The King of Fighters XII

10 Review to this product

• 

  Gaijin
  July 28th, 2009 on 1:18 pm

  Rating

  KOF XII. Having owned and played every iteration of this SNK series, it’s with a bit of hurt that I have to say that KOF XII Isn’t perfect by a long shot. As an arcade fighter, it’s fine. As a console release, it’s a bit lacking in extras, which is what everyone perceives as value nowadays. This is the arcade game with a couple extra fighters, and online play which we’ll get to shortly.

  There are no bosses, only 6 (really 5) stages, and no other extra modes like in other fighters such as BlazBlue or SFIV. That may make a difference to you, it might not.

  There are 22 characters, which is a nice amount, but since KOF has so many favorites, there’s sure to be a few that may be missing on your list. Mai and K, Yuri, King, Blue Mary, etc. are nowhere to be found. Also, the characters that are there have lost some of their signature moves…no Power Dunk or Buster Wolf for you. Character sprites are slightly jaggy, but they still look great, and they are animated very well. The backgrounds are gorgeous but, there are as mentioned, only a handful of them. Athena looks very out of place in her school girl anime look compared to everyone else.

  Online play is debate-able. There is lag in both PS3 and 360 versions, pointing to some faulty netcode perhaps. A patch is coming that hopefully will address this. If it does, then consider the online point moot.

  Gameplay is very good, and great when playing against people live. Hope you have friends because unlike the usual difficulty of SNK fighters, this AI is rather…stupid. It’s odd, really.

  All in all, I like KOF XII, I like the graphics and game itself. I just wish there was more. Give us Mai, King, Yuri, and and K back, give us more stages, and more moves for the characters. Give us online play that isn’t laggy. I think we’ll get that in KOF XIII, but while good, KOF XII is sort of an appetizer for what’s to come. The real meal is visible, but this is just soup and salad to tide us over until KOF returns to the glory days.
• 

  Persona4
  July 28th, 2009 on 5:27 pm

  Rating

  I don’t like what they did to ralph my favourite character!!!!!!!!!

  Anyways I think it’s better than Street Fifhter 4
• 

  Y. Kim
  July 29th, 2009 on 10:34 pm

  Rating

  07/28/09

  Eh uh… Let me start by saying that I AM a KOF faithful; always have been and will be proud of it. On a wide scale, it was always written off as the knock off of Street Fighter, and while that may have been true in terms of gameplay and controls/overall mechanics, KOF always made up for it with “style.” Even with identical commands, KOF characters pulled off more fighter-worthy moves, and KOF offered a true variety of characters, most of them with reasons to be anyone’s favorite character.

  However, I am not so sure if I could vouch for all the goodies KOF had to offer thus far in this highly-anticipated entry, KOF XII.

  Otherwise known as ‘KOF Rebirth,’ KOF XII was to be THE fighting game of this year. Street Fighter IV came out early, but it only elicited a strong disappointment among the fans. KOF XII was to be THE game to truly rekindle the 2D fighter-fire that had diminished over the years. Then, BlazBlue of AKSYS came out; it took the critics and gamers by storm and by now there probably isn’t a fighter-fan who has not even tried the game. AND, about a month after BB, KOF XII came out (with GameStop breaking the release date, nice).

  And that’s probably both the biggest advantage for BlazBlue and disadvantage for KOF XII, expectations.

  BlazBlue offered not only colorful visual and orchestral fighter music (which is quite fresh) but also super-fast and sometimes ridiculous gameplay. And character design? out.of.this.world.

  KOF XII, frankly, fails to deliver. I mean, it DID deliver, just not as strongly as BlazBlue.

  I thought I was not what my friends (and I) call a ‘graphic-whore,’ but I guess underneath it all, I am. Hand-drawn sprites (which was the sellint point of this game) are most certainly nice. But even with the provided soft filter on, there are gaps, holes, rough edges, and sketchy animations to be found just about anywhere in-game, and when you put in BlazBlue right after playing KOF XII, one can’t HELP but make comparisons and they are not in favor of ‘the King.’

  and the sound does not impress, either. SNK has not evolved much from before the franchise’s “rebirth” and I really can’t feel the exciting, engaging atmosphere from the soundtracks.

  however there is a pro to this game that stands over all others – gameplay!
  
  it’s the most fluid game motion i’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. therefore, the fighting can only be simple and fast, which every fighter is meant to be (i’m not talking about commands or battle systems). even with deadlocks, a common mechanic which SNK decided to embed with KOF XII; Rebirth, bouts are never slowed down or lagged. critical counter is, in my opinion, also interesting. while you can’t be moving at all when using it, when timed right, it literally opens up an opportunity to just beat your opponent senselessly.

  now for the reason this review has to be dated – the roster and online play.
  
  to be honest, it’s weak. i know SNK had a complete overhaul in mind and they focused on rather more important things but it’s KOF, for god’s sakes. 22 fighters? not even CLOSE to enough. most fans seem to want and almost definitely there will be DLCs for widening the character roster (Mai and K’ in highest demands) but it’s… ya, disappointing.

  and WHAT is next-generation fighter without decent online playing? i know i’m doing this a lot, but BlazBlue had PERFECT online experience laid out for its players. whereas KOF, in 20 or so online matches i’ve played getting frustrated there was not one single legit match. there were updates even as of now to make the game at least PLAYABLE online but if this issue isn’t dealt with promptly and correctly, the fans WILL turn away.

  SNK succeeded in a sense in turning the never-changing game upside down and welcoming it to the next age, but perhaps not quite as well as they’d hoped to. Luckly SNK is very receptive of fan feedbacks so who knows? i’ll probably be able to give stars of the number i want in the near future.

  p.s. don’t use Iori
• 

  Ahmed A. Bader
  July 29th, 2009 on 11:43 pm

  Rating

  i Played the game in the arcade for a good few times now.

  I am an avid fan of the King of Fighters series, but KoF XII is a let-down.
  
  Yes, the characters are all hand-drawn, not pixel sprites like they used to be. But other than that I felt the game was a let-down.

  Firstly, there is no boss. Yes. A great shock to me when I first played through it going “what? It’s over? huh?”. I really like boss-fights.

  Secondly, my favorite character Kyo Kusanagi uses moves from KoF ’99; not his new moves which I have grown quite attached to like what he has in KoF 2002/3. Also, Iori uses slashing moves rather than the moves that he uses in, say, KoF 99/2002/03.

  There are two kinds of matches in the Online, the Arcade Match which is your basic Ranked match in which you gain battle points to increase your rank in the leaderboards, and then you got your Player match where the rank means nothing.

  It is however a shame that most of the female characters are gone. While the sexy Athena, the strong Leona, and the exclusive aditions of Elizabeth and Mature are pretty cool, the absence of Mai, Blue Mary, Yuri Sakazaki and Cula are really felt.

  You will not find a story mode here. You have your basic Arcade mode comprising of 5 stages. Your standard versus mode. Practice and the gallery for all your unlockable art work and stuff.

  Overall, the graphics are great, the characters move gracefully and fluidly and they feel nice and smooth. The gameplay is fast and the counters are hard to get used to but once in the fray you’ll find yourself doing it on reflex.

  hope this is useful.
• 

  Jimmy Ho
  July 30th, 2009 on 8:28 am

  Rating

  As many you have read already this game boils down to a disappointment. Character’s are pixilated (perhaps i need to mess around with the soft filter) but when compared to street fighter 4 and blazblue its very unpleasant to the eye. Levels are limited, and the music is blah…(doesn’t get my blood pumping or even in the mood to fight). Some may argue that the character roster is good, but to me a lot of key characters are missing…seriously would it kill them to add Rock Howard) Also, Is it me or did they try to go overhaul the shadowing effect? Perhaps the new hand drawn idea was great at first, but eventually backfired. Important key moves are missing, most characters are limited to one super, also what happen to the story? I’m not sure if SNK ran out of time or what, but they need to improve a lot on the next KOF to make up for this. I suggest this a rental unless you’re a true diehard and must own it. Haven’t played the online yet, since I heard of the lag issues (haven’t checked to see if the patch was available for PS3 yet)…but it seems like I will be sticking to street fighter 4 and blazblue. Hard earned money shouldn’t be wasted like this…SNK WTF seriously.
• 

  GMPIV
  August 2nd, 2009 on 5:28 am

  Rating

  Reborn is exactly what King of Fighters 12 is. It has undergone a complete graphical face lift unique to its own style, reborn in high definition. Not only that, but this game supports up to 1080p. I have never played a fighter with such smooth response. It is pretty obvious that this years King of Fighters is focused on the fight.

  There is no storyline, but the majority of people play fighters for the action and online replay value. There have been some issues with the online perfomance, but snk will correct that plus some dlc(additional characters, stages, and modes possibly).

  King of Fighters 12 is a great alternative to Blaz Blue and Street Fighter IV. It is true to its roots and provides a different flavor to the current generation fighters.

  King of Fighters 12 is a definite contender and must have for fighter fans. [-] Minimize Comment
• 

  Jude Nguyen
  August 3rd, 2009 on 7:37 pm

  Rating

  In the beginning I had my doubts about KofXII. Before I even received my copy I’ve read numerous posts on forums where people expressed disappoint in this title. My expectations lowered, then when I received my copy I confirmed their complaints about this game. With no basis for a story, no final boss, and horrible net code, I really believe this game was a complete failure and had no future.

  Then I tried online play for myself. Starting out a lot of the matches I joined suffered from extreme lag and slow down. I could barely move my character without experiencing some slowdown, so then i would completely hate this game right? Wrong! AFterwards I decided to host a match myself. Players with a solid connection joined my match room, and the game played flawlessly online. After playing some matches with a decent connection, i finally realized the core aspect of this game, ARCADE play! This game basically gives us the opportunity to play new opponents but in the comfort of our home without having to commute to our nearest arcade vendor. Given I have a solid internet connection and I understand not everybody does, I see the true potential of this game. Solid fighting engine, fast paced fighting, and amazing character detail accompanied by their interesting personalities. I’ve always preferred the characters roster and theme of KOF over any Street Fighter title. I absolutely love this game when I can play against another opponent be it online or LAN. I do wish they added at least more convenient interface on the menus and a final boss, but that will come as a DLC from SNKP in the future.

  If you truly are a fighting game enthusiast, trust me, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. Though to experience the full thrill of this title you have to play against opponents constantly or online. When SNKP upgrade the online to a better net code, expect this game to be a solid fun fighter.
• 

  D. C. Warren
  August 4th, 2009 on 11:59 pm

  Rating

  At first I was as negative as the rest of all the “I’m a KOF fan for life, but this game stinks”. Honestly the game is solid. We all know the drawbacks that we wish they’d include in a free download, but beyond that the game isn’t quite as simplistic as most are letting on to believe. Gave it some time, and now I’m totally addicted..as should be.
• 

  N. Durham
  August 13th, 2009 on 2:29 pm

  Rating

  SNK’s long running King of Fighters series makes its next-gen debut with King of Fighters XII, which offers up a decent cast of fighters, but sadly not much else. The biggest addition of King of Fighters XII is that the game offers up online play, which is decent enough, but other than the typical single and versus-player modes, there aren’t any other play features to find here, such as Time Attack or Survival, or whatever else one can think of that could have been included here. Graphically speaking, the game is very well-animated and moves fluidly enough, and the core fighting engine remains virtually the same, and also remains just as rewarding as it ever was. Still though, considering the full price-tag attached to King of Fighters XII, there just should have been more included here. With its small amount of gameplay modes and such, there’s really no reason why King of Fighters XII isn’t a cheaper downloadable package, but alas, it isn’t. All in all, King of Fighters XII is still worth checking out for longtime fans of the series and fans of 2-D fighters in general, but in the end, the game as a whole is a disappointment.
• 

  Aaron S. Nagy
  January 26th, 2010 on 10:54 am

  Rating

  I really enjoy playing this game as a fighter, versus another player, first time I played it I really hated the game I had to first find someone to show me how to play the game.

  First off all no lie here but the single player/online options for this game are literal trash and is why I gave this game a 4 instead of a 5, if you don’t have friends to pick this game up with, just don’t even bother.

  The moveset, this bothered me alot at first coming from 98/2002, and the like I was confused on why they took away like all my moves. Once I started figuring out the game I realised EVERY SINGLE MOVE, in your characters move set has a good use, SNK worked hard and gave thought to every move in your arsenal there will not be that 1 move you don’t move cause X always does it better.

  The gameplay, this game is different than the old KOFs in many ways what this game is about is frame traps, frame traps up the wazzo, the Critical Counter system is icing on that frame trap cake. Also once you start getting your characters moves down, it feels like you have alot of options despite your limited moveset, at least alot more than you do in SFIV.

  I don’t understand the hate on the graphics I really like the way BB/SFIV/and KOFXII are animated.

  As a final note rent/borrow this game first with an open mind and don’t come in expecting something specific.