2008 has been a very good year for fighting games. Mortal Kombat is finally getting a new installment and the excitement is high about the partnership with DC Comics. Soulcalibur IV has already been out for some time and people generally like the game; Street Fighter IV is set to arrive soon. Now SNK is announcing that the Xbox Live Arcade service for the Xbox 360 will receive an updated version of its classic fighting game King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match.

This is not a remake like the Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match came out in Japanese arcades sometime at the beginning of 2008 and a PlayStation 2 version was released in June. It seems that the game will also be released for the Sony old gen videogame console in 2009 in North America and the features list says that the graphics have been improved a bit, the balance of the characters is better and there are ten new fighters making an appearance for a grand total of 64 playable characters.

Unfortunately, SNK is not to keen on sharing information as to what will be new in the XBLA version of its classic fighting game. Fortunately, the Tokyo Game Show is not far away and the company is supposedly bringing a demo version of the game which will be playable for the public. It will be nice to see how such an old title will hold up to the scrutiny of the modern gamer, who has recently played Soulcalibur IV and who is also ready to play Street Fighter IV and Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. The old school feel of King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match might attract some players, while others will be uninterested because of the obsolete mechanics used in the game.