I gotta say, I put some time into Maximum Impact and find it to be a relatively balanced, very fun game.
It unfortunately was dead on arrival in the US because the Japanese version is horrendously broken, so most of the gameplay-centric SNK fans passed on it. Shame since the North American version fixes the wall juggling and damage levels and is very nicely tuned. It's also one of the few 3D fighters that I feel plays almost as fast as a 2D one.
I think it would appeal to Fatal Fury fans. If you check out the gameplay system, pacing and moves, it feels like this was going to be Wild Ambition 2 or Real Bout 3 or something at first.
Fatal Fury fans might get into the game faster as well, as most people who think it's broken are apparently unaware that you can dodge roll and sidestep. You can do this inbetween the supposedly "unavoidable" "endless" combos which aren't even physically possible in the US version (though obviously some infinites are still in there if you don't dodge at all).
The Maniax bit on the name is pretty dumb. Adding random extreme words onto the upgrade title on the Japanese releases for games happens all the time (Hell, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Maniacs, Guilty Gear XX # Reload: The Midnight Carnival, try those out ten times fast) and I wish that didn't spread here.
Aesthetically I have no real problems with the game. The soundtrack is excellent overall and the backgrounds are very nice. Character models are good enough for a game this fast. I'd rather be able to hop in and Super Argentine Backbreak someone than spend half a second watching Clark get ready to run forward or something. It will be nice to see it in higher resolution on the XBox, high definition compatibility (like on KoF2002/2003) would also be fantastic.
I used to think Wild Ambition was better than this but I'm having more fun with this overall at the moment.
The collector's version with the extra DVD is worth it for the camp value alone. You get a profile of each fighter with a text blurb as well as a great overly dramatic English speaking guy talking about how Terry's the legendary wolf and always ready for battle and such and there's a little dialogue like this for every character. It's GOLD. It also has a quick interview with the King of Fighters series producer and she has some interesting stuff to say about why the game is built the way it is to try to preserve the pacing of the 2D KoFs.
Overall I find the game to be a lot of fun, I'm glad I bought it. I think you can get it for $30 now at most places (less if you get the game itself without the extra DVD, most non EB/Gamestop places sell it like this) so if people are on the fence, I'd reccomend it once it's $20 or less everywhere.
All the Live play options make the XBox version pretty tempting. What I'm really hoping for are some more characters though. There was that point where SNK wanted to put Geese into every game again, yet they blew it on a game that takes place IN Southtown?
