When a series shifts from 2-D to 3-D, it's not always a guaranteed success. Take Samurai Showdown, SNK's premiere fighting series. At one point, it was running neck and neck with Capcom's Street Fighter II, with a selection of brutal characters to choose from and a fighting rhythm all its own. I couldn't get enough of it back in its Neo-Geo heyday. But in 3-D, in the form of Samurai Showdown 64, the game ran out of gas faster than a car with a leaky fuel tank. It was so bad that even the lowly Samurai Showdown III looked like a fun game in comparison...and part three SUCKS.

Yet somehow, King of Fighters made this transition in a somewhat good fashion. SNK converted this long-running Neo Geo series in 3-D with the release of Maximum Impact for the PlayStation 2, a game I still play every now and again. The gameplay works moderately well, although the cheapie combos you take when you're on the ground (which you cannot block) can lead to an easy demise. There were cracks in the formula with that game, particularly in its lowly presentation (the announcer annoyed me to no end), leaving work to be done- and that work has been mostly accomplished with the improved King of Fighters 2006.

Honestly, at first glance, this doesn't look like a fighting game in 2006. It looks more like a second-gen fighting game from 2002. The characters aren't really that polished, even though certain details are paid attention to. (Mai Shiranui, for instance, has some "bounce to the ounce" in her boobs.) They animate stiffly, even in the flurry of a multi-hit combo. The backgrounds don't really look that amazing either, almost as if they've been ripped out of a Bloody Roar game with their enclosed environments. There are some details that stand out, however, such as a neon-lit sign glowing on-screen while you duke it out. Nothing amazing, but nothing horrible either.

A fighting game's appearance can be lacking as long as the gameplay is there to back it up. Fortunately, it is. King of Fighters 2006 has some lightning fast fighting mechanics that result in some fun match-ups. The cheapie hits on a downed opponent are now limited, giving fighters a better chance to get back up before their energy is eaten away. Super moves can be leveled up, making their impact more effective depending on what level they're pulled off on. And the rest of the moves, ranging from special attacks to multi-hit combos, are great. The multi-hit combos are dialed in just right as well. They can do effective damage, but they don't go into a ridiculously high count like they would in Tekken.

Where King of Fighters excels is in its boisterous extras. The game has nearly 40 fighters to choose from, a number of which have to be unlocked over the course of the game. It's great to see some familiar faces pop up, like Billy Kane, Geese Howard, and Richard Myer- a character I haven't played as in years since Fatal Fury. There's also some great new faces, including Metal Slug's own Fio and Billy's sister, Lily, who could possibly even be more brutal than him. These fighters can be unlocked achieving certain missions, or winning fights against opponents with pre-set rules.

The game features a Story Mode, but it's a little disappointing. The endings provided are brief, and some of them aren't even character specific, instead just following a general ending screen. However, you get to face certain enemies in this mode, so it's good training ground for the better modes in the game. You can hop right into a quick fight, single player or against a friend if you want to go that route instead. There are also several missions to choose from, some of which have certain limitations or require you to pull off a specific move to win. The easy ones are, well, easy, but the hard ones will give you quite the challenge. It's almost like Soul Calibur's mission mode, but not nearly as detailed. Oh well, it still adds longevity where it wasn't expected. I especially liked the mission where I got to slap the hell out of a Metal Slug tank. (Who the hell needs guns?) The survival modes are good fun as well, and you can tweak around options as you desire. But no online multiplayer. Sigh. You'd think SNK would make this a staple in ALL their fighting games for the home market.

The sound is predictable. The soundtrack is nothing amazing, mostly just some rock and other tunes put together to drone on in the background. If SNK put more personality into the music, as they have with their fighter selections, it would fare much better. However, I will give them some credit when it comes to their voice options. The game features a grating English soundtrack that doesn't display any personality. However, you can switch over to the original Japanese voices if you wish. I love this option, as you can hear what the characters are really all about, instead of some unfeeling facsimiles.

The bad news is that King of Fighters 2006 doesn't really feel like a total evolving of the series. Some people will drop $30 (a reasonable lower price) on this and wonder why the game doesn't really look any better than Maximum Impact. But if you can push that disappointment aside and accept the game's shortcomings, you will find lots of merit here. Between the missions, the tightened gameplay, and the various fighters scattered in the game, there's fun to be had for hours on end...especially if you bring over your fighting fanatic friends and get some old-school SNK brawling on. 2-D, 3-D, who cares? It's about the power of the punch, and King of Fighters 2006 packs a pretty good wallop.