(LAST UPDATE: 9/1/09)
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Developer(s): SNK
Playmore
Publisher(s): SNK Playmore
Platform(s): Arcade,
Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release: April 10th 2009 (JP Arcade), July 24th 2009 (Worldwide PS3/360)
Characters:
Kyo,
Iori,
Ash,
Terry,
Andy,
Joe,
Ryo,
Kim,
Benimaru,
Robert,
Ralf,
Clark,
Athena,
Duo
Lon,
Shen Woo, Leona,
Raiden,
Kensou,
Chin,
Goro,
Elizabeth
(Home version exclusive), Mature (Home
version exclusive)
Related Games:
King
of Fighters 94, King of Fighters 94: Re-bout,
King
of Fighters 95,
King of Fighters 96, King
of Fighters 97, King of Fighters 98, King
of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match, King of Fighters
99, King of Fighters 2000, King
of Fighters 2001,
King of Fighters 2001,
King
of Fighters 2002, King of Fighters 2003,
King
of Fighters XI, King of Fighters:
Maximum Impact, King of Fighters:
Maximum Impact MANIAX, King of Fighters:
Maximum Impact 2, KOF: Maximum Impact
Regulation A, King of Fighters: Neowave, King of Fighters EX Neo Blood,
King
of Fighters EX2 Howling Blood,
King of Fighters
R1, King of Fighters R2, King
of Fighters Collection: Orochi Saga
General:
"Select de odor! LLound Won... Leadyyyyy... GOW!" 
This
could only mean one thing... The King of Fighters is back!!! The KOF
series has definitely seen it's best days in 2D, and arguably hasn't changed
it's "style" of 2D graphics since the first installment, KOF '94.
Though the overall graphics notably improved over the years, the series itself never got
a true 2D makeover until this installment, The King of Fighters XII.
SNK has
abandoned the Atomiswave system and moved the KOF series to the
Taito
Type X2 arcade system, which allows for the next gen graphical makeover
that fans of the series have been waiting for. The completely re-drawn 2D sprites are
far bigger and bolder than their
predecessors, and also animate smoother than ever before. KOF XII features 22
characters, a modest roster when compared to the prequels, but of course it's
understandable since the huge character sprites obviously took a lot of
time to draw... Much respect to Nona and KOF XII's team of artists!
Despite the recognizable 22 characters, a lot of KOF veterans don't play
exactly as an experienced KOF player might expect; and in some instances, play completely
different in this installment. SNK made the decision to "make-over" a
few characters move-sets (and appearances) from the ground up to keep things fresh. In some cases it's nice to see the classic characters get a fresh
start, but hardcore KOF fans will no doubt be disappointed that many
staple special moves are nowhere to be found. Iori Yagami for example, no longer
has his purple flames (which Ash stole according to the storyline in the
prequel) and with no projectile attacks, Iori has adapted a practically brand
new fighting style. The good news is, even with these drastic move-set tweaks, the
characters still retain their personalities and general style of fighting.
The bad news is, character move-sets are on the short side and again, many moves
from previous games are missing... Terry Bogard's power dunk anyone?!? 
I'm sure SNK wanted
as many characters in this game as possible, which in turn sacrificed the
"time" that would have been used to create more special moves for
characters.
Speaking of "time", KOF XII definitely has a rushed
kind of feeling... The "presentation" is more than lacking,
with a simple menu design, laughably generic text during win quotes, no
character intros before the fight, no boss character, and absolutely no
story element to the game... to name a few things. KOF XII sure is an
"arcade fighting game" if I've ever played one, but another BIG
downside to the presentation is that there are only six stages (five if you don't count the
daytime/nighttime swap of one of them)... I can't think of another fighting game
with such a low number of stages, I'm pretty sure KOF XII just set a record. The best elements of the presentation are
seen in Arcade mode,
where you'll meet a trio of news anchor "clones" (wtf?) who will explain the rules along
with some other - more stereotypical looking reporters who'll keep
you updated on the progress of the tournament (which is, not surprisingly, always
the same sequence). Jin Fuha also
makes a random cameo during the short ending sequence (WTF is he doing
there?).
Though far & few between, the stages of KOF XII are beautifully drawn
and packed with an insane amount
of detail, featuring a countless (literally countless) amount of background
characters that loop through their silly animations indefinitely, and even
"speed-up" AKA "spaz-out" when the round is over... Yeah, ooold-school
AKA SF2-style indeed. Wow. 
The stages also use graphical effects like color-tone/lighting and shadows that darken the
playing area & the characters (sometimes too dark IMO, and ironically each of the
stages that use the effect are dark in the same area). 
Even though the stages are colorful and flashy, I personally think they're a bit
overdone... I actually prefer the two stages that have the least amount
of shit going on. In closing, the development team should have spent less time
drawing and animating that 37th fat pig-lady, and spent more time fleshing out
the fighters and the all important gameplay. (Geez, good thing I'm not easily disturbed, or those pig monsters disguised
as fat French women might give me nightmares. ...Be
warned, your children are not safe from the pig ladies).
So how is the gameplay?
After trying out Blazblue for the first time last
month, it's actually very refreshing
to play an HD-2D fighter with a slower pace and more traditional
2D gameplay. KOF XII's gameplay is also slightly slower than past KOF titles,
and with less moves per character, feels a lot more "controlled"...
Call it "dumbed down" if you will, but there's
something to like about the gameplay for a traditional 2D fighting game
fan. Jump variations were always a unique aspect to the KOF series, and
thankfully there
are 3 different jumps you can perform in KOF XII... A short jump, normal jump,
and super jump (in any direction). For the record, I highly prefer KOF XII's jumping
mechanics over Street Fighter IV's. The selection of priority moves is
decent for all characters, though some characters have noticeably more special
and super moves than others... Making the roster seem quite unbalanced.
If I had to guess, I'd say SNK didn't actually plan for some characters
to have less moves, but just ran out of time to animate them and put them in the
game. 
New gameplay elements
include the Critical Counter gauge, which appears under the life bar and
increases as you receive damage, land attacks, or guard. When the gauge reaches
MAX, a Critical Counter can occur if you counterattack with a strong punch or
kick (depending on the character) at close range. This leaves your opponent
helpless while you pummel them with a custom combo, and finish them off with a
super move if you're able. 
The Critical Counter system is a pretty fun addition to the gameplay, but also
leaves a bit to be desired and even seems like a bit of an afterthought. Other
brand new gameplay elements include a universal counter move that every
character can perform, which sends your opponent flying back if you time their
attack with your counter; and a SOUSAI or "deadlock" which activates
when two special moves or strong attacks of equal power collide, canceling each
other out and dealing no damage to either player.
Animation is no doubt one of the most important aspects of fighting
games, and there's some tough competition out there these days...
Thankfully, in all it's 2D glory, KOF XII can at least
"compete" with the best around. The characters in KOF XII have arguably
seen their smoothest days ever, with most of their moves and special
moves looking nothing short of spectacular. Walking animations, running
animations, and stance animations in particular are exceptionally fluid; and most priority moves also look like they hurt!
You can really feel the impact as fighters are hit, as "ouch
factor" is highly apparent in this game, although falling
animations somewhat leave a bit to be desired for a "next gen" 2D
fighting game, as airborne characters just seem to fall
and land flat as usual. It doesn't look too bad, but I think the SF III
series really spoiled us with it's epic falling animations (will any 2D fighting
game ever come close to the ouch factor in that series?).
Also, if a character is KO'ed with a jab in this game, they'll fall to
their knees and fall flat on their face, which looks good animation-wise but
unfortunately, everyone practically falls the same way... A little
variety wouldn't have hurt SNK. Also, characters only have 1 win pose (most of
which severally lack frames of animation) and NO taunts. 
Ouch.
Other gripes I have about the animation? I thought you'd never ask.
Projectiles and hit effects look outstanding in gameplay, especially in those
super moves, but unfortunately when most projectiles connect on the
last hit to cause a KO, they sort of "disappear" and reappear after
the KO... Which simply kills "the moment" of a KO. For example: When
Ryo or Robert throw their huge fireball super-move, if it KO'es the opponent, it
shrinks to a little "blip" when the action freezes on the KO... Then the hit
effects and particles initiate after the KO...
That just pisses me off, and yes, little things like that are important
factors of a fighting game's overall animation & ouch factor. Also, when
"throws" are performed for the final hit, characters being thrown should
be seen with their backs or their heads contacting the ground, but instead,
they're actually "on their feet" at the moment the action is paused
for the KO... So it looks like they got knocked out by being thrown onto their
feet?!?!? 
Come on now SNK... Clean
that up.
The home version of KOF XII features the staple modes:
Arcade, Versus, Practice, Replay, Gallery, and Online... Sadly missing are Survival
& Color Edit mode. 
The Arcade mode is 5 matches and is actually based on Time-Attack, an
interesting yet odd
choice. The more unique features in the Options menu include a the choice
between an arcade style or home style HUD (life bars/super meter position), a "soft filter" which smoothes out the character
sprites (I prefer setting it to "1"), and the option to change character voices from English
to Japanese. Also included on the game's main menu is a link to the PSN/XBLA store,
which heavily hints on future downloadable content which this game sorely
needs!!! Would KOF XII be better with more characters &
stages? Yes, but I'm afraid DLC won't save this game from some of it's other quirks
I previously mentioned. Also, the KOF series was always known for it's cool "teams of 3" each year,
but KOF XII doesn't feature teams at all, just 22 "edit" characters to make
your own team of three. It's kinda disappointing and takes even more away
from the story/presentation, but I guess this installment is supposed to be one
of those "Dream Matches".
KOF XII's online mode started out as a disappointing lag-fest, but
a little over a month after the initial release, SNK released a patch which
significantly smoothed out the online gameplay. Playing the game online with a significant amount of
lag sure was a good way to appreciate the game's great
animation... 
Though, I don't think that's what was intended... I'm glad they fixed it up,
and now the online mode's cool features can be experienced as they were meant to be.
Up to 8-player battle
lobbies, voice chat, replay saves, clan creation/rankings, & 3-on-3 player
clan battles are some of the features in the PS3 version. The battle lobby
design could be deeper and more user-friendly, but overall the online mode does
the job.
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- Review is for PS3 version of King of Fighters XII - |
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Closing Comment:
After years and years of using the same style of 2D sprites, SNK
has finally given the series the visual overhaul it needed and deserves
(thankfully not going the 3D route again). This is definitely the direction I've been
wanting the series to go in for years now, and KOF XII at least satisfies in the graphics
department. Unfortunately, gameplay & presentation is sacrificed by graphics
this time around,
which simply makes the game feel "incomplete"... but at least KOF
XII has it's fun moments. I
can see the potential for some epic sequels, and you know we'll play them...
It just sucks when a new game comes out and I'm already looking forward to the
sequel... It shouldn't really be that way.
For those of you that 'trash' this game up and down, keep in mind
every great new series has to start SOMEWHERE. Some people fail to
realize what it truly takes to "wipe the slate clean" and build a 2D
fighting game from the ground up. It takes a countless amount of hours/days/months
to even get started, and
incredibly frustrating "trial & error" to create
giant-sized 2D sprites and backgrounds that animate fluidly. Instead of creating 12 characters
with deep move-sets (like Arc System Works did with Blazblue), SNK gave us
22 characters with halfway-decent move-sets... Understandable
and forgivable. On the flipside, if you ask me if this game is worth
your hard earned $59.99 + tax, I'd have to say no, it's not... Unless
SNK releases new content for download, FOR FREE... Then it may be worth
it. I'm a KOF fan and all, so of course this was a 'must buy' for me, but I'd
rather SNK delayed KOF XII and took more time with it.
The best part about KOF XII is that it's "new"
and it's KOF... Once you get past all the eye candy, you'll realize this game
really is incomplete. Like everyone else, I'll be waiting for Nona &
the team to draw more characters, stages, refine the gameplay; and to eventually
release a more well rounded game and/or some great new content for KOF XII via
download! SNK should have a lot in store for this new
series, so let's be patient. ~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
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