File:King of Fighters Maximum Impact Launch Documentary (2004 ,SNK Playmore)

The documentary is broken into parts:

Story New Characters 20:36 New System 24:43 Interviews: 29:38 Concept art gallery 41:32

The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact is a fighting game for the PlayStation 2, produced by SNK subsidiary Noise Factory and published by SNK Playmore in 2004–2005. An enhanced version was released for Xbox and PlayStation 2 under the title KOF: Maximum Impact — Maniax. The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation "A" was released for Taito Type X2 on July 14, 2007 and for PlayStation 2 on July 26, 2007 and only in Japan.

Marketed as a spinoff of SNK's major fighting series The King of Fighters, whence many of its characters originate, KOF: Maximum Impact also contains elements of the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series. KOF: Maximum Impact is the first 3D fighter made by SNK since 1990s era's Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition and lastly, Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage for the PlayStation. The game was followed by KOF: Maximum Impact 2.

While the version released in the U.S. featured an English dub that was met with much derision (with IGN's Jeremy Dunham going so far as to label it "piss poor"), further releases for the Xbox and European PS2 add a choice of English and Japanese language options. The Xbox version also includes an online match mode where matches can be fought between players via Xbox Live.

Unlike the 2D games from the series, Maximum Impact breaks the team system, causing all the fighters to fight alone. The story mode is experienced as a single character through the Mephistopheles Fighting Tournament. For most characters, this consists of fighting six characters, with Duke's cronie / Consigliere Hyena announcing the next opponent between matches. For the final match, one faces Duke himself. For a few "featured" characters (Alba Meira, Soiree Meira, and Lien Neville), the story is more intricate and fleshed out.

The gameplay is similar to those of Tekken and Bloody Roar series, such as having a more combo command moves and its system on capable of juggle combos freely.

KOF: Maximum Impact has twenty playable characters. Six additional characters make their debut in this game, and most of the remaining roster is inherited from the King of Fighters series. One noteworthy exception to the rule is Rock Howard, brought in from the most recent Fatal Fury chapter, Garou: Mark of the Wolves.

Each character features at least one alternative costume. Some alternate costumes are radically different from the defaults, such as Terry's Garou: Mark of the Wolves look and Clark's professional wrestler persona. In addition to the alternate costumes, characters can be modified with unlockable "rigging models," which add details to the available costumes, such as a wolf mask for Terry or a party hat and banner for Seth.