King of Fighters XIII

[Skykid]

Not sure if there's a thread here for this - I can't find one.

There should be anyway, this game looks absolutely incredible. I ragged so hard on the first one for falling far too short of expectation - it just didn't work properly at all. I stand by it, and hopefully after 13 comes out all those mates I harped on at will see where I was coming from. If 12 was the barely playable interpretation of KOF, 13 looks like the total opposite.

I'm going to stick my neck out based on the vids for XIII alone and say that all the bullshit issues of the original appear to have been fixed, and it looks spot on this time. I can't see any of that floaty, crappy weightlessness of 12 and all the characters seem a lot quicker and more solid. The combos look like they actually work this time too, old school style.
Some of the matches coming out of Japan atm are amazing. It looks, in terms of play, like 98 was the model (once again - why bother with anything else), and if it plays anywhere near as well as that, it'll be a proper KOF rebirth.

Really stoked for this one. Port release date pls!

[mirkvid]

Looking forward to this as well. I actually liked KOF12 quite a bit. Hopefully we get a few more backgrounds this time as well.

[BulletMagnet]

I had my own problems with KoF XII, and while this one is looking better (thank goodness), I'm still rather sour on SNK (not just for that, but other lackluster efforts of late)...for the sake of my consumer dollars they'd better shape up quick.

[Skykid]

I had my own problems with KoF XII, and while this one is looking better (thank goodness), I'm still rather sour on SNK (not just for that, but other lackluster efforts of late)...for the sake of my consumer dollars they'd better shape up quick.

Hey man, we're on completely the same page. I'm extremely sour to Eikichi Kawasaki's Playmore reign, I don't feel they've struck a single right note since its been a business outfit. Better than Evoga perhaps, but all their good intentions ended up with flaws (Neo Geo Battle Coliseum/Snk Vs Capcom = WTF).

BUT, this looks very good indeed. I'm going completely on experience, as I'm only looking at vids. But I've played KOF's 94-98 (98 especially) more than any other fighting game, so I kind of know what to look for, and I'm throwing my chips in on this one. It really looks tight.

And I all but hated XII, it was so half baked and broken it wasn't worth looking at after fifteen minutes. I owned the game for a day before I faced up to reality, took it to the shop and sold it.

[drunkninja24]

A friend of mine had a business trip to California recently, and he had a chance to stop by Arcade Infinity and try out KoF XIII. From what he told me, it's a much, MUCH better game than KoF XII, and he's really looking forward to a home release. Judging by the fact than SNK is putting out patches to fix things like the Mature infinite and other bugs shows that they're a little more serious about having a good release this time around.

[Skykid]

A friend of mine had a business trip to California recently, and he had a chance to stop by Arcade Infinity and try out KoF XIII. From what he told me, it's a much, MUCH better game than KoF XII, and he's really looking forward to a home release. Judging by the fact than SNK is putting out patches to fix things like the Mature infinite and other bugs shows that they're a little more serious about having a good release this time around.

Tbh, this is what I can see from the vids, although lets all get the perspective right - it's not difficult to be better than KOF XII. Most KOF's (apart from '99... no, even '99 was better) are more playable.

But yeah, this looks like it works really well. It could be a major return to form for the series after twelve disappointing years. vids are showing Big Bear to be unbalanced, but whatever, unbalanced characters are a KOF hallmark.

[BulletMagnet]

but whatever, unbalanced characters are a fighting genre hallmark.

Fixed - while some series are known for having relatively balanced casts, there are ALWAYS tiers once the tourney-level set sinks their teeth into things. I dunno, has there ever been a tourney fighter where every character was "officially" assumed to have a near-perfectly-equal shot at victory in high-level play? More to the point, do any of the developers even care enough to bother most of the time, especially when a cracked-out title like MvC2 is able to attain legendary status among the fanbase?

[Skykid]

but whatever, unbalanced characters are a fighting genre hallmark.

Fixed - while some series are known for having relatively balanced casts, there are ALWAYS tiers once the tourney-level set sinks their teeth into things. I dunno, has there ever been a tourney fighter where every character was "officially" assumed to have a near-perfectly-equal shot at victory in high-level play? More to the point, do any of the developers even care enough to bother most of the time, especially when a cracked-out title like MvC2 is able to attain legendary status among the fanbase?

Evidently not. MCV2 at tourney level is so much fun to watch though, I hardly care!

[Khan]

still cant believe they released a game like XII with all the bugs it had and the lack of a story mode....wtf were they thinking.

[ROBOTRON]

I'm a big SNK fan but that last KOF was as quaint as a four pound note.

They'd better get it right this time.

[Skykid]

I'm a big SNK fan but that last KOF was as quaint as a four pound note.

They'd better get it right this time.

Lol. Yeah, it was all round wack. The icing on the cake, trivial as it is to the gameplay (but perhaps not so trivial considering the series pedigree) was the abhorrent music. I actually muted the game on the fat lady USA stage because it was such ear pain it was ruining the match.

[gameoverDude]

There was just SO much missing from KOF XII. The 1P mode is relatively lame- being something you can beat in 2'30". Time Attack really has no place in the arcade versions, but it should be saved for a home port extra. KOF XII feels like a demo version that you pay full game price for. KOF XII was merely OK as opposed to great- I can almost hear OXM game reviewer Taylor Cocke saying "Told ya".

I would've liked to see a revamped Rugal in KOF XII- namely one with higher level AI instead of cheap shit (i.e. a Genocide Cutter that takes off as much damage as some of the DMs). The Rugal battle could've been a "Bonus Stage" like Virtua Fighter's Dural battle, where the game time is no longer tallied.

[drunkninja24]

Everything I've seen pretty much points to XII just being a "we need more money for XIII" move from SNK.

[BulletMagnet]

I would've liked to see a revamped Rugal in KOF XII- namely one with higher level AI instead of cheap shit

You will never see this. EVER.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'm still rather sour on SNK (not just for that, but other lackluster efforts of late)...

You don't say. Still, kudos to them for releasing ADK Tamashii (should be a helluva lot better technically, but sheer selection of games is pretty badass).

[Sumez]

Tbh, this is what I can see from the vids, although lets all get the perspective right - it's not difficult to be better than KOF XII. Most KOF's (apart from '99... no, even '99 was better) are more playable.

Wait, what's wrong with '99!? It's one of my favourites in the series. Gameplay wise, the system isn't far from '98, and even though I'm not a fan of strikers, I don't think they are game breaking. Some characters might be lacking since '98, but on the other hand it has K' and Mai's butt attack! And some of the most awesome backgrounds in the series.

I took one look at XII and decided to never play it.

[Skykid]

Tbh, this is what I can see from the vids, although lets all get the perspective right - it's not difficult to be better than KOF XII. Most KOF's (apart from '99... no, even '99 was better) are more playable.

Wait, what's wrong with '99!? It's one of my favourites in the series. Gameplay wise, the system isn't far from '98, and even though I'm not a fan of strikers, I don't think they are game breaking. Some characters might be lacking since '98, but on the other hand it has K' and Mai's butt attack! And some of the most awesome backgrounds in the series.

'99 has decent backgrounds and that's it. SNK realised they had peaked with '98 and started throwing in stupid shit to try to evolve the formula, taking the series a step backward. Strikers are totally gay additions that ballsed up the pacing of the matches, and on top of that they ruined the roll, one of the most integral features of the system.

I took one look at XII and decided to never play it.

Can't blame you for that. I'm hoping XIII rectifies the egregiousness of its predecessor.

[Sumez]

All I heard about KoF13 is they did the completely opposite of XII and continued the direction they've been going since 2003 (which I personally enjoy).
Still very different from '98, so if you refuse to accept the series going in any other direction than '98, it probably still won't cut it.

Personally, my favourite is '00 which is basically a polished '99 with better art and a -perfect- roster (edit: including Vanessa, a personal favorite), but for some reason I seem to be alone on that account. Personally I think 94 and 95 are clearly the worst, almost unplayable like the early Fatal Fury games (sorry FF fans), and the series improved consistently until '98, making any games before that obsolete (either way, I have all of them from '94 up until Neowave) - from '98 and on I think each of the games, even '01, have their own qualities.
Well, except XII that is, even though I love the new HD sprites. I won't play a KoF without Mai or King in it.

[Skykid]

Personally, my favourite is '00 which is basically a polished '99 with better art and a -perfect- roster, but for some reason I seem to be alone on that account. Personally I think 94 and 95 are clearly the worst, almost unplayable like the early Fatal Fury games (sorry FF fans), and the series improved consistently until '98, making any games before that obsolete (either way, I have all of them from '94 up until Neowave) - from '98 and on I think each of the games, even '01, have their own qualities.
Well, except XII that is, even though I love the new HD sprites. I won't play a KoF without Mai or King in it.

'94 - '98 are superior games. Only 2002 rectified the decline post '98, and that had serious presentation issues.

[Sumez]

Personally I think 2002 has some of the best presentation of the series, along with 2000.

[Skykid]

Personally I think 2002 has some of the best presentation of the series, along with 2000.

Wut?

2K2 plays a great game, but everything from the budget title screen logo to the backgrounds are embarrassingly bad. We are talking about the MVS version right, not PS2 Unlimited Match?

2000 I owned on AES for a long time. I found it the most soulless entry out of all of them - and the strikers still sucked.

pre/post 98 debate aside though, I have fairly high expectation for XIII based on the vids, so I'm really hoping this is the reboot we were expecting last time around.

[Sumez]

I like the 2002 logo, and though 98's intro animation is still among my favourites, I hated the character art, while I really like the art in '00 and '02. I liked the backgorunds in '02 too.
But yeah, enough of that... XIII port is out in October, as far as I remember.

[Treasurance]

The game's iPhone version, entitled "The King of Fighters -i", has been out for a while and I'm having a blast with it.

Has only 14 characters though but they'll add 6 more when the console version gets released...

[mesh control]

LOL.
Fighting games on idevices.

Is there any network play?

[burgerkingdiamond]

DUDE, head banging fat chicks! this game looks awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1AiKTOTIQ0

[Treasurance]

LOL.
Fighting games on idevices.

Is there any network play?

nah, only local
SFIV Volt has but it's laggy and full of disconnecters so not a huge loss

the controls are incredibly good considering the platform btw

[Sumez]

DUDE, head banging fat chicks! this game looks awesome.

Seems like the left jiggle in XII even with no Mai....

[gameoverDude]

I like the 2002 logo, and though 98's intro animation is still among my favourites, I hated the character art, while I really like the art in '00 and '02. I liked the backgorunds in '02 too.
But yeah, enough of that... XIII port is out in October, as far as I remember.

Billy Kane and several new stages are in the port. It's good that SNK is adding something extra. I'll have to preorder, but I'm hoping to figure out if the NTSC-U 360 version is region free (I have the Japanese console).

After every story closes, we get a dream match. That said, I'm also looking forward to KOF XIV if and when it drops. Keep everyone who appears in XIII console version, and add at least 6 more fighters (three previous KOF characters, and three who haven't gotten a turn in KOF yet).

[Sumez]

Billy Kane and several new stages are in the port. It's good that SNK is adding something extra.

Well it's hard to oppose to, but regarding KOF it always annoyed me when the home versions got extra stuff not in the arcade, since I'm always getting the arcade versions of the games.
Though, when it comes to XII and XIII, I probably won't, as I'm not planning on ever getting any TypeX games. The fact that they are running on a Windows OS on PC hardware kind of ruins the arcade feel for me, heh...

I'll have to preorder, but I'm hoping to figure out if the NTSC-U 360 version is region free (I have the Japanese console).

If it's not, and there's no PAL release, I'm getting the PS3 version.

After every story closes, we get a dream match. That said, I'm also looking forward to KOF XIV if and when it drops. Keep everyone who appears in XIII console version, and add at least 6 more fighters (three previous KOF characters, and three who haven't gotten a turn in KOF yet).

There are still a lot that need to be redrawn in HD, and of course the return of boss characters in a dream match is a given.
I heard a rumor that KOFXIII is going to be SNK's last fighting game, though, after Masaaki Kukino left the company.

[Zeron]

King of Fighters XIII PAL was just confirmed by Rising Star Games.