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King of Fighters XII
Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Developer: SNK Playmore
Genre: Fighting
Release Date: July 28, 2009
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Rating: T - Teen
Reviewer: Eric
SNK is back with the latest installment of the King of Fighters series. This
is the first time the franchise is making its way to next gen consoles. Instead
of wowing fans with the biggest lineup up and greatest amount of stages, SNK has
almost gone back to basics. Is the less-is-more treatment what the King of
Fighters series needed or is SNK getting greedy with future downloadable
content?
To say King of Fighters XII is a disappointment would be true to a point. I
enjoy the 3 on 3 battles but to me the game just feels like it may still be in
its final beta testing. Certain characters are just way too powerful than others
while certain individuals feel like they were put in the game for no reason at
all. I have no problem with the low character count but why do we have more
jobbers than actual good characters? With one of the options on the title screen
taking you too downloadable content I think/feel SNK is going to take us to the
cleaners and add in a boat load of new characters. This can either be a good or
bad thing; it all depends on the pricing.
A small amount of your favorite characters are back from Terry Bogard to Mai
Shiranui…oh wait a second the second most famous female fighting characters is
ABSENT. After you look for the familiar faces you can pick the classic 3 on 3
battles or your typical 1 on 1. The 3 on 3 battles are elimination based so you
better choose wisely on who comes out first. There is the neat feature that lets
you hide your characters when picking their order but if your opponent looks
over right away they can catch the order with the 3 second time delay. It really
isn’t hard to figure out who your opponent will pick after that delay and the
d-pad movement. Major fail.
Unlike Street Fighter IV, King of Fighters XII has two punches (light and heavy)
and two kicks (light and heavy). Combine these two attacks and you’ll get an
evasion move and a throw. This makes things easier to pick up and play since you
don’t have to worry about three punches and three kicks. However at the same
time trying to pull off some of the characters moves are pretty hard. If you
have a Street Fighter IV fighter pad or arcade stick now would be the time to
pull it back out. King of Fighters XII might have some of the hardest moves in
fighting game history. Pulling these moves off will not only make you a god in
the games ranks but it almost will make you a better fighting game player all
around.
The new Critical Counter system is cheap yet satisfying at the same time. Once
you build up your meter you can enter a combo like stance if you hit a heavy
attack at the right moment. This can turn the tides of a match just like that or
it can end up being a complete waste of time. Either way King of Fighters XII is
doing its best to help new fans of the series stand a chance against veterans.
One area of King of Fighters XII that has gamers split in decision over the game
are the graphics. The game was completely hand drawn, something that is not done
too often any more in the industry. These 2-D sprites look stunning on the
Playstation 3. The camera will randomly move in and out at times, showing
detailed close-ups of all the characters. You can see some pretty bad pixilation
when the camera zooms in and during Critical Counter times the game does slow
down just slightly. I guess there is always a price to pay for beauty.
The game does offer a small amount of stages to battle on, 6 in total. To make
this number sound even worse there are two stages that are the same, one is
daytime while the other is nighttime. Some of these stages are really detailed
and completely random but I do have to agree with some of the comments I’ve read
over the Internet about these stages. Is there really a reason why these stages
have ethnic stereotypes? Could gamers have a treasure on their hand or will SNK
bring out an update to change some of these changes? It is so easy to see these
ethnic stereotypes; I am literally counting the days until some lawsuits goes
underway over this matter.
Training mode is a huge kick to the face. Before you can start training you have
to pick your character and the opponent you will be facing. There are some
options to pick on how you want your opponent to stand or do. You can even have
the computer take over and do everything. What training doesn’t have is a screen
that says all the moves and combos. On top of that if you want to play another
character you have to exit training and re-enter it. No fast pass to pick new
characters. Get out and do it all over again. Why did SNK let a two year old
program this into King of Fighters XII?
Other than training mode, there is little to do with this game. The story mode
takes you through a generic story, which is the same for any team you pick. The
only thing challenging with the story is earning the 3 minute and 30 second
trophy for completion of story mode. Six rounds and all the re-dos your heart
desires. Once you get sick of that you can play with friends in your own home,
play time attack, or go online…
There are three periods there for a reason. Online play for King of Fighters XII
is extremely broken! Even after the patch for the game, which was just an
install of the game (this could have been done through the options before),
there are way too many lag problems. The game has a great arcade feel to it by
setting up lobbies for friends and opponents to join. There are a few options to
pick on who fights next but if you get somebody with red lag it is all over.
Instead of letting players quit the match by hitting the start button, you
either have to play these laggy matches or exit out of the game. If you exit out
of the game it will go against your record. By playing the match you will
seriously want to break something. Out of the matches I’ve played that were
really laggy I had people tell me to win just so we could try again with the
next match. Great all around concept for online play, just poorly executed.
To make matters worse with Kings of Fighters XII there are random occasions
where the game loads. I kid you not it could take a good 5 to 10 seconds to
start a match offline after your characters are picked and their order is up to
your standards. This is a Playstation 3 game with a full install, what is going
on? Something needs to be done fast before a mass of King of Fighters XII get
traded in for the next big fighting game.
Final Verdict
It is unfair to call King of Fighters XII the best fighting game on the market
today. The game is extremely fun both on and offline but you can not avoid the
fact that there is a slightly unpolished feel to the game. Sure the online play
is much greater than Street Fighter IV but the lag is unbearable if somebody
enters with red bars.
I really enjoy King of Fighters XII and I would have to say buy it. Just expect
to wait a little longer than normal for SNK to fix all the problems. Until then
play online with your friends or have tournaments at an individual’s house.
Rating Breakdown
Gameplay: 5 out of 10
+ Easy to learn and play. One of the best fighters out on the
market today.
- Online play hurts this game a lot.
Graphics: 9 out of 10
+ 2-D sprites haven’t look this well in a fighter in a long
time.
- Zoomed in shots could have used some polishing up.
Audio: 7 out of 10
+ Great choice of voice work for characters.
- In game music is easy to forget.
Replay Value: 7 out of 10
+ Playing with friends is a blast. Future downloadable
content could be amazing.
- The online play is still a key factor in the games
credentials.
Overall
7 out of 10
More reviews:
MetaCritic: 5.6/10
TestFreaks: 6/10
King of Fighters XII Trailer
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