So just how is KOF12?

[KindGrind]

The ports. I'm looking to get the PS3 version, but the reviews haven't been awesome, to say the least. What do you guys think?

[SFKhoa]

Very barebones. No story, no boss character. You just fight. That's it.

[mortified_penguin]

My experience with the series has been touch and go over the years so I'm probably not the most valid opinion here, but I like it. It's pretty bare bones but the actual gameplay is nice. Online is a total mess right now and with the complete lack of modes to play, that's unforgivable.

As it stands now I'd recommend it on the cheap until they fix the awful lag online.

[KindGrind]

Very barebones. No story, no boss character. You just fight. That's it.

When you compare to stuff like Blazblue, that's indeed quite disappointing.

IIRC, Skykid had told me a month ago or so that SNK/Playmore isn't exactly known for being active and supportive of the people that buy their product. The mess that seems to be online play just confirms this. Shame really.

[Ganelon]

So who cares? Back in the 90s, solid mechanics were enough. But the problem with this game is that the mechanics aren't appealing for serious players and the casual fans don't have the extras they crave. KOF fans have too many alternatives (98 and 02). True sprite fans (as opposed to folks who think that great art plus low animation count is win) are few. So it's an all-lose situation.

[ncp]

It's not as good as 98, and that's all that really counts, eh?

Very barebones. No story, no boss character. You just fight. That's it.

People actually care about this kind of stuff in fighting games?

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I'd get BlazBlue. Looks kewler than KOF12. BB manages a balanced look imo. The animation is not SF3 great but you got high-res sprites and some nice effects.

[Daigohji]

It's not as good as 98, and that's all that really counts, eh?

Very barebones. No story, no boss character. You just fight. That's it.

People actually care about this kind of stuff in fighting games?

It depends on what you want out of the game. Naturally a competitive player won't be too bothered by the lack of those features, but I like fighting games to have a robust single player element. The treasure hunt structure of games like SoulCalibur where you can play the game for 50 hours and still be unlocking stuff is a huge part of the appeal for me.

[BulletMagnet]

I wrote up a rather lengthy diatribe regarding the game here - most of you probably won't agree with me, but that's nothing new, heh heh.

[KindGrind]

Honestly, the dodgy online play is a terrible turn off for me. It takes only little time to plow through the single player (even with all characters, to a certain depth) and then you want more... This is what made me play 120+ hours of SF4. I'd have never played this much versus the computer, let alone vs friends.

Let's hoping it gets better. I honestly don't care at all there is no story. It all comes down to the gameplay for me.

[gameoverDude]

I wasn't going to pay $60 for KOF XII based on what I've heard. I found it for $48.99 from an Amazon seller (albeit used), so I figured I'd go ahead.

Lack of a boss bothers me somewhat, but I'm not asking for another Magaki. A boss that shoots a Giga Wing barrage of projectiles at you is a no-no, but bringing back Rugal would've been fine.

Five stages is awfully short for the 1P mode, especially when you can beat it in 3'30. You could say something like that about Tekken 5, which IIRC can been beaten in 58 seconds if you're good enough.

I have a feeling that KOF XIII will be a big jump over this one. Watch it come out sooner than later- I'd guess 2010. But in the meantime SNK should make a KOF XII Black Label/Ver.B/2nd Strike or something- give back some of the deleted moves, and add 6 more characters. Bump the Time Attack up to 7 stages.

[Minzoku]

HI MELTYBLOOD I POSTED

durp






SELECT THE ODOR

[BulletMagnet]

SELECT THE ODOR

Good to know I wasn't the only one who consistently heard that.

[Specineff]

Whut?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

"Select the Odor" is nothing more than a parody of words on the well known phrase of "Select the Order". Get it now? ^_~

Very nice KOF-XII review, bulletmagnet. I still intend to pick it up for my own PS3 gaming stash. ^_~

A few years back, a local movie theater had a Namco System 256 powered Soul Calibur II cabinet up and running. Someone had inserted 50 cents but didn't bother to play it. Having never played the arcade version of it before, I selected the femme fatale character of Ivy on a whim and proceeded to play it. Managed to proceed through all the stages and triumph over them all including the final boss. It ended being a 1CC no-miss session on my first try and I was feeling qute pleased with this. Entered my intials for posterity and walked away a happy camper that day. It's possible to 1CC a fighting on your first try ever...maybe it was just pure luck? ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Cthulhu]

In my increasingly pointless-for-many-reasons solo crusade to save the 2D fighting genre, I'll buy this game anyways, play it for an hour, declare it's still worth having for some reason or another (probably "save SNK and 2D!!!11"), then shelve it and never have time to play it again.

[Sandlegs]

am i the only one who loves kof 95. i bought that AES when it came out. maybe i love it so much because i wanted to play the shit out of it for how much cash was dropped on the purchase?

[Cthulhu]

am i the only one who loves kof 95.

No, but generally 98 is held up as the best of the series. Next would probably be NeoWave and 2001. 2000 was junk and happens to be the only one I bought ... at full price... for my Neo. That was a ridiculous waste of money.

[Mortificator]

'98 and 2002 are generally the best-regarded, which is a big part of why they each got the UM treatment recently.

I like all the main KOFs, but many of them aren't balanced enough or unique enough to be worth learning in-depth.

[Cthulhu]

'98 and 2002 are generally the best-regarded, which is a big part of why they each got the UM treatment recently.

I like all the main KOFs, but many of them aren't balanced enough or unique enough to be worth learning in-depth.

Right, 2002, not 2001. IIRC both of those were the Korean developed ones while the real SNK was on hiatus...

Most fighters with large rosters have balancing issues. Some of the KOFs are bad enough that it does feel kinda like a waste of time though. *evil glance at 2000*

[Cthulhu]

Just picked up KOF12 (PS3 version) and played it for a little while. I'm afraid I agree with what's been said. Rather barebones, rather simplified over the previous titles. As much as I want to support SNK, this game isn't really worth $60.

I'd only say buy this if you're a hardcore fan of the series or if you're looking for a game that hearkens back to simpler 2D fighters.

[mortified_penguin]

I went and gave '98 a spin again and I have to say, I like the feel of 12 much more. Just wish I could play a friend on the other side of the country without it turning in to a slideshow.

[Skykid]

I went and gave '98 a spin again and I have to say, I like the feel of 12 much more.

Gaming sacrilege.

KOFXII has been adjusted to work on a true widescreen display, which creates most of the problems with the play. Jumping is adjusted to suit the screen length rather than the height, leading to some particularly unnatural (at least for KOF vets) movement around the screen. This takes some adjustment, as does the range of your characters moves. As it was when you first played SFIV, judging attack distance isn't quite as you're used to - but that's not to say it doesn't work, it's just compensating for the size of the characters means you treat the fights slightly differently to the common KOF style.

After further games at IC09 and again in London, I can now appreciate that change is a good thing, even if the presentation and lack of story is poor (and yes, this matters in all games) and only enforces Playmore's often lacklustre reputation.
Expect online play service to blow too - it does on everything else they release.

To cap it all off though, this is fun. Certainly more fun than I initially thought, and once you make the adjustment to character size, move and jump range, the number of odd bugs that crop up, and the slower react time of special moves (do that burn knuckle motion early!) there's still plenty to look forward to in the future.

Just think, KOF XIII, with tighter play system, bug fixes, more backgrounds, a storyline, a boss character, and Mai Shiranui's boobs. It'll be worth playing.

[mortified_penguin]

Gaming sacrilege.

Meh. The old games are too slow for me. I can understand why vets are pissed though.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Just think, KOF XIII, with tighter play system, bug fixes, more backgrounds, a storyline, a boss character, and Mai Shiranui's boobs. It'll be worth playing.

Mai Shiranui's "bouncing" boobs is more like it. I liked the fan service of Mai's boobs as shown in the Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture anime film. Director/character designer Masami Obari is famous for including such fan service shots of the occasional full frontal breast shot for a frame or few frames if you are doing a frame-by-frame analysis of how certain key fighting scenes were done in like both of his anime films of FF: TMP and Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Udderdude]

Can't believe nobody's posted these yet ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WflNsuhuaMY lol handcuffs glitch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7YWCmm2KT4 lol infinite

[TLB]

lol KOF12

[Acid King]

Wow that's really bad. I had such high hopes for the game too. Glad I didn't drop $60 on it.

[Skykid]

The Raiden/Elizabeth one is awful, considering it takes practically nothing for the glitch to happen every time.

But what would KOF be without dodgy infinites - I'm starting to think they code them in!

[Dandy J]

Gaming sacrilege.

Meh. The old games are too slow for me. I can understand why vets are pissed though.

98 is faster than 12 overall, but they are not that different in pace