The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match

''The MENACE lives... and stands in the way again of the fighters.''

-Intro

The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match is a standalone upgrade of The King of Fighters '98 which includes all characters that were present up to The King of Fighters '97 (making it the only dream match game with the most complete roster of characters based to date within the KOF series as a whole).

Additionally, new alternate versions of characters were added (such as EX Blue Mary and EX Yamazaki). Meanwhile, other alternate versions of characters (barring the Orochi New Faces team and Omega Rugal) gain brand new portraits from their original versions (both on the order select and on the character select/HP-bar mugshot), first seen in the console versions of the original KOF98.

New adjustments to stages (as well as new stages themselves) come along with adjustments to gameplay via re-balancing and new moves. Extra Mode in particular, has many new revisions which makes it more on-par with Advanced Mode:
 * It now has a manual MAX Mode of its own and having a stock at full charge, thus no longer entering a MAX Mode automatically via this method.
 * On the flipside, Quick Max Mode can be accessed on any connecting hit that does not count as a true grab/throw, cancelling the attack into a Max Mode activation which can effectively be used to extend various combos.
 * Charging the charge is now much faster, along with the recovery from the charging animation.
 * Sidesteps/dodges are also faster on recovery.
 * The advantage carry-over for later members of a player's team no longer involves the power bar's length, but instead increases the threshold for the critical HP range (from low HP to near-half HP) to use normal DMs with no cost and/or to allow for SDMs.
 * The HP bar will no longer flash for a while via a cooldown period if a free DM is used in critical HP range, preventing the player from spamming free DM's.
 * To make up for the stationary dodge's drawbacks compared to rolling in Advanced Mode, walking movement speed is slightly increased in Extra Mode.

A new and notable mode of play for this game is known as Ultimate Mode, where similar to the EX Grooves of Capcom vs. SNK 2, players are able to customize their gauge systems and the mechanics that go along with them, with it being able to select between Advanced or Extra (the gauge style, the method of dodging, and method of quick forward movement).

The game was released in Japanese arcades on March 18, 2008 and later on the PlayStation 2. Ultimate Match is also available on Xbox 360 Live Arcade. The American port was released by Ignition Entertainment March 3, 2009 and packaged with an extra DVD containing trailers and wallpapers for the game and King of Fighters XII. Also released in 2009 was the Chinese version of the arcade game, titled The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match HERO. It's published by New Channel instead of SNK, and runs on the significantly less powerful PolyGame Master 2 hardware (developed by Taiwanese company IGS) instead of the Taito Type X hardware.

The home version of the game, similar to The King of Fighters Neowave for its home version, uses full 3D-rendered versions of its backgrounds (though an option exists to convert them back into the classic-styled backgrounds in the original '98). The home version also comes with its own arranged soundtrack of the original  '98 and most of the game's new soundtracks for UM, as well as a new Neo Geo mode, which allows for a demo of the original Neo Geo-port perfect version of the classic KOF '98. An animated intro included with the Dreamcast port of the original can be accessed as an unlockable extra in Ultimate Match.

A new version of the game named The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition has been released as well (containing various tweaks to the characters and game mechanics), initially for the arcades, and has been released to the PC through Steam in December 16, 2014. Also was released a version for Humble Bundle, in January 9, 2016, and a GOG version in June 1, 2018. This version also features the arranged versions of the BGMs by default during gameplay.

During the first day of TOKYO GAME SHOW 2021, it has been confirmed that the game will received a major update, which will include netcode rollback, developed by Code Mystics, which aimed to improve online matches. The update will arrive in this Winter. The same proccess occured with The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match, Garou: Mark of the Wolves and the two games of The Last Blade series. The first rollback test occured between October 19th and 29th. A second beta test occured between November 29th and December 4th, with two features: the Online Lobbies and Spectator Mode. The update was released officially in December 20, 2021.

Characters
The roster consists of not only everyone from the original KOF '98, but also every character who was playable at least once in KOF '94, KOF '95, KOF '96 and KOF '97 (all canonical chapters of the Orochi Saga). Additionally, all alternate versions of certain characters are also available. Some of them also appears in the original game.

New & Exclusive Stages
In addition to the original stages in a reimagined version in 3D (only in PS2 and PS4 versions), SNK Playmore also added the scenarios of the finals of KOF '96 ('96 Bosses Team and Goenitz) and KOF '97 (Awakened Orochi Team and Orochi), along with some new stages:


 * China Wall: The Great Wall of China. The fight takes place on a broken section of the wall.
 * Changes: In the first round, it's empty and it's morning; in second and third rounds, people are watching the fight in the background; and in the last rounds, it's sunset.
 * Hong Kong: A commercial center in the Central District, with various vehicles spectators cheering with some advertisements in the background. Similar to Lee Pai Long's stage in AOF 2 and the Hong Kong Stage in RBFFS.
 * Changes: In the first and second rounds, it's morning, with a few people watching the fight, inside and outside the train; in the third and fourth rounds, it is afternoon and there is a crowd watching the battle; and in the last round takes place at night, and people can be seen inside the train next to the characters. The battle takes place next to the train tracks.
 * Taiwan: The entrance of the National Palace Museum, in Taipei. The fight takes in the middle of the square and next to some statues, beside some flags.
 * Changes: In the 1st round, people are cheering and holding a flag with words in Chinese, besides a woman sitting at a table with a sun umbrella under sunny weather; in the 2nd round, the stage is empty and cloudy; from the 3rd round, the stage gets full again, with the same people from the 1st round and in the light of the sunset.
 * Saudi Arabia: The fight takes in front of the Masmak Fort, in Riyadh. This stage features palm trees, women wearing burqas and various shieks.
 * Changes: In the 1st round, the weather is sunny; in the 2nd round, can be seen a sunset, and more sheikhs on the left and the right; from the 3rd round, it's already night and more sheikhs can be seen in the background, and bonfires on both sides.
 * Chinese Village: The village of Xitang. Some residences can be seen in the background as the fighters battle on top of a cobblestoned road.
 * Changes: In the 1st round, people and pandas are cheering with the fight, holding posters with the game's name, and the weather is sunny; in 2nd round, the stage is empty and the sky is cloudy; from the 3rd round, it's already night and few people are in the stage.
 * Chinese Temple: The Famen Temple, in Xi'an.
 * Changes: in the first round, can be seen some people next to the river, and the weather is sunny; in the 2nd round, can be seen a sunset; from the 3rd round, the stage is empty and it's already night; also can be seen some lights coming from the temple.
 * Bousou — Orochi Iori & Orochi Leona: The bloody version of China Village and Saudi Arabia, like in the stages of KOF '97.
 * Note 1: All the new stages, with exception of Sub-Boss Stages, Bosses Stages and Bousou Stages, don't appear in Team Play and Single Play, but appear in Versus Play and Practice Mode.
 * Note 2: In this remake, a new version of the famous cameo of the bicycle can be seen in the Japan Street stage, with a backpacking man in a lab coat and slippers carrying a mascot of SNK, Neo-Poke-Kun.
 * Note 3: All the stages have the 2D and 3D versions, which can be changed in the game settings (only in PS2 and PS4 versions).

Reception
GameRankings gave Ultimate Match a 77% based on 14 reviews for the PlayStation 2 version and 74% based on 5 reviews for the Xbox 360 version. Metacritic gave it a 73 out of 100 for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 versions based on 11 reviews and 4 reviews respectively. Various publications for video games and other media have commented on Ultimate Match with IGN writer Ryan Clements giving it a 7.8, saying that probably this game should only be recommended to fans of The King of Fighters due to how old its graphics are as well as the little balance it has with 60 characters being playable.

James Mielke from 1UP.com complained on how the game is very similar to KOF '98, but found the controls to be comfortable and intuitive for any fans of 2D fighting games. However, Heath Hooker from GameZone found that the gameplay and sound from the game make up for the graphics even though there is not much difference between KOF '98 and KOF '98: Ultimate Match. In 2013, KOF '98 Ultimate Match was ranked as the 15th best arcade game of the 1990s by Complex, who also called it "possibly the greatest SNK fighting game of them all," and included it on their list of 25 best 2D fighting games of all time in 2013.

Trivia

 * In this game, EX Kyo has all of his sound effects and voice clips reused from the original KOF '95 (this did not apply to the original KOF '98).


 * The Mid-Bosses of this game appears in Team Play as a Single Entry. However, this don't occurs with the teams before the Boss Fight.


 * Unlike the original version, due to Eiji Kisaragi being a selectable character in this version, he no longer has a cameo in Billy's unique intro towards Iori. He also don't appears as a background cameo in the USA Wharf Stage.


 * Orochi's battle intro is no longer has Chris transforming into it, nor does it have any dialogue.


 * There was initially an issue with EX Geese's Raging Storm that caused it not to hit at all if a character continuously ran into him during the animation, likely due to a hitbox/hurtbox displacement. So far, the only characters whose hurtboxes are big enough to still be hit by it while running are Benimaru, Daimon, Yuri, Kensou, Chizuru, King, Chang, Chris, Yamazaki, Heidern, Heavy-D!, Brian, Goenitz, Krauser and Mr. Big.


 * Characters introduced in KOF '98 UM has their character themes directly lifted from their source material, instead of being rearranged for the game as per previous custom in its NeoGeo incarnation. The obvious exception to this is Krauser's, whose digitally sampled theme (and not sequenced like other character themes) dates back to Fatal Fury 2.


 * Several hacks of the NeoGeo version of KOF '98 are well-inspired by KOF '98 UM, adding characters introduced in this game, including portraits found exclusively in this game, but riddled with various glitches particularly in sound effect and voice playback.


 * Most notably with normal Geese, Mr. Big, Krauser, and Eiji, their character select icons are recycled from their source debut games and are not brand new. The exception is EX Geese, who gets all-new icons and portraits distinct from his regular form; including Kasumi and Goenitz, who receive completely different character select icons.


 * The Awakened Orochi Team is the only team that is not chosen in Random Team. This is due to their status as sub-bosses. However, the normal version of the team is selectable in Random Team.


 * The '96 Bosses Team stage does not have the floor physics correctly implemented (floating up and down with respect to water and boat physics), compared to its original incarnation in KOF '96 and the China stage.
 * The same thing can be noted for the Awakened Orochi Team stage from KOF '97, whose animations are not implemented smoothly in comparison to the original.


 * This game (and his original version), along with The King of Fighters 2003, The King of Fighters XI, The King of Fighters XII, The King of Fighters XIII and The King of Fighters XV, are the only games of the series in which the character BGM plays after the round announce.


 * This game, The King of Fighters XIV, The King of Fighters XV and The King of Fighters Neowave are the only of the series to use the characters' full name in the select screen.