I'm curious what everyones thoughts are on the new King of Fighters for ps3/360. This game is interesting more for what is not included instead of what is there. If this game had come out a year ago, the graphics for this 2D fighter would be applauded as amazing and state of the art. Now that SF 4 and Blaz Blue have been released, the graphics are noticeably deficient, with fighters suffering from terrible jaggies. The backgrounds are rather nice and the fighting mechanics of the game are very solid. However, this game includes no story mode, no final boss, only 5 rounds total of single player mode play. Theres an unlockable picture gallery but you need to basically never be defeated in single player mode using only one character (you get a team of 3). No challenge mode or survival mode. Only three difficulty modes. If this game had been released in 1993, it would be solid which brings up the question. Should a game that has features and playability that would make it a 4 star game in the early 90s still be judged the same way in 2009? As a fighting game fan I'm glad I purchased it, but I've honestly gone back to SF 4, and actually appreciate it just abit more after having played this one, to be honest.
I've been disappointed in the character selection amongst other things before the release (really, why did they put crappy characters like Ash Crimson and Raiden in when they could've had some awesome ones like Geese or Billy Kane instead? Especially if you're going to have an amount of characters that's anemic by KOF standards.), but I didn't know about the lack of modes..it's kinda sad when KOF '98 UM, an XBLA title, has more modes and characters than SNK's new $60 flagship title! I don't think SF4 can be compared to XII graphically though, since it's not really a 2D game.
For the UK I think HMV has bagged exclusivity to distribute though according to them it is coming out on the 28th of August.
Play-Asia is listing KOF XII as non region protected, but I have no idea how reliable this info is (usually they've been right about this, though).
i feel quite disappointed in KOF12, and i have to say that i'm a huge fan of the serie... were are all the best chars! why there are so few of them? how can they release such an unfinished game? a REAL KOF 2002 UM overhaul would have been so much better! i mean 2002um on ps2 is a marvel to look at and to play!
To anyone wondering about the lack of characters: This is why HD 2D gaming is more or less a dead end. Look at BlazBlue, the other HD 2D fighter people are talking about these days, the character list is even smaller there. They'll probably need another year or two to "HD" all their characters so they can fully start another era of recycling assets. Also, as far as I know; European (and Australian) release date is the 28th of August.
they actually already had other chars in higher definition from KOF'94 for ps2, they laready were in 640x480 or even 800X600... nothing so great, but something to work on... also if there's something SNK must NOT do is disappointing their few nostalgic fans. And they are disappointing them.... so i guess they'll hav a hard time
I'm boycotting the game I won't let SNK pass off unfinished games as new full games. I'm also not buying it becuase there isn't a new High Res HD Mai. No Mai No Buy.
In my view the game was rushed to take advantage of the whole fighting craze coming back. Think about it, sf4 is released causes huge excitement and literally sell arcade sticks and controllers. Then blaze blue comes out and is a sleeper hit. Snk probably figured it should release the game now to get better sales faster. I honestly think the game probably needed another year of development. Sadly with team as small as theirs, this is probably all they could produce on such short notice.
I was fine with the lack of single player features as long as the online offerings were rock solid. Unfortunately, from all reports the online play is laggy and severely crippled. Sad to say but I must pass on this one.
They say in some forums: "No Mai, no Buy". The 2D does look gorgeous (I love the headbanging fat ladies from that stage with the orca), but I don't know if it's a complete game or not. I have read the online sucks ass, too. I was saving up to get this one - but I think I'll wait for it to hit the bargain bin (or my local blockbuster).
Yeah, it's pretty obvious they saw the success of SF4 and decided to capitalize on it. What they probably didn't count on was that Street Fighter is basically a pop culture icon by now, which contributed a lot to its success. I mean, KOF may be popular among fighting game fans, but even people who don't play that much video games know what a Guile is. There's no way SNK could replicate the amount of sales the SF name alone can generate.
I coined the phrase No Mai no buy. I think SNK needs to be sold. They can't make games anymore they half ass everything and they could give two shits what their fans want. In the hands of a team at Capcom SNK's IPs could finally be shown the proper love they haven't been in almost a decade.
