Back in the summer, SNK Playmore released The King of Fighters XII to both Japan and America and the response from gamers and reviewers have been very negative. Sales have been poor and it has just been reported that the game got dropped to under the equivalent of $11 at a Japanese retailer in order to get rid of the game. I imagine with poor sales all around, that we’ll see this game in American bargain bins during the holidays.

I enjoyed battle system that featured mechanics both familiar and unique to the franchise and most of my favorite characters were in the game. I felt that this was one of the more balanced fighting games released in the past few years and I appreciate that the battle systems was built for players to win on their skill and experience as opposed to spamming moves or using broken characters. I played this game over the weekend and I still like it as much as I did when I first got it.

Unfortunately, the game was lacking in a lot of content. The single player mode is barely existent with it being a boss-less time trial mode. A noticeable amount of fan favorites(Mai, Kula, and K’ for example) are missing. And did I mention that there is no boss!? SNK fighting games are notorious for not having a final boss fight that is so ridiculous and unfair that you’ll spend 30-60 minutes cussing up a storm while you try to beat it. And when you beat it, you feel like you just took down God himself; it’s an awesome moment! Now it’s gone.

The characters that did make it into the game seem to be missing animations and signature moves. Previous installments of the games would have taunts, special intros based on who was squaring off, multiple victory poses, and other animations that happened during the matches that brought more life to the characters. In earlier games, characters had about half a dozen “special” moves and two or three “desperation” moves. Now these moves are cut into half for each character.

SNK said they were going to go back to the basics, but even the first game in there series offered more than this. Many players feel that having less special and desperation moves cut on the game’s depth, but I really think the franchise was layering more and more mechanics on top of each other and it became more complex for players outside the hardcore crowd. However, the game definitely feels rushed. Four to six more months of development would have made a big difference.

SNK could have reinvented the franchise for a more causal crowd that that doesn’t want to spend as much time mastering the battle system and characters as they would in a game like Street Fighter IV or BlazBlue. However, they stumbled on that too. It isn’t really explained how critical counters, guard attacks, and move cancels work in the actual game, and with no story or any of the other flare that the KOF series is known for(like a real single player experience), they don’t do well to get that crowd into the game either.

It is really hard to tell who SNK was making the game for, because it’s not like new fans got into that game and many existing ones didn’t like this one as much as previous entries. I do think a lot of criticism for that game was a bit harsh, especially since so much undeserved praise has been given to Street Fighter IV this year. Despite the comparable lack of fan service and content KOF XII has, it’s a more balanced game and controls better than SFIV, and I have a lot more fun playing KOF XII too. Though like SFIV, I wouldn’t call KOF XII “Fighting Game of the Year” either.

The King of Fighters franchise is on the ropes right now. With poor sales and reception of their biggest release in a while, along with an upcoming live action movie that may just make Legend of Chun-Li look like a masterpiece(okay, that was an exaggeration), SNK really needs to come out swinging in their next game. There is some good ground laid with the current battle system. Now they need to build on it by adding in more characters and moves, include an explanation of how to play the game, and add a more rewarding and deeper single player experience.

The series is not dead yet, but it’s advertised “re-birth” was definitely premature.

(You probably noticed that I didn’t mention anything online. I’ll explain why that matters little next time.)

This weekend is Mini-Megacon, a multi-genre geek convention being held at the Orange County Convention Center. One of the more anticipated events of the convention is “Year of the Fighting Game: Round 2″, a 90 minute panel that will cover all 2009’s fighters, including Street Fighter IV, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, The King of Fighters XII, Tekken 6, Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, and others. I will be hosting it with my fighting game buddies Chris Smoot and Mike “Brotha Kyo” Burgess. We are going to break down the titles that have already come out and discuss what we like and don’t like for each one. Also, we are going to cover some of the more notable aspects of each game’s design and even show some interview clips from each games’ key development staff. In addition, the panel will have time for open discussion so you are feel to share your thoughts at this panel. Lastly, we’ll talk about upcoming fighting games, classic revivals, and the future of the genre.

Fighting games are a passion of ours; it’s definitely a genre of games that doesn’t get the accolades it deserves for players forming creative strategies in order to win. This year has brought back the competitive nature of many old and new fighting game fans. Not only that, advances had been made in several of the games that have already been released have made significant improvements in either game balance, developing characters and story, or online play. This panel will not only be a discussion of fighting games but also a celebration of the genre’s return and its advancements. We hope to see as many of you as possible because an awesome to will be had!

]]> http://www.kentward.com/2009/08/year-of-the-fighting-game-round-2/feed/ 0 http://www.kentward.com/2009/08/mini-megacon-the-mfk-legend-true-manliness/ http://www.kentward.com/2009/08/mini-megacon-the-mfk-legend-true-manliness/#comments Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:02:27 +0000 Kent Ward http://www.kentward.com/?p=223

Kent Ward will make Mini-Megacon MANLY on August 22nd

I’m not getting much of a break from AFO as I have to gear up for Mini-Megacon on August 22nd and August 23rd at the Orange County Convention Center in -hopefully- sunny Orlando, Florida! This will be in smaller scope than the spring Megacon show; however, my posse are poised to help out Anime Sushi and we are all coming out swingin’ to bring you some very fun events!

At AFO, I was too busy making sure Swords of Orlandia III dominated every major event throughout the anime convention circuit in Florida to have time to do any panels or other events that celebrate some of the fandoms I engage in during my daily life. (Though, I do share a huge deal of success with many of the AFO staff members, my game team, and most importantly – the players.) I believe this will be the case for future AFOs, so I will use Megacon as my platform to promote awesome anime and videogames to the people! I have cleared this with the heads of Anime Festival Orlando so those super amazing bloggers that nitpick about what happens at local anime conventions(despite the possibility that they are not even into anime in the first place) can cool their engines for just a bit.

Not only will I be rocking Mini-Megacon, but I have brought some good friends along to help me out! Here is everything you need to check out at Mini-Megacon in a couple weeks:

Saturday, August 22nd

The Real Saturday Morning Cartoons – Before the World’s Greatest Game Show Host, Wheldon Smiley, heads off for Atlanta, he is going to make a pit stop at Mini-Megacon to show you some of the best cartoons from all eras. If you’ve seen it at AFO, then you have an idea of what to expect. Everyone who goes to this event tells me that it is fun so I will check it out myself before it is too late!

It’s MANIME! The Manly Anime Panel – Oh shit, you know who’s hosting this one. Only the two manliest anime fans in all of Florida! Brotha Kyo and myself will be talking about what makes a manly anime manly, using examples from essentials such as Fist of the North Star, Berserk, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Baki the Grappler, and more! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I have some man laws I will unveil that makes your presence at Mini-Megacon important. The males of Orlando have forgotten what it means to be a man, and because of that, we will unveil the Twelve Laws of True Man to help guide you all on the path of greatness! You will be blown away!

A showing of Fist of the North Star 0: Legend of Kenshiro – The manliest anime/manga series ever gets its latest movie shown at Mini-Megacon, right after the MANIME panel. The movie is a prequel to the original series and chronicles the origin of Kenshiro accepting his role as the savior in his post-apocalyptic world. People will explode and manly tears will be shed! If you are a true man, you will watch this with Brotha Kyo and I… or else YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD! By attending this event, your manliness is guaranteed to increase by 10%! Women may get pregnant by going so be careful ladies!

Anime Madlibs – This is a cute event being put on by my dear friend GLORIANTES. The idea is that will take anime scenes and quotes and take out verbs and nouns and replaces them with what you have to input. You won’t know the madlib yet; instead, you’ll just give us the necessary parts of speech to complete it. We’ll fill it in and have a good laugh together!

Year of the Fighting Game: Round 2 – This event is going to get its own post on my website. but I will lay out the badassery now. Remember that super packed panel about fighting games the first time around? Well half that panel was a preview of what was to come. Now that Street Fight IV, BlazBlue, and The King of Fighters XII are out, the hype is over and now it’s time to discuss where each game succeeds and fails. Forget the “professional” game reviewers; they are far too incompetent to properly review fighting games. Smoot, Brotha Kyo, and I will set you all straight. Plus, we’ll actually talk about Tekken 6 for real this time!

Tales from the Con – If you’ve been to a Florida convention, then you have probably had the pleasure to meet local hero Fuzzy. Fuzzy has traveled more conventions than I care to hear him talk about during our lunches together and now he is going to share his best stories with you! After this, you won’t look at a cooler the same way again.

Anime it’s an Anime Event because Anime is in the Title - This will be for the LULZ. Every stupid thing we can think of can be an anime event if we put anime in the title! Nothing will spared and everything will be parodied and mocked, including ourselves. There will be a new so-called anime event every five or so minutes! Can you handle the INSANITY!?

Robotech: The Legacy Continues: Fuzzy is back to tell you protoculture addicts about what he has learned about the franchise from his trip to California. A lot of great things will come that will feature these super cool transforming robot things! Plus, we all know Fuzzy is the expert on Robotech.

State of the Anime Community – Smoot and I have much to rant and debate about what the hell is going on in our local anime community. I won’t pull any punches in this one and the event is not for the feint at heart. Some people will be offended and can choose to walk out or debate their side. I’m fair game to pick apart as well. I am not representing anyone other than myself when I speak my mind during this event and the same goes for Smoot.

BIG DAMN GAME SHOW - Wheldon Smiley has one more to give before he goes! It’s the super interactive anime and sci-fi game show where EVERYONE wins! It’s a good way to end Saturday night before the rave!

Cyberia Dance Party! - Anime Sushi is throwing on the craziest light-rave-dance show that they are famous for. Get ready to bust out your glowsticks to the craziest electronic music you’ve heard since the last Cyberia!

Sunday, August 23nd

Ninja Olympics – I wanted to call this the Special Ninja Olympics but was forbade from doing so. I am casting a resurrection jutsu on this classic and breaking all you poser ninjas up into teams of three to participate in tests of physical skill and stealth. Can you bring the gold shuriken home to your hidden village? That’s up to you to decide. By the way, this is not Ninja Warrior; you nerds would seriously get you asses kicked by that so we are creating something that meets your actual level of skill.

Rebuild of Evangelion - One of the most classic giant robot series is making a comeback on the big screen in Japan, and you are going to get a nice, big dose on all things Eva. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance just came out in Japan, and that will be discussed along with theories about the story. One of my anime club students is handling the panel so it should be pretty awesome.

Quickdraw! Contest – There will be three 20 minute sessions to draw something quickly based on themes presented by the judges. This event did very well last time and we hope for it to do well again. We will break up artists into categories of novice and advanced and judge them as such. Prizes will then be given out at the end. We supply the pencils and paper, you bring the talent!

Wrap-up Karaoke - There is nothing like finishing up Mini-Megacon than by singing songs with some new and old friends. This event is the final hurrah for The Consortium and we look forward to spending it with you!

Okay, that’s a lot of events! I am sure that there will be more at Mini-Megacon. But hell, I think this does quite a job of getting you all to come. The next couple weeks is going to involves some hard work, but it will be worth it because times will be had! Make sure that you check out this website and Anime Sushi for more updates!

The King of Fighters XII - Joe's Screw Upper!

SNK Playmore’s biggest franchise, The King of Fighters, just had it’s twelfth entry into the main series break street date at GameStops around the country and I made sure that I was able to get myself  a copy! I’ve put many hours into playing the game this afternoon before work, and then once again tonight after dinner with friends. I’ve gotten very use to the game pretty fast, despite that the fact that it really doesn’t play like KOF XI or KOF ‘98, which are the games in the series I’ve played most. Rather, it feels more like Capcom vs SNK 2 in terms of speed along with some of the character move sets being similar.

The game has been anticipated for over two years and SNK Playmore has put a ridiculous amount of effort into the final product and it shows. This game plays well and it’s now artistically the most beautiful fighting game ever created. The game does have it’s flaws in what it lacks, but makes up for it in what it brings to the fray in what myself and others are calling the Year of the Fighting Game.

What’s good?

The graphics are lush and lovely, featuring bright colors and exotic landscapes. There are only five stages in the game but a single stage in KOF XII is more lively and exciting than most fighting games’ entire collection of venues. One of my friends and I joked earlier tonight about one of the stages possibly being inspired by Water 7 in One Piece. The locales even have shadows generate on the character sprites depending on their location in the stage. The character sprites are bigger than ever and are very detailed, to the point that can clearly see their facial expressions and the details on their outfits.

The characters also feature far more animation frames than for any other SNK fighter, and this coupled with the games high-definition colorful graphics makes for some beautiful looking battles. Not only that, the explosions and effects from various actions in this game provide a lot of energy to the fight and in some cases provide some key visual cues for players to react to. The game makes great use of generating key effects for moments like guard attacks, critical counters, sousai cancels, and special attack start ups.

The fighting game mechanics are probably going to be the best in any fighting game. The franchise has taken a step away from executing long chains of combos and has focused more on strategy. Timing is key in this game because executing guard attacks and critical counters can determine the match’s victor.  Guard attacks are performed by pressing back, heavy punch, and heavy kick at the same time. When this happens, a blue flash will appear in front of the character executing the guard attack; this flash represents a period that a colliding enemy attack will be parried. If this happens, their move will be canceled and the guard attacking player will unleash a knock-back attack. What’s also great about this technique is that even if the parry fails, they move will still go off which has helped me beat novice players online.

Critical counters are probably the best part of this game. I’ve never felt such a rush while doing one, and that’s the idea. You’ll fill up a green gauge under your character’s health bar. When it fills up completely, it will begin to drain. You have that window of time to press back and heavy punch or back and heavy kick simultaneously will cause your character to strike with an orange aura around their attack. If the attack lands while the other player’s character is striking, a rainbow flash will emit around both fighters and the other character will fall prey to their knees to take a flurry of your character’s customizable combos of normal attacks, special attacks, and even being able to finish with a super combo move. It can turn a match around and even finish it and it doesn’t happen too much that it breaks the fight; in fact, it happens enough just to cause an adrenaline rush. I have shot myself out of my chair at times when I have initiated a critical counter and I have been good at experimenting, especially with Andy and Kensou.

Actually, that never happened. I play KOF standing up because I can’t sit down in fear of falling off of the edge of my seat.

Overall, the game mechanics are extremely balanced to promote strategy as opposed to memorizing combos. I’m really happy about this because memorizing button presses that are only useful in one game is inadequate and I’d rather focus on timing and predicting the movements of my enemy, kind of like chess. Basically, what I am saying a good fighting game is one that has tactics and mechanics that a smart person can take advantage of to win. Memorizing looping combos is a waste of time and is sonething that idiots will do. (Want to guess what game I am referring to that promotes this behavior?)

KOF XII, addition to featuring guard attacks and critical counters, has many other useful tactics like charging strong attacks(heavy punch and heavy kick pressed together) that can either stun an opponent or break their guard, evasive rolls( forward or backward, light punch, and light kick pressed together) that can help fighters dodge attacks, and sousai cancels that will cancel out attacks of equal strength when they collide at the same time. Air sousais are particularly sweet when two characters do jumping kung-fu kicks that clash at the same time; it’s like a scene from Enter the Dragon or Fist of the North Star.

The game features 22 characters in this roster that are already unlocked and they are all awesome. Every one of them has their own strengths and weakness in categories of strength, speed, durability, striking, projectiles, grapples. anti-air attacks, and dashing attacks. One simple example of this would be anti-air special moves. Just about everyone has them. Some are easy to combo into, especially moves like the rising tackle or the jumping uppercuts; however, they have a period of recovery if they whiff, leaving them vulnerable to the opponent. Some characters don’t leave the ground when they do their anti-air special move, which won’t have as much range and it may be harder to combo into but the benefit is that their recovery time is greater and they probably have some other move that’s easy to combo into when both characters are on the ground. I think for this reason of balance, that some of the special moves of veteran characters were removed. Most characters have either three or four special moves and either one or two super combo attacks.

I’ve never seen so much dedication in making the roster of a fighting game so balanced as this that I don’t event think a tier ranking is even necessary for this game. This is wonderful news because tiers need to leave fighting games like quick-time events need to leave action games. It’s much preferable to have all the characters have their strengths and weaknesses balanced out so when matches are fought amongst players, the winner will be determined by who has both the better skill and understanding of the game mechanics and characters. The differences between the each character’s strengths and weakness also lend to different play styles of those who play fighting games, whether you go for speedy attacks, powerful strikes, or grappling moves, their are a variety of characters to fit your strategy well. The problem with some of the past KOF games is creating a team of three fighters that would fit your play style and one of them would be a dude. Thankfully, that is not the case here. In the future, glitches and other forms foul play may be exploited as they are discovered in the game; for now, things are going great.

What’s lacking?

While the design choices of the fighting system are genius and the roster very balanced, the game is missing some things. For one, it’s the smallest roster in any King of Fighters game. While it’s great to have 22 awesome characters available in the game from the get-g0, I and others wish there were more. Characters like K’, Kula Diamond, Mai Shiranui, and Oswald were characters  that I saw requested by many fans. I was also hoping for Rugal to be the game’s final boss. But wait, isn’t he dead? He is indeed dead in the cannon storyline; however, this game doesn’t have a storyline and doesn’t represent the KOF cannon. Therefore, I have no problem with him being back. It’s never explained why Terry Bogard is back sporting his old look, why Ralf and Clark shockingly appear roided up, or why Ash Crimson doesn’t use the flames he stole from Iori in the the last game in his move set, while Iori fights without it. With the story non-existent and inconsistencies unexplained, it was time for someone like Rugal to come back and remind everyone the wrath of SNK Boss Syndrome!

So what did we get for a boss? Nothing, and that’s the biggest disappointment I have with the game. SNK fighting games, especially The king of Fighters, always – ALWAYS – has a ridiculous final boss that is nearly impossible to beat. It may take hours if not days to conquer such menacing opposition. They fight dirty, have ridiculous attacks and priorities, and will always pull out some bullshit destroying move right when you are about to bring them to their knees. It sucks and you yell and swear and probably break your controller, or punch your girlfriend in the face. But you keep trying… and then you eventually beat the boss. Once the dust has settled and the realization of victory has connected with your mind, you feel like the god of fighting games and that is why SNK Boss Syndrome is necessary for The King of Fighters.

Whether it was Rugal, Magaki, or the lovable Igniz; we needed someone. Not having the boss battle made the single player arcade mode seem anti-climatic and the motivation to play arcade mode is not really there, other than to unlock achievements and trophies. In all honesty, arcade mode sucks; it’s just five matches done in a time attack setting and the the credits roll. Not even a character splash screen or animated ending to show what the characters did afterward.

The lack of some kind of storyline in the game hurts the overall experience and there aren’t any other options for the single player experience besides practice mode. What happened to survival mode, or the various character challenges that existed in the PS2 version of KOF XI? Remember when we had to have Robert Garcia deflect all of King’s low and high venom strikes with only the ability to counter with low and high projectiles of his own for 3o seconds and were rewarded by having him unlocked in the game? Okay, well I did it and when I beat that challenge, I felt a badass sense of accomplishment. I really wish challenges like that were in here again.

Final thoughts… for now

So if you really want to experience KOF XII right, then you’d better have some friends who enjoy playing fighting games or have the ability to play others online. Hell, if you don’t have any friends who don’t play fighting games, then ditch them and get new friends that do. Trust me, you won’t miss them when you start playing Garou: Mark of the Wolves with your new compadres.

While lacking a huge roster of characters that more recent KOF games have had, KOF XII has characters that are far more balanced and detailed than ever before. The game depends more on skill and has a well developed set of mechanics that promote match variety, make comebacks possible, and turn good defense into devastating offense. While the single player experience is lacking as well as the story, the fighting system makes for legendary matches between skilled players, and that in itself makes The King of Fighters XII worth getting. It’s hard to say if KOF XII is the best fighting game of the past year when Tekken 6 hasn’t come out in the states yet and I still haven’t played BlazBlue. Even so, after a day of playing this, it already pounds the other competition that includes Street Fighter IV and Soul Calibur IV. Despite such claims, fighting games have more variety this year than in any other this decade in game choices.

I’m sure that later on I will develop new feelings about this game as a I play it more. I don’t know if it will have the potential to exceed the quality that other SNK games like KOF XI and Garou have established, but the potential exists. I for one can’t wait to play this game some more after I take care of the many responsibilities that await me in the near future. I hope by the, the online mode of the game is patched to remove lag so I can fight more people online. Hopefully, this game will be recognized as an incredible and well-balanced fighter that could be one of the games for EVO next year. We shall see. Until then…

Let the year of the fighting game continue!

The King of Fighters XII has been announced by Ignition Entertainment for release in U.S. stores on July 28th! I can’t wait! I’m getting it for Xbox 360 and unfortunately it will lack the clan mode that the PS3 version will contain. I hate exclusives like that because that would have been cool to try with my friends. I should get over it as soon as I start delivering burning knuckles and rising tackles. The game has turned out awesome and I can’t wait to play that and BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, which I purchased earlier tonight.

After doing some hardcore digging, I found out that the final roster is 22 characters and not 26, as I stated earlier. That’s unfortunate but the game’s got Terry Bogard and a lot of my other favorite characters, so I should not have any problems getting over it.

What system are you getting it for?

Mai Shiranui

I am so freaking sick of reading “No Mai, No Buy” when I read about The King of Fighters XII on Kotaku. Seriously? Really? Granted, she has a massive popularity amongst otaku and, who along with her Street Fighter counterpart Chun-Li, where the first legitimate sex symbols of videogames – beating Lara Croft to the punch by years(suck on that, bitch). She started off as the love interest of Fatal Fury’s Andy Bogard and pretty much stalked him in every game they were both in, but then moved on to be one of the most jiggly 2D sprites of any commercial fighting game. She’s also a ninja who attacks with fans, fire, and sometimes nudity which is pretty much the depth of her character.

I won’t lie; I do find her very attractive for a fictional character, but not as much as Bonne Jenet, Vanessa, or Blue Mary – none of which along with Mai have been revealed(har, har) for KOF XII. But here’s what pisses me off: nobody is complaining about Mai’s absence from the game because she is a very useful character to have on their team. They want her for the same(and only) reason that the Dead or Alive series is popular: those sweet, voluptuous breasts.

I’m not crying out against hyper-sexualization in games. That’s just absurd. What does enrage me in this matter is that a bunch of people are threatening to not buy the game if a mediocre character does not appear in it, and make the rest of the fanbase look stupid, shallow, and pathetic by having to post publicly that they won’t buy the game for that very reason. There are way more awesome characters in the KOF universe that have yet to be announced for the latest installment. I’d rather have K’, Kula Diamond, Oswald, Yuri and Takuma Sakazaki, Rugal Bernstein, Yamazaki, Bonne Jenet, Heavy D!, and Vanessa before I would want to play as Mai. They are all better characters than Mai and far more interesting. Okay, maybe not Heavy D! but I wouldn’t mind the comeback of the sports team!

If people are going to complain about a lack of Mai, The King of Fighters ‘98: Ultimate Match is out on PS2 and that along with The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match will be out on XBLA in the not too distant future. Or you could just play DOA and stay the fuck out of my fandom.

I’ve been wanting to talk about this game on the site for a very long time! Anyone who’s in my circle of friends knows that I have love The King of Fighters franchise and that I have been pretty pumped about The King of Fighters XII for the past couple years. It’s coming out in America in just less than a month on both the XBox360 and the Playstation 3 and it looks poised to take on Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger for prestige of being the best fighting game of this year. All of the character and tournament videos have been looking great thus far, so I have a very optimistic feeling about this game. I am trying to avoid being over zealous this time because that ended up with me being somewhat disappointed with Street Fighter IV after I played it for a few months, though I’ve always expected KOF XII to be the better game in the first place.

So what’s cool about this game? Visually, it’s probably the most impressive looking 2D fighter to date, beating out Street Fighter III: Third Srtike and BlazBlue. Everything is hand-drawn(or hand pixeled, to be more accurate), colorful, and lush. Each character holds an impressive amount of animation frames for their full range of moves and motions, which makes this the most fluid-looking 2D fighter to date. One of the other great things about the artwork is that everything has been redrawn in bigger, high definition sprites that really do a great job of showing the emotion of the characters as they fight or get hit. That was something I felt previous KOF games were lacking. It’s not as over the top as SFIV, but it’s still pretty nice to see the characters showing off more personality than ever.

Speaking of characters, while each character has an impressive amount of animations, this is actually the one of the smallest rosters for any KOF game to date with 26 playable characters. Considering how much time and money goes into redrawing every single character from scratch, each with a high amount of animation frames, it’s not too surprising to see a roster that small. I like the trade off though because I’d rather have a smaller roster of characters that I care about have lots of detail put into them than have that effort spread thin over a larger roster. This may result in some fans’ favorite characters being left out, but all of my favorites are in there. We got Terry and Andy Bogard for starters, then other greats such Joe Higashi, Kim Kaphwan, Leona Heidern, Elisabeth Blanctorche, Sie Kensou, and Ryo Sakazaki. Hell, everyone in the game is looking awesome now, even Raiden whom I initially complained about being in the game for looking slow and useless at first!

It would be nice to have been able to use characters like K’, Oswald, and Bonne Jenet once again; however, this won’t be the last KOF! What’s also interesting is that there are no new characters at all being introduced in this game. A rarity for the franchise and fighters in general. SNK wanted to go back to the basics, but at the same time was anyone going to use them? Street Fighter IV added six new characters to the series but half the people who play that game still stick with Ken and Ryu. To compensate for the lack of new characters, just about half of the roster has had their looks and move sets redesigned, most notably Iori Yagami, Ralf Jones, Sie Kensou and Mature. What I am concerned with most right now is whether or not there is a boss. SNK fighters are famous for having legendary final bosses who are so fucking impossible to beat that actually doing so is a life achievement. The arcade version didn’t have one but I hope the console versions have a surprise like the return of Rugal Bernstein. It’s not a complete KOF game without the famous SNK Boss Syndrome!

Like I said before, SNK wants to go back to the basics. The roster is focused on more familiar characters, and the series has returned back to the original 3 on 3 team format for matches. This means strikers and tag matches of previous entries are gone. There are no team leaders either(or the bonuses that come with that) and stocks for attack cancels and dream cancels have also been taken out. Instead, the rules have been simplified so players can focus on the fight itself. You pick your three characters and the order they will fighter and you do one on one matches with you opponent until all the characters of a team have been eliminated. You still have a lot of the classic combos and signature moves with new ones and the gameplay looks to rebalanced. Other added features include Sousai(Deadlock), Critical Counter, and Guard Attack.

Sousai occurs when strong kicks and punches and attacks of greater force collide. Instead of a possibly unfair priority being used to determine who gets it, the attacks will clash, cancel out, and by default the opponents will step back from their attack to give players some distance from each other. However, you can cancel that backstep after a Sousai with an attack of your own by entering any attack command. You can also move the joystick to make your character jump(and then attack) right after the Sousai occurs. You can do Sousai with characters that are standing, attacking from the air, or have launched projectiles from a distance. The drawback to Sousai is that your character will take a fraction of the damage from the attack your opponent tried to use on you, so be careful with how you use it!

Critical Counters come into play when the green bar under your character’s health bar is fully charged and an orange aura appears around your character. When that happens, you can crush an opponent’s attack with a strong punch or kick , leaving them defenseless to a flurry of moves that can now be chained together in unbelievable combos, but only for a short time. It works a little like Street Fighter Alpha 3’s custom super combos, but the start off if much different. In addition to being a nice way to make a comeback, I think it’s a great technique to counter players who try to jab into combos and super moves. You can also start off a Critical Counter differently: instead of unleashing a flurry of moves, you can instead use a powered-up version of your Super Move if your Super Meter is full. It looks insanely badass!

Finally, Guard Attacks occur when you are holding back to block and hit strong kick and strong punch at the same time to attack an attacking opponent from your guard stance. You will not only cancel their attack, but you throw them off balance so they can counter your attack! This is a nice way to counter and I think it will work better than SF IV’s focus attacks. Guard Attacks, like the other new features in KOF XII, are still going to depend on your timing and ability to predict your opponent’s moves. But in all honesty, any good or better fighting game will depend heavily off the timing of your moves and the ability to understand your opponent.

It looks like I covered quite a bit this time! The King of Fighters XII is the game I have been looking forward to the most this year and I think it will deliver. Much of the franchise’s fat has been cut and all the game features and roster is all killer, no filler. The artwork is more amazing than ever and the series has never looked more alive than this. The progress over the past couple years has been remarkable and it’s only a few weeks until it releases! I can’t wait to do battle once again with my friends and rivals to see who is the local King of Fighters and to see what online play will offer in addition to that. See you guys on XBox Live and at the local tournaments!