Review: King of Fighters XII

by David Hinkle { Jul 31st 2009 at 2:45PM }

SNK sticks to the KOF series' roots with King of Fighters XII, the latest 2D installment in its popular fighting franchise. It's been years since we've seen a King of Fighters game and you'd think SNK had some cards hidden up its sleeve but, to be honest, King of Fighters XII is short on the surprises.

[Editor's note: This review also features a video walkthrough.]

Gallery: King of Fighters XII

It's business as usual for King of Fighters XII. Those familiar with past iterations will immediately feel at home with the title, as most of the series' characters play exactly the same. The series' three-on-three elimination style gameplay also returns.

SNK did add a couple of small additions to the gameplay, however. Players can now pull off Critical Counters, which - given the meter is full - allows players to initiate quick, deadly combos. These are somewhat automated, as striking with the initial blow will trigger the event, then the player only needs to tap a few buttons to pull off a devastating combo. Don't get me wrong: one doesn't simply need to mash buttons for this to work, but its implementation didn't feel like it revolutionized the experience.

There are also cancels now. When an attacking opponent strikes with a certain move, the blocker can time an attack that, should it be of equal damage to the attacker's attack (stay with us), will send the attacker back into a stun animation. It helps turn the tables on more aggressive opponents and rewards patient, calculating players with an opportunity to attack. Thus, its implementation carried much more weight while I played.

I did have an issue with the roster, namely the lack of series staples. Okay, I get that King isn't the most beloved character, but I can't remember the last King of Fighters game she wasn't in. Toss Geese Howard, Billy Kane and Yuri Sakazaki into the pile of missing fighters and you have one game reviewer hyperventilating in his attic.

King of Fighters XII's online component felt like it was also lacking. For one, there's just too many damn menus to go through. I want to get into a room and fight, but I have to tackle menu after menu after menu. Poor design there. Then there's the issue with lag, which plagues King of Fighters' online component throughout.

In the end, this is the same King of Fighters game I've been playing for a majority of my life, without some of my favorite characters, and I just don't feel there's enough substance here to warrant a $60 price tag. This may be the most visually attractive King of Fighters game yet, but it's also one of the most shallow.

Tags: ignition-entertainment, king-of-fighters, king-of-fighters-xii, snk, snk-playmore

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Haohmaru (PSN - DimmuBurgerKing XBL - A Real Puppet ) @ Jul 31st 2009 2:49PM

Bonus points for not bitching about Mai's absence like somewhere around 80% of the internet. King + Yuri > Mai

captainprotonx @ Jul 31st 2009 2:59PM

HD tits are a big deal.

Storm Eagle [Senior Sweatshop Analyst] @ Jul 31st 2009 3:01PM

Yeah, I was going to say.... They don't miss Mai, they miss her chest.

devilsei @ Jul 31st 2009 3:10PM

I bet he did want to complain about the lack of Mai favorite character in the series (heheh, KoF puns), but knew that so many people were complaining about it that it has become universal, and thus expected of almost any player.

Jeff Rebbeck @ Jul 31st 2009 3:14PM

If I can't blow King's top off, I don't see why I should buy this game.

boltu222 @ Jul 31st 2009 5:58PM

Agreed about King and Yuri... also the two reasons I'm not picking the game up... what am I suppose to do with none of my mains present...

Preston @ Jul 31st 2009 2:58PM

I'm kind of surprised there's no Billy Kane or Yuri. They've been in pretty much any KoF game you can shake a stick at.

pressstart @ Aug 2nd 2009 10:53AM

Billy wasn't in 99-2001, 2003 and XI, which are pretty much the newer titles.

As for Geese and King, Geese has only been in KOF 96 and XI (console only? not counting UMs), while King wasn't in 2002 and I think 2003. Mai was in XI only on the console for whatever reason.

Just being nitpicky here. More appalling is no one that debuted in the Nest Saga are in, like K' and Kula. 0.

Storm Eagle [Senior Sweatshop Analyst] @ Jul 31st 2009 2:59PM

Yuri is the biggest one missing for me. She's my fallback character when I get tired of playing as Iori and she would have had a permanent place on my 3 person team.

I do want to say that I'm glad I waited to pick this up. This is the second ho-hum review I've read of the game. I'll stick to BlazBlue and MvC2 instead.

Wiizer (MW2 Sweatshop Entrepreneur) @ Jul 31st 2009 3:05PM

Yeah, BlazBlue is the sleeper hit of the year! I don't think there would be as much of an argument about content if it wasn't being compared to the likes of SFIV and BB...

Is it true that there are only SIX stages on KoF???

Storm Eagle [Senior Sweatshop Analyst] @ Jul 31st 2009 3:09PM

Yeah I think so. And the music is only per stage too. As opposed to each character having a theme tied to them, which is really surprising. It's as if they've just given up on this franchise altogether.

RagingStormX @ Jul 31st 2009 3:41PM

@ Wiizer - There are only five stages. One stage just has a day and night version.

Or Is It Alton Brown? (Loyal Wiizer Sweatshop Peon) @ Jul 31st 2009 3:49PM

I think SNK should put this series on the back burner and try to revive some of their coin-op classics. I know I can't be the only one who loved Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier.

WINterfang @ Jul 31st 2009 10:44PM

Blazblue is a sleeper hit? I though it was selling great.

MATT @ Aug 6th 2009 3:32AM

@ WINterfang: Sleeper hit refers to something that has unexpected success, which BB has.

Emophia @ Jul 31st 2009 3:12PM

Shame, it animates absolutely beautifully.

undrssthemachine @ Jul 31st 2009 3:20PM

Even the character roster didn't bother me, what bothered me was that i dropped 60$ on half a game. I got Time trial mode and a broken online, thats it, and Iori who has no fire, and no story or reasons why.

But seriously, i felt like i had just downloaded a game off XBL and would have been upset to drop 20$ on it let alone 60$

Jampirow @ Jul 31st 2009 4:04PM

Well, actually Iori lost his fire in the end of KoF XI, when Ash stole his powers.
But then again, you're right. This is in NO WAY a $60 game.It's a shallow and incomplete experience, and as a fan of the series I'm NEVER going anywhere near this game, ever again.

undrssthemachine @ Jul 31st 2009 4:11PM

Well at least i have a solid answer on that, I appreciate it, KOF XI was a bit rough to beat *coughisuckedcough*

Neo Asuma @ Jul 31st 2009 5:19PM

In truth, I would have appreciated it if SNK actually let Iori keep his fire attacks in this game, then in KOF XIII they could provide each team an intro. story (ala Tekken 4-6), which would explain to players that in the last tournament Ash stole his powers, so he can't use them anymore.

No K' and no King = no buy for me. And even if they were added in, the lack of stages, a story mode, and the team gameplay that KOF is known for doesn't convince me enough.

PJags @ Jul 31st 2009 3:21PM

damn, I was so looking forward to this too..

Guess the business model is to take us to the cleaners on DLC.

Saddest part of all this.., the last SNK fighter I enjoyed was Capcom vs. SNK 2.

Maybe they can license the next title to Arc Systems.

GIG @ Jul 31st 2009 5:54PM

Iori lost his fire sometime back in the storyline, think around the 3D titles as it was slightly mentioned in the short anime shorts for KOF. Basically the fighter with green fire took Iori's fire for whatever freakin reason :\

AwRy @ Jul 31st 2009 3:51PM

Only 6 stages = major fail.

KoF XII should've been a $20 title on PSN / XBLA, especially because it's so slim on content. It's moves likes this that make me empathetic towards SNK's future.

Or Is It Alton Brown? (Loyal Wiizer Sweatshop Peon) @ Jul 31st 2009 3:57PM

I think you mean apathetic.

RagingStormX @ Jul 31st 2009 4:03PM

As half assed as this KOF may be, the gameplay is still solid. But as everyone is complaining about...this is not worth the full price tag of $60 (I had to play $90 for mines here in The Bahamas). I only see hardcore KOF fans with alot of local competition being truely happy with this installment. Here, groups of KOF players gather by someone's house (byoc) and play versus while trash talking for hours on end. For that crowd the bare fighting is all thats needed and this KOF has just that. But we are in an age when many turn to online for multiplayer action....so this will still be generally regarded as weak sauce. Hopefully SNKP gets the netcode sorted soon. I feel sorry for Ignition most.... they can only request fixes on behalf of the fans and their good name. Its up the SNKP to really give a shit or not.

undrssthemachine @ Jul 31st 2009 4:10PM

Even the gameplay isn't that awesome, the counter system is pretty much just easy mode, and no matter how much i play it, i can't get the feel for the timing, actions that i pull off consistently in other games i can get maybe a 50-60% success rate on in KOF, the whole thing feels sluggish, like i have it on "slow and not responsive" mode somewhere in the setup.

Deadpool @ Jul 31st 2009 6:21PM

I thought the gameplay was rock solid, but they took each characters movesets back to basics. Kof had more fighters, movesets, stages, fighter specific music, the really cheap end boss....THE CHEAP END BOSS! There's no cheap end boss?! This game is INCOMPLETE!

I think the kof fans and fighting fans in general could have waited for them to finish. Right now the game feels like a beta.

s.mario @ Jul 31st 2009 4:07PM

I'm really dissapointed as well...the graphics look amazing, and I've been holding off from getting BlazBlue because I thought KoFXII would be able to top that...

DeluvianKing @ Aug 4th 2009 8:14AM

Well wait no longer, BlazBlue blows this out of the water. Hell MvC2 is way better than this and its only 1/4 the price. The only thing I thought KoF12 did right was the character sprites looked and moved very beautifully, but everything else about it was lackluster.

VSpeck @ Jul 31st 2009 4:14PM

This game feels more like a XBLA title than a full price title.

Angel Mass @ Jul 31st 2009 4:19PM

Kof 98 and 02 were the two peaks of the franchise

Or Is It Alton Brown? (Loyal Wiizer Sweatshop Peon) @ Jul 31st 2009 4:23PM

Hear Hear.

RagingStormX @ Jul 31st 2009 4:27PM

KOF XI is my favorite in the series, (2k2 next..). I would say the two installments you mentioned does have some of the best KOF character line up though. However I refuse to go near 98um & 2k2um....I can smell mugen a mile away lol.

Deuce @ Aug 1st 2009 12:09AM

Your loss. KOF2002 Unlimited Match is a masterpiece. Better than 98 in any incarnation.

xera077 @ Jul 31st 2009 4:24PM

It seems SNKPlaymore forget why they were bankrupt in the first place.

THIS IS WHY.

Morons.

Deadpool @ Jul 31st 2009 6:46PM

If this doesn't bankrupt SNK, then the KOF movie will.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Fighters_(film)

RagingStormX @ Jul 31st 2009 4:32PM

@ undrssthemachine - Well I said the gameplay was solid...not "awesome" lol. And I suffered from the same off timing coming straight from BlazBlue to KOF XII. You have to just get into it...

Shiroi Kaze @ Jul 31st 2009 5:40PM

I have to really disagree when the reviewer said that the characters feel like typical KOF... I found that most of the characters only have about 3/4 of their usual moves, some even less! My first play through I chose Terry, Ryo, and Iori... considering K' and a lot of my other favorites were missing. I go to try a powerdunk combo... that move isn't there... powergeyser is his only DM now... Ryo felt a little more complete... but his handy jumping chop move that goes over fireballs is missing... Iori I didn't even recognize! Admittedly I haven't played him in a long time and seem to recall hearing his was overhauled the last game... but he definitely was not the wrecking machine he used to be in previous games... after playing through with more characters I was constantly trying to do moves only to just throw a jab or whatever, then bringing up the moves list just to see that move wasn't in the game.

Considering the lack of a roster, no boss, and no story.... they could have at least had the moves sets at 100%. This should have been a budget priced XBLA download like the upcoming 3D Samurai Shodown, not a full priced box game.

Ahmad @ Jul 31st 2009 6:02PM

well , game play is solid but after waiting so long for a king of fighters game worthy to go against SF VI and BB , I mean the roster clearly is the lowest number in KOF history the selection of the characters ; they put a picture of K' saying it's 15 years or something and they don't put him , Iori get's his power stolen and he ended using his fingers and they added the wolverine slash just to make it look cool , special moves were taken from some characters ( Ralf ,Clark, terry's power dunk, kim , mature and it goes on with all the characters ) , and there are characters who have one super move and others have two ( talk about a balanced game ) and no story not even a stupid one .

Come Get Me!!! @ Jul 31st 2009 7:26PM

i love KOF but i would love to see a new fatal fury and a samurai shodown that dosent suck(ss5 and ss5 special were horrible imo). and id LOVE a new ikari warriors game too. im still gonna pick KOFXII up because ive been a snk fanboy since 1990

KingOfHearts @ Jul 31st 2009 7:33PM

To clear some things up for the reviewer, King was last seen in KoF11, she was teamed up with Ryo and Yuri..
Geese is dead, and even tho KoF12 doesnt have a story, it isnt a 'dream match" like '98 or '02, so including Geese would be... Odd.
As for Billy and Yuri.. Eh, it'd be nice, Yuri to round out the Kyokugen team, and Billy to finally get back at Iori=P

KoF12 is a very solid fighter. I myself dont mind the lack of different modes cuz i love KoF as a series, and the fact that they have an extensive backlog of characters that they interchange every game, unlike SF... But online. Is. Horrible. Period.
Its not the most complete KoF, but its still good..

Lagster @ Jul 31st 2009 7:50PM

this is a full priced boxed game? thought it was like sf2hd and mvc2 1200 points on arcade,not sure would of bought for 1200 but def wont for $65, pass

Bootleg Zani @ Jul 31st 2009 8:36PM

I'll buy it when it hits $30.

WINterfang @ Jul 31st 2009 10:42PM

Too bad about this game I bought and I certainly I'm happy with my purchase but I can't recommend this game with a straight face.

For once the gameplay is incredible, fresh,fast,tactical,and most importantly fun! are the moves feel like they really hurt the players and it's basically a joy to play, most characters are better than ever and the game engine is basically perfect but on the other hand there's nothing else to do and I mean nothing no story,no boss,no single play,no intro animations,no nothing and the online sucks there's a patch suppose come coming out and Ignition the publisher has being really cool about this hopefully can fixed the online because if the online get's fixed I can recomend this game to any fighting fan because is very good.

tr;dr

Gameplay is great but it can only get you so far.