo Kusanagi (kyo kusanagi as he appeared in kof '94)
Armor Ralf (different version of ralf)
Mr. Karate
Lilly Kane (billy kanes sister)
Hanzo Hattori
Fio (the girl from metal slug)
Hyena
Richard Myer
Nightmare Geese (geese howard as he appeared in fatal fury)
Wild Wolf (garou mark of the wolves version of terry bogard)
Kim Kaphwan
Ninion Bert (the sister of mignion bert)
B. Jenet

Though i really think the secret roster is a disgrace, how does hanzo istantly appear way after he should be dead? i find it distracting and in relevant. but thats just me.

Already got it, already unlocked all of the characters and a fair few of the costumes. Also done all of the Easy missions. Parrying is fairly broken (a low parry will stop practically all strikes).

Most of the old characters have had some sort of major overhaul in the moves department. Kyo definitely has, with a Power Geyser style super.

My most played character Clark has several new bits to him. Frankensteiner start animation is back to 2D style, which gives it some use, unlike in MI where it was unnecessary when his SAB could be used more easily and for more damage as well. Flashing Elbow now has follow ups (Pickup -> Northern Light Bomb). Makes the "35% in one combo" mission really easy with Clark (Jumping D, Close C, SAB, Flashing Elbow, Pickup, Northern Light Bomb).

I could go in further, but I don't have the time.

As for some of the secret characters:

Mr. Karate is Ryo Sakazaki with Takuma's movelist (complete with 2002 HSDM)
Wild Wolf is like an "Ultimate Terry", with pretty much all his newer supers (Buster Wolf, Power Stream, Rising Beat)
Richard Meyer is a much better capoeira user than Soiree (who is major to the story this time)
Armour Ralf is the same as Ralf with one different move (Armblock - + from 2003 replaces his Vulcan Punch), and he has a fair amount of autoguard on his moves
Jivatma is the final boss and his Another costume is female
Nightmare Geese is fantastic, that's all there is
Lilly Kane is like Billy but with slightly altered moves (she uses water instead of fire), and Billy's Liar Elemental (his HSDM from 2002)
Hanzo is the same as Nagase but with a different super (and no counter supers)

A lot of characters have alternate costumes that are parodies of SNK and other characters

Alba - Jubei (SS)
Kyo - Yuki (NGBC), Saisyu (KOF)
Ryo - Sokaku (FF)
Yuri - Robert
Mai - Andy, Taki (Soul Calibur)
Ralf - Marco (Metal Slug)
Clark - Tarma (Metal Slug), Raiden (FF)
Maxima - Rocky (Robo Army), Yashiro
Iori - Setsuna (Last Blade), Shen Woo (KOF)
Athena - Kisarah Westfield (Aggressors of Dark Kombat)
Soiree - Ramon, Freeman (MOTW), Dee Jay
Rock - Kaede (LB), Kain (MOTW)
Kula - Ash Crimson, Candy (KOF)
Lien - Zechs (Gundam Wing)
Leona - Heidern, Rei and Asuka (Evangelion)
Seth - Eddie E. (Final Fight)
Lilly - Hotaru (MOTW), Snow White, Hinako (KOF)
Richard - Bob Wilson (FF)
Hanzo - Galford (SS)
Geese - Goenitz, Karman Cole (AOF3), Mukai (KOF)
Hyena - Joker (Savage Reign)

There are a fair few more as well.

Its out already?!?!?!

In Japan, under it's true name - Maximum Impact 2.

You had me going there, i prefer kof 2006 though.

Does 2006/MI2 play the same as the first one

Havent played it yet. Just want to know what the gameplay is like.

I played the first one on XBOX.

Apart from the well designed 3d characters for me it kinda sucked.

I still prefer KOF98 above all others

It plays a lot like the first one. Only differences now are that there are new moves for each character, super cancels and the most important new feature - parrying.

The only problem with the parrying is that the low parry will parry pretty much anything, and I mean ANYTHING. It's unfortunately fairly broken.

I think snk/playmore has always rushed too much each year to bring out their latest KOF titles while still delivering quality games but not focusing on those small glitches like the low parry and other gameplay issues.

However this roster of characters looks quite interesting with oldies like Richard from Fatal Fury and Hanzo From Samurai Showdown.

I'll still stick to the 2D classics though.

I think there are too many episodes of King of Fighters. I'd much rather see a new original game from SNK, or a sequel to one of their other masterpieces, like "Last Resort".

Last Resort was a tad bit too difficult for me. I only finished the first stage once.
I liked Blazing Star more.

Still a good idea though.

I can play through a few stages on my own, but with this game it really helps to play with a friend. But even then it's hard as hell. By the way, you have to play through the game twice in a row to finish it.

Blazing Star was cool.

As for KOF, XI comes out in 5-6 days on PS2. Then, Metal Slug Evolution (3D Metal Slug - don't know what to expect from it) comes out 7 days later (again on PS2).

However, the game I'm anticipating most is SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash DS. They've released new shots and character art (Yamazaki and Dante are looking great).

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/2006/06/15/104,1150371720,55003,0,0.html

Wow, it's planned for release in 2006? Back at E3 they suppossedly had almost nothing done. I think they had a Blue Mary card with the name 'Ryu' and a 'Hadoken' attack.
Anyway, I enjoyed the first game in the series for a while, but never tried with the second one (too much Japanese text). I'm hoping it comes out of Japan if it's any good.

Well, KOFXI came out on Thursday, and I've been playing it non stop since. In my opinion, this is the best KOF ever made (and that includes 98).