Review: King of Fighters XII (Xbox 360)

July 30, 2009 by Jeffrey L. Wilson
Filed under: Fighters, Reviews

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KOF XII

I don’t take well to change. When I was 12 years old, for example, the move from elementary school to junior high school, collapsed my world. I hated shuffling from class to class. I hated being separated from dear classmates that I had grown to love over the previous 6 years. I hated the new teachers. I did everything within my pre-teen power to avoid school, such as faking illnesses and, eventually, skipping class all together. Fortunately, Mama Wilson’s switch put an end to such non-sense and put me down the right road. Change can be good when blended well with the proper motivation.

When the King of Fighters series went 3D in the Maximum Impact line, fans revolted. After living with the aging Neo Geo sprites for over a decade, many felt that SNK Playmore’s visual overhaul should have been in the form of high-resolution 2D sprites instead of soulless polygons – - myself included. The SNK Playmore era, unfortunately, had become one associated with visual mediocrity.

Maxmium Impact was a wash, and the latest 2D King of Fighters entries (King of Fighters 2003 and King of Fighters XI), both featured bland backgrounds and some suspect sprite work that lacked the visual pop of old school SNK fighters, despite being engaging titles with a new tag mechanic. The King of Fighters series needed a change. The change that we, the fanbase, wanted.

King of Fighters XII represents SNK Playmore’s move into modern gaming with fresh, high-definition sprites and new gameplay. A title that has experienced such a huge revamp can’t be accurately judged within the confines of a single review. Over the course of the next several days, many game sites will quickly craft and post “in-depth” game reviews to grab that much sought after search engine traffic and link love. Not here.

As a fighting game fanatic I know that a game’s worth can’t be judged in a day or two. Glitches, broken characters, and flawed mechanics appear only after significant time with a fighter, which can greatly impact a game’s worth – - look at SNK vs. Capcom Chaos, which quickly fizzled after the initial hype of the crossover. So, 2D-X.com presents the first iteration of our King of Fighters XII review. As we dive deeper into the game in coming days we’ll make changes, should it be warranted, to accurately reflect the King of Fighters XII experience. Let’s get started.

king of fighters XII Andy

It’s a beautiful game. Really, there’s no other place to start than the new sprites. As I stated in my initial hands-on with King of Fighters XII, art director Nona loves the 2D medium and King of Fighters XII is his love letter. Each of the 22 hand drawn characters are crafted with an incredible amount of care and attention to detail. Muscles are well-defined. There are folds in clothing. Movements are fluid, but not to a Street Fighter III: Third Strike level where there’s so much animation, it borders on distraction. King of Fighters XII also employs truly remarkable shading techniques that aren’t typically seen in a 2D fighter. When you scrap in the Dome (“Opening” version), characters are drenched in a deep shadow when the move into the right portion of the screen. Simply put, it looks really, really cool.

On the topic of backgrounds, they bristle with life and atmosphere. My absolute favorite is the China stage where your brawl takes place against the backdrop of a bustling martketplace where crazed onlookers root on the violence and a horde of pigs rush across the screen after a victory. Unfortunately, there are too few backgrounds. Besides China and Dome (“Opening”), there’s France, Russia, Egypt, and Dome (“Final”); an inexcusable number. Absolutely inexcusable.

Long-time King of Fighters players may wince at the roster size. There isn’t a sprawling 60+ cast of characters such as the one found in King of Fighters ‘98: Ultimate Match, but it’s solid, despite a few notable omissions. We have:

Ash Crimson

Duo Lon

Shen Woo

Iori

Benimaru

Goro

Athena

Kensou

Chin

Terry Bogard

Andy Bogard

Joe Higashi

Raiden

Robert

Ralf

Clark

Leona

Mature

Elizabeth

No Rock. No Geese. No Takuma. No representatives from the NESTS story arc. I’m fine with that. This is a reboot, a labor-intensive reboot that took the artists nearly a year and a half of sprite work per character, so I can overlook a few of my faves being left out for a possible sequel (or being made available as downloadable content in the future). What I can’t overlook are the missing character animations, which gave the main King of Fighters series tons of personality. Where’s Kensou choking on a meal? Leona saluting the Ikaris? C’mon, SNK Playmore, those are the sweet extras we’ve grown to love and added heart to a genre that involves punching and kicking. Win animations have been equally robbed with only one per character.

king of fighters XII Kim

Out of the box, the characters have quite a bit of jaggies around the edges, which has caused some that haven’t thoroughly explored the title to lash out at SNK Playmore for “poor” sprites. Digging in the options, you can activate a three-level filter that smooths over the jags if you aren’t a fan of the “rugged sprites” (as I call them), but adds some slight blurriness. King of Fighters XII’s sprites may not be as bright and colorful as BlazBlue‘s, but they’re far better thought out than Calamity Trigger’s wackiness. And they certainly have greater artistic appeal than Street Fighter IV’s sterile polygons and ho-hum character designs. The sprites are remarkably big and chunky, in an old school Art of Fighting way. Just like that game, they scale down in size when you get breathing you between yourself and your opponent.

SNK Playmore decided to return the fighters to their origins with this iteration. Terry Bogard rocks his classic cap-and-vest. Athena has a distinct anime look that reflects her Psycho Soldiers roots. Ralf and Clark rock a hardcore, military look that do the Ikari Warriors proud. The only headscratcher is Iori, who has an emo-tastic new look. Iori players who have waited years for a truly fresh sprite must be grinding their teeth in frustration over the fact that his classic appearance didn’t get the HD treatment.

The fighting action is fast, hard-hitting, and incredibly tight. I haven’t taken to a fighting engine in such a manner since the godly King of Fighters ‘98; it just that intuitive. As in previous King of Fighters you can dash, small jump, medium jump, large jump, roll forward/back, throw (now with LP+HP, ala Street Fighter), launch Guard Attacks, and build your Max meter (unfortunately, only to one level). New to the series are Critical Counters and Sousai Attacks, which add new offensive and defensive factors to the mix.

Critical Counters are unleashed by landing character-specific hard attack, after building the green CC meter (located beneath the lifebar) by taking damage, dishing damage, and blocking. If you land the hard attack, you’ll immobilize your opponent and leave him/her open to a custom combo that allows you to lay down some heavy smack. I took Raiden on a 23-hit ride thanks to a well-placed Kensou Critical Counter on my first attempt. Lest you think they’re dial-a-combos, they aren’t; the well-skilled will simply be able to exploit the openings for big damage.

Sousai attacks are quick breaks in the action that occur after attacks of equal strengths meet. When two brawlers toss out HP simultaneously, for example, they’re quickly pushed back into neutral positions. This is one of the elements that most concerned me before receiving my review copy as it had the potential to kill the flow of match. Fortunately, it actually adds strategy to combat by acting as a parry. We’ll take a closer look at these mechanics in an upcoming in-depth gameplay post.

Many moves that we know and love didn’t make it to King of Fighters XII. Terry’s Power Dunk is M.I.A. Mature continues her trek down Nerf Ave. Ralf and Clark have been stripped. Iori has no flames despite this being a Dreamatch similar to King of Fighters ‘98 and King of Fighters 2002. The game heavily relies on standard punches and kicks (and the aforementioned Critical Counters and Sousai Attacks), which will cause harcore fans to rethink their combos and strategies. I find the new pacing refreshing despite the fact that I still attempt moves that aren’t in the game.

Word of advice: play King of the Fighters XII with a second, live friend. The CPU simply doesn’t offer a hint of challenge even on the hardest level, making it an immensely boring affair. Playing online doesn’t remedy this at all as the current netcode is buggy as all hell. SNK Playmore states that it’s working to remedy the issue. Speaking of bugs, there’s a video making the rounds on YouTube of a discovered Raiden-Elizabeth bug; the two characters become locked together (similar to Guile’s “handcuffs” in the original Street Fighter II) after Raiden hits her with his Critical Counter. SNK Playmore, patch this pronto.

One feature that I really enjoy is the ability to record matches. After a brawl, you’re presented with the option to save the fight data, which must be quite small as I have several stored in my Xbox 360 Arcade’s skimpy on-board memory. It’s an excellent tool for studying an opponents fight style, or your own, to help improve your combat in the next battle.

Sonically, King of Fighters XII is completely forgettable. There isn’t a particularly catchy tune in the game, which, I suppose, is better than plenty of subpar tracks that get stuck in the noggin. SNK Playmore opted for a story-less Dreammatch in this entry, which isn’t a negative in this reviewer’s eyes. A story in a fighter is like an obese person ordering a Diet Coke while in McDonald’s – - what’s the point? Still, I would’ve loved for one of SNK Playmore’s patented mega-frustrating bosses to tackle at the end of the incredible short Arcade mode.

Ultimately, King of Fighters XII is a celebration of the series’ 15th anniversary and a game that SNK Playmore’s base – - those that have been playing King of Fighters since the ’90s – - may struggle with due to the truncated lineup, movesets, and current online woes. Oddly, I suspect those new to the series may initially embrace it with greater passion as they don’t know what they’re missing. I won’t go as far as to say King of Fighters XII feels incomplete, but SNK Playmore’s pruning, which I suspect can be attributed to the cost of the overhaul, is quite strong. Visually gorgeous and featuring razor-sharp gameplay, King of Fighters XII is a very good fighter that serves up plenty of fun, but I have a creeping feeling that it won’t be fully appreciated by the very people that it was meant to please due to the missing touches.

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More 2D-X Goodness:

First Impressions: King of Fighters XII (Xbox 360)

SNK Playmore announces King of Fighters XIII

Review: King of Fighters ‘98: Ultimate Match (PS2)

King of Fighters XII Online Details Revealed: Lots of Options, PS3 and Xbox 360 Exclusives

New King of Fighters XII Trailer Highlights Gameplay Depth

Tags: 2D, 2d game, 2d graphics, ignition entertainment, king if fighters 12, king of fighters '98: ultimate match, king of fighters XII, kof 12, KOF XII, snk, snk playmore, street fighter III: third strike

Comments

3 Comments on Review: King of Fighters XII (Xbox 360)

Raul on Sat, 1st Aug 2009 12:05 pm

So dissapointed man, looking foward for this game for so long now.it’s broken and it feels like your missing half of the game! I would look past that if u could play online but even that’s horrible cause of all the lag.snk ya killing me.

Jeffrey L. Wilson on Sat, 1st Aug 2009 4:26 pm

It’s funny, in a way, we were told this was happening. It was hyped as being “back to basics”, after all. Still, I’m really enjoying the fighting, and only suffered from one really laggy fight so far.

What I need, though, is a good fighting stick or pad–any recommendations?

Raul on Mon, 3rd Aug 2009 12:46 am

im using the mad catz tournament stick its perfect to far.

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