King of Fighter XII (XBOX 360) Review

iTZKooPA takes the latest installment of The King of Fighters series for a spin with a Hori EX 2 arcade stick.  Is KoFXII truly a rebirth?SNK Playmore announced The King of Fighters XII (PS3/360) to much fanfare.  In the press release the company’s most touted bullet point was that the twelfth game in the beloved franchise would see a full overhaul of its graphics.  The first for any title in the series in decades.  Knowing that gamers generally dislike drastic change, SNK Playmore left the drastic measures at the graphical level.  All the major gameplay elements remain largely the same.  That’s not to say that KoFXII doesn’t offer anything new during combat though.

The King of Fighters XII retains the same basic principles as the various game before.  Players select a team of three combatants to tackle five sets of opponents as fast as they possibly can.  The Tactical Shift System of 2003 (PS2/Xbox) was removed in favor of entirely new mechanics.  The main mechanic skilled players will take advantage of is the Critical Counter system.  Simply put, as you take damage your Critical Counter meter fills.  Once full, a strong punch as a counter activates the meter, allowing players to chain additional moves together for longer combos, and an explosive finish.  The idea of a defensive super is a fantastic addition, one which rewards players whom enjoy playing possum to their aggressive opponents.  Or if you completely suck, then at least you can unleash a little flare with your last breath.  The only downside is that the Critical Counter does promote turtling.

Other new mechanics include a Guard Attack and mechanic to cancel out those Rocky II happenings.  Guard Attack adds an impressive parry ability to KoFXII, enabling tactical defenders to bypass and even counter attacking foes.  Getting a hang of this technique is a must if you hope to become a seasoned fighter.  The last major gameplay change is of minor impact.  No more will players simultaneously attack each other, rendering the pair to fall helplessly to the ground as both players wait to recover.  In KoFXII stalemated attacks will be meet by a push back effect, causing combatants to separate before they can reengage.

SNK Playmore did not include any kind of storyline in KoFXII, which allowed the company to include characters throughout the franchise’s history.  It also allows players to create any team they so desire, no matter how unrealistic the combination may be in the storylines of previous entries .  Unfortunately the artists spent so much time on creating the fluidly animated, yet low resolution, sprites that the roster is incredibly small, a paltry 22 characters.  For comparison KoF2003 had over 30, including Mai.

The King of Fighters XII looks and plays nice, but getting to that solid gameplay can be a bit troublesome.  The menu system is a clunky, antiquated relic that shouldn’t exist in a title of this caliber.  In addition to the general stress of navigating Command Lists, editing your buttons or leaving Practice, the title will hit players with oddly placed loading screens.  It’s sad that the above average play mechanics are buried in a user interface disaster and hamstrung by a lack of modes.  In addition to those problems, this reviewer hopes that SNK Playmore releases some free or moderately priced DLC to add to the list of two modes, Arcade or Versus.  New netcode for online play – it can get unbearably laggy – would be a welcomed addition as well.

Overall KoFXII offers solid gameplay that is in stark contrast to the rest of the title.  It’s as fun to play and practice as most other recent fighting games out there, yet it’s marred by a few slip ups.  If you’re a fan of the series then I’d recommend the purchase, because you will get what you came for, classic KoF fighting.  If you are just looking for any old fighting game, remember that the core of your time will be spent in fisticuffs, not in the menu system.  To answer the question posited before the jump, yes, and no.  The 2D fighting is fresh and fun, but as a whole, the title lacks modes and polish.

Played on the reasonably priced Hori EX 2.  Or snap up one of the many other arcade sticks out there.  Screens from the official website.