Much like taxes, the slow march toward death, and knowing sweet love from a fine woman, there’s one there’s only one true inevitable in my life: I will drool in a Pavlovian manner with the release of a new King of Fighters game.

I’ve been a die hard since the Neo Geo’s  King of Fighters ’94, and followed it until well-after the death of SNK’s dream machine. Over the course of the series, I grew to love the insane mix of newcomers (Kyo and Iori), classic characters pulled from older, non-Neo Geo properties (Ralf and Clark), and fighters siphoned from other Neo Geo hits (Terry Bogard, Ryo).

Few long-time King of Fighters players would challenge this statement: The franchise’s graphics and music peaked with King of Fighters ’98. A a decline in quality soon followed as SNK declared bankruptcy, was purchased by Aruze,  and eventually reborn as SNK Playmore. Although the King of Fighters games of recent years were quite fun with the added tag factor (King of Fighters 2003, King of Fighters XI), they were becoming increasingly archaic as SNK Playmore recycled sprites (or tweaked them slightly) on an annual basis. The company attempted to compensate by placing its 2D characters against slick 3D backgrounds on the home consoles – - a jarring mishmash that didn’t sit well with many. It was just a stepping stone; we long time fans wanted fresh sprites.  And the company stepped it up big time with King of Fighters XII.

King of Fighters XII marks a wonderfully dramatic turn for the franchise. The visuals, of course, are the meat in this tasty sandwich: Each of the 22 characters have been redrawn from scratch to bring them into the new millennium – - no recycled sprites here. Art director Nona loves the 2D medium and King of Fighters XII is his love letter. The animation is fluid down to clothing movement, the shadow/lighting effects are awesome, and the backgrounds bristle with a life not seen in a fighting game in some time.