Maximum Impact's story takes place in an Alternate Continuity that's tied more closely to the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series. After Geese Howard's death, Southtown's underworld was eventually taken over by a man known as Fate, who used his power to keep it relatively peaceful. However, this peace didn't last, and Fate was killed by the rival gang Mephistopheles. Six months later, Mephistopheles holds a fighting tournament in locations across Southtown. Twin brothers Alba and Soiree Meira enter this tournament to avenge their adoptive father.
KOF: Maximum Impact is the series' first Video Game 3D Leap, bringing the gameplay to 3D plane like Tekken and Virtua Fighter. The overall fighitng system is similar to the main series, but some necessary changes were made to be in line with 3D fighting games, like characters being able to side step and adjusting characters' commands because of it. Other notable change is that Maximum Impact does not adopt the team system from the main series; you just pick one character in the roster and play as them for the rest of the playthrough.
A slightly enhanced version of the game, known as KOF: Maximum Impact - Maniax, was released for Playstation 2 and Xbox in 2005.
Returning characters
- Returning from KOF '94: Kyo Kusanagi, Terry Bogard, Ryo Sakazaki, Yuri Sakazaki, Mai Shiranui, Athena Asamiya, Ralf Jones, Clark Still
- Returning from KOF '95: Iori Yagami
- Returning from KOF '96: Leona Heidern
- Returning from KOF '99: K', Maxima
- Returning from KOF 2000: Seth
New characters
- Alba Meira: The heir to Fate's crime empire. Aloof and calculated, he enters the tournament to seek revenge against Duke for killing his father.
- Soiree Meira: Alba's younger brother, Soiree is much more jovial and adds plenty of showy flair to his fighting style.
- Lien Neville: A British assassin with a rather...complicated relationship with Duke, she uses a wide array of gadgets to ensure her opponents don't survive.
- Mignon Beart: A mysterious sorceress and up-and-coming pop star, with a one-sided rivalry with Athena.
- Chae Lim: A spunky tomboy who trained under Kim Kaphwan, she enters this tournament in his place to prove herself.
- Rock Howard: Yes, that Rock Howard, making his general KOF debut over a decade before he joined the main series.
- Duke: The Russian crime lord heading up Mephistopholes. Having been empowered by genetic experiments, he hosts this tournament as a means of drawing out the Meiras.
This work shows examples of:
- Alternate Continuity: From this game's synopsis, it's clear Maximum Impact takes place in a separate continuity from the main KOF series, like Geese being dead.
- Arrange Mode:
- In Time Trial Mode, you have to defeat a number of characters as quickly as possible.
- Mission Mode has the player complete four levels of 10 missions. Each mission has settings and conditions to be completed. Most of the game's unlockables come from this mode.
- Big Bad: Duke, the boss of Mephistopheles, and one of the people involved in the death of Fate.
- Inconsistent Dub: The English dub seems to have some issues with Calling Your Attacks
- Some characters who shout the names of their attacks as they use them call out a name that's completely different from the name of the move in their movelist. For example, Alba's "Hallowed Slug of the Heavenly Conqueror" is referred to as "Conquer Lightning Blast"
- Most of the cast uses English names for their attacks — except Yuri, who calls her Koouken, Raiouken, and Haoh Shoko Ken... exactly that.
- Model Museum: The Profile Mode that allows you to view the models of every fighter in the game alongside all of their alternative costumes (provided you've unlocked them), with free-look functions available. On top of this, each model comes with the character's backstory and biography, voice lines, and the ability to view their alternative "Rigging Models" as well.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: When your gang's name is Mephistopheles, it's pretty clear that they're not exactly Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters. It even gets Lampshaded at one point:Hyena: The true sponsor is Mephistopheles, the gang who controls Southtown.
Kyo: That's one ominous name for a sponsor.
Hyena: Heh heh, good point! - Shifting Situation Duel: When fighting Duke as Alba, Soiree, or Lien, the first round takes place in a graveyard. In the second round, Duke smashes through the ground, taking the fight to a golden stage with an audience. Averted with other characters, who skip directly to the second phase.
- Truer to the Text: Like the main KOF series, Maximum Impact still runs in a different continuity from that of Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. However, compared to the main series that mostly demoted them to guest characters, Maximum Impact integrates more plot beats based on their series. Notably, the events of Real Bout Fatal Fury are played straight, so Geese is dead for good and never meets his son, Rock Howard, alive on-screen (whereas in the main series, they eventually meet each other in XIV, contradicting their original series).
- Video Game 3D Leap: This is the first game in the series to utilize 3D graphics.
