The transition to 3D for 2D fighting games is always a process that undergoes plenty of criticism from hardcore fans. Fans of SNK's King of Fighters series get to experience this first hand as the next installment in the series, Maximum Impact, makes the jump to 3D on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. With XBox Live support, a variety of different gameplay modes, and characters to learn, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact looks to offer an exciting experience for all fans of the original 2D games, and those newcomers who have grown accustomed to 3D fighters.

What happens when a well-established fighting game series makes the move to 3D with full Xbox Live support and almost twenty playable characters? You get the latest iteration in the King of Fighters series, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact - Maniax. Originally a PS2 exclusive, Maximum Impact - Maniax adds Xbox Live support and looks to bring this beloved series to another dimension of gaming - the third dimension.

King of Fighters: Maximum Impact is just one of many fighting game series looking to innovate and attract more gamers to its already existent legion of fans. While the game is going from 2D to 3D, it looks to offer enough to make everyone feel comfortable about it. There are your basic gameplay modes that exist in almost every run of the mill fighting game - Story, Versus, Survival, Training and Practice. There are plenty of familiar faces in the cast of characters to make sure people still know who they're fighting with, but only Xbox users can take full advantage of what this game has to offer.

What helps to develop the game a little more is the fact the Xbox version has Xbox Live support, so that gamers across the country don't have to lug their arcade sticks to their friends' house every night to beat up on each other. The amount of support isn't quiet clear, but as long as we have voice chat the opponent can suffer both a verbal and virtual beat down, it'll be good by us.

King of Fighters: Maximum Impact looks to pull in a variety of gamers with this new installment. With the transition to 3D, many who didn't give the series a fighting chance before might think again about their previous decision. Meanwhile, extreme fans of the King of Fighters titles get to look forward to playing their favorite characters in a whole new dimension. Though, this shift might leave some fans feeling betrayed, a successful evolution should set things right in many minds.