King of Fighters XIII

[Specineff]

If SNK stops making fighting games, what else is there?

Pachinko?

[Siren2011]

Pachinko?

Yup. Sega jumped on that bandwagon ever since they were bought out by Sammy; I can easily see SNK taking the same route.

[Sumez]

[BulletMagnet]

If SNK stops making fighting games, what else is there?

Pachinko?

That and Doki Doki Majo Shinpan (or however the heck it's Romanized).

[BulletMagnet]

Few new items you might have already seen: first off there's Atlus' 4-CD pre-order bonus, as well as a couple other details, including Old Iori (another pre-order bonus, apparently?) and one brand-new character, Saki...who's a headswap of Ash. *sigh...* I knew Hwa Jai's arrival couldn't herald anything good.

[BulletMagnet]

US release has been delayed into November.

[Khan]

hehe I noticed this is closer to umvc3 now that the rls date has been pushed back, most of the sheep will probably buy capcoms efforts whereas most of the hardcore true fans will buy this and get a better game imo

[Jonathan Ingram]

Too bad about the delay. Guess I`ll have to stick with the leaked Type-X2 dump for PC for a little longer. The game is absolutely fantastic in every way and I can`t wait for the meatier console version. Won`t be buying Capcom`s crap. Their recent fighting games don`t deserve a free torrent download let alone a purchase.

[mesh control]

Who got this and how awesome is it?

I need to sell DFK so I can buy this...

[Estebang]

I got it.

It's tied with XI in my book for the best 2D fighter of the decade, but you better not sell DFK for anything.

The new bosses are disappointing, though. They don't at all live up to the standards of SNK cheese, and are easily dispatched with some cheap tricks. One is a powered version of an existing character. At least it HAS bosses, unlike XII.

The netcode on 360 is nearly flawless, though YMMV if you don't have a T1 connection.

[stryc9]

Who got this and how awesome is it?

I need to sell DFK so I can buy this...

FFS, what happened there? I just lost half a page of gushing text
Oh well I'm not writing all that again.
Bottom line: KOF is HOT

[iconoclast]

I haven't sunk much time into this yet, but yeah the game seems excellent. It's just a shame that the netcode doesn't seem to be as good as BlazBlue or SF4. It probably won't be suitable for high-level play unless you live in a country that has great Internet (i.e. not America).

[DragonInstall]

Probably the worst netcode in any fighter this gen, well it's better than KOFXII netcode lol.

But yeah... most likely the online community for Kof will die out fast, but if you have an offline scene, then you'll have a blast.

[Estebang]

But yeah... most likely the online community for Kof will die out fast, but if you have an offline scene, then you'll have a blast.

I dunno. This has been selling a lot better than XII and most people seem pleased with it. I think it'll last about as long as Continuum Shift, which you can still regularly find players on.

And the netcode is really quite good, unless you have a shit connection, in which case all I can say is "tough luck." I'm in America and I've had very few matches with noticeable lag.

Anyone tried using Saiki (the unlockable non-boss version)? He's a chargeless version of Ash with some unique moves, five(!) DMs, and a ridiculously good aerial game. I haven't seen anyone using him because he's new and complicated.

[DragonInstall]

I dunno. This has been selling a lot better than XII and most people seem pleased with it. I think it'll last about as long as Continuum Shift, which you can still regularly find players on.

And the netcode is really quite good, unless you have a shit connection, in which case all I can say is "tough luck." I'm in America and I've had very few matches with noticeable lag.

Well tell that to the fighting game community. Dreamcancel actually sent a notice to SNK to fix the netcode. Even people that have godly connections are saying the input lag makes the game play at high level impossible.

General consensus for retail release fighters this gen is KOFXII < KOFXIII < MK9 < MVC3 < SF4 < UMVC3 < SSF4AE < BBCS = AH3 < BBCT netcode wise. 3SOE and SF2HDR seem to vary in opinions a lot.

Arcsys still the best when it comes to online fighters.

[stryc9]

I hope they do put the effort in to patch the netcode as I have been unable to get anything but 1 bar connections, which obviously have severe lag. It's a pity, and usually I consider good netcode only as a nice bonus, but I've been spoiled by BB methinks.
Of all the current-gen fighters, this is the one I want to play online the most

Have SNK responded to he plea about the netcode?

Also @ DragonInstall: you say the general consensus is that CT is tighter than CS for online?

[drunkninja24]

I hope they do put the effort in to patch the netcode as I have been unable to get anything but 1 bar connections, which obviously have severe lag. It's a pity, and usually I consider good netcode only as a nice bonus, but I've been spoiled by BB methinks.
Of all the current-gen fighters, this is the one I want to play online the most

Have SNK responded to he plea about the netcode?

Also @ DragonInstall: you say the general consensus is that CT is tighter than CS for online?

I would certainly agree that CT > CS when it comes to online. I dunno wtf happened with the move to CS, but there is definitely more lag in my CS matches than I ever recall from playing CT.

[Estebang]

Atlus' response to the netcode whining was "we're working on it."

Just imagine how bad it'd be if they hadn't delayed the game! I'm certain that was the reason for it.

Also, yeah, from my experience Continuum Shift actually has worse netcode, and the lobby menus are a mess. They say they're going to bring it back to CT quality for Extend, though.

[Cuilan]

They don't at all live up to the standards of SNK cheese, and are easily dispatched with some cheap tricks.

Old SNK was no stranger to that though. KoF 98 and 2000 immediately come to mind.

[Estebang]

I'll give you '98 Omega Rugal, but 2000 Zero was a great boss.

The hardest KOF bosses are definitely 2002 Omega Rugal (whom I have never beaten) and Magaki, with Igniz contending. '94 Rugal might appear to be the hardest, but there's a technical oversight that lets you throw him every time he gets up, so you'll perfect him if you do it right.

[Cuilan]

...but 2000 Zero was a great boss.

Pick Kula, do her crouching strong kick all day (the slide), win against Zero (and just about every other character) with a perfect.

The AI in 2000 was not properly programmed to handle Kula's attacks, which is somewhat understandable since she was an extra/hidden character.

[Estebang]

Yeah, Kula was a mid-boss in 2000, so I don't think that can entirely be considered a flaw.

Power Quest on the Game Boy Color is another fighter where you can win against the computer every time by slide kicking over and over again (with Axe). Doesn't work against story mode's final boss, though I'm sure this isn't because they were aware of the trick.

[Skykid]

I'll give you '98 Omega Rugal, but 2000 Zero was a great boss.

The hardest KOF bosses are definitely 2002 Omega Rugal (whom I have never beaten) and Magaki, with Igniz contending. '94 Rugal might appear to be the hardest, but there's a technical oversight that lets you throw him every time he gets up, so you'll perfect him if you do it right.

I always considered Igniz to be the hardest of all. Probably the cheapest boss ever (quite a feat for SNK.) I'm not sure I've ever beaten him or seen anyone else do it (in person). They used to have it down the road and all the Chinese dudes were sent packing every time, and they were good!

[Estebang]

Igniz was Eolith's doing, not SNK's.

I've beaten him a long time ago, but it definitely took a lot of continues. 2002 Rugal sunk me every time. One thing Magaki has over every other SNK fighter boss is that he's so damn confusing: he can turn invisible, he has INVISIBLE PROJECTILES that move in erratic wobbling patterns, he has projectiles that come out behind you, he's the fastest character in the game when running, and on top of all that he's got the now-obligatory full screen boss super to pull out when you foolishly jump in. Only beaten him once, after countless retries.

[Cuilan]

I came close to beating Igniz with Heidern a number of times. Heidern made most of the game very easy since his moves were easier to perform than in 98, and he could heal himself (you could even get perfects that way after taking hits).

[Estebang]

I haven't played the 98 or 2002 remakes to confirm this myself, but I've heard some people say that Nightmare Geese is the hardest SNK fighter boss by an order of magnitude.

[Skykid]

Igniz was Eolith's doing, not SNK's.

Ugh, don't remind me.

[Mortificator]

I also think Igniz was KOF's cheesiest. I was eventually able to beat him... on difficulty 3.

Magaki and Shion became a lot easier to handle after the changes to the PS2 version of XI's system, though you can still toggle to the arcade mechanics in the options menu.

Now, the best KOF boss fight was against Team Orochi in '97.

[stryc9]

The AI in XIII is not very difficult anyway, although I have yet to beat the Dark Saiki dude on Very Hard.
That orange guy with the nice physique and black vapor covering his face looks really impressive but went down like a sack of shit when I fought him

Another thing - with all the fuss about the story in this iteration, could anyone shed any light on why just about all the characters talk like it's the first time they've encountered one another?
Alternate realities or just laziness on SNKP's part?

Anyway really enjoying this entry in the series. Special mention must go to the sound FX - some of SNK's best if you ask me, while I find the music kinda blah. The best OST was from '95 CD version (Korea stage and Pao Pao cafe) IMO.

Good to see SNKP back in form with something that can hold it's own against the other current-gen fighters. Pity about the netcode though.

[DragonInstall]

Kof 96/99/2000 boss were done well. Kof 97 did it the best though. Orochi Team then Orochi were extremely fun to play against.

Heres a tactic to beat Igniz.
1. Knock him down
2. Jump over him when he gets up. (He'll do an uppercut and miss)
3. Land and do a combo that leads into a knockdown, or trip if you suck.
4. Repeat

Kof 2k2 Rugel isn't too bad, but one oversight in his AI is to pick Athena and spam psychic ball A version from across the screen. He'll eventually get hit by the ball over and over.