Customer Reviews

The King of Fighters XII

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is one of the most terrible SNK games to date.
I bought this orignially without reading up on it, but since past SNK games were over 20+ characters I thought it would have been the bomb-diggity. Boy was I wrong. This is almost the same as playing KOF 95 with a smaller pool to run off of. The controls are a lot flakier than most SNK games too. My suggestion if interested in any SNK title, is to buy a PS2 and buy the KOF95, KOF99, or any other SNK related games on that system. Sure, the graphics look much better BUT...does that mean anything when the playability is almost zero? I gave this two stars-one star for the fact that SNK released a title on XBOX360, the other star for the graphics.

I was so hyped up for this game that i had no reservations about putting down money for a pre-order. Being that games in the KOF series haven't been good for such a long time should have been a hint, but i felt that all the hype it was getting must mean they fixed all the problems that have been plaguing the series for quite some time. Not true at all!

The backgrounds look amazing, that's for sure. They are full of life and color. That's pretty much the only good thing i can say about the game to be perfectly honest.

The characters look muddy and gross. It looks like they're not colored properly and on a big tv they're pixelated to all hell. It's not nearly what i was hoping for.

The music, honestly i don't know. Nothing memorable to say about it.

The character selection is very small at only 22. This normally isn't a bad number, but considering this is a 3 on 3 game, that's not nearly enough. Some of the fighters you know and love have been drastically changed (Iori) while others have lost some moves. Many favorites are missing as well as I'm sure you have read by now.

The biggest problem is STILL here however: HORRIBLE CONTROLS! They're so unresponsive that i have to wonder how this game manged to get released. Motions that you've been doing for years just don't work. God forbid you try to do a super move, good luck. I had to do the motions at least 3 times before it came out, and when you do get it to work, it rarely connects.

There are only 5 stages, 5 backgrounds and no final boss, basically making this game nothing but a $60 time attack mode.

Stick with Street Fighter 4 and wait for Tekken 6. This game is all hype and no payoff. Don't be fooled into buying it. SNK, you will never get another dollar from me!

SNK's long running King of Fighters series makes its next-gen debut with King of Fighters XII, which offers up a decent cast of fighters, but sadly not much else. The biggest addition of King of Fighters XII is that the game offers up online play, which is decent enough, but other than the typical single and versus-player modes, there aren't any other play features to find here, such as Time Attack or Survival, or whatever else one can think of that could have been included here. Graphically speaking, the game is very well-animated and moves fluidly enough, and the core fighting engine remains virtually the same, and also remains just as rewarding as it ever was. Still though, considering the full price-tag attached to King of Fighters XII, there just should have been more included here. With its small amount of gameplay modes and such, there's really no reason why King of Fighters XII isn't a cheaper downloadable package, but alas, it isn't. All in all, King of Fighters XII is still worth checking out for longtime fans of the series and fans of 2-D fighters in general, but in the end, the game as a whole is a disappointment.

As expected from great franchise... I was ready to be dazzled like Street Fighter 4 but... online mode is just simply unplayable. I'm hoping that XBOX Live will correct this problem. I guess it's fair to judge this game if XBOX Live is at fault. If it does improve, I'll edit my review.

Other than poor online play. Here are my verdicts

Graphic: B
I played BlazBlue and it's not even a comparison in terms of graphic but it's playable

Music: C
Nothing too exciting

Game Play: A (if online play is fixed!)
On off-line play, it rocks! The critical counter move is intuitive and I like it!

Anyways, I'll probably stick w/ SF4 and BlazBlue for couple weeks and hopefully online play is fixed!!! Just be aware that currently as of writing this review..online mode is litterraly unplayable.

This is definitely one of those games that are difficult to rate. What is does well, it does REALLY WELL. What is doesn't do well, it does horribly. KoF XII is definitely a mixed bag. Before I start, I will definitely recommend anyone interested in what this game has to offer to wait until KoF XIII. Otherwise, keep reading.

Once again SNK Playmore reinvented the franchise, for better or worse. The fighting system and the controls are some of the best ever in a fighting game; any fighting game, just pick one. Controls are very tight, being just about as responsive as they could be in a 2D fighting game. The new fighting system allows players to be offensive or defensive and still be effective, since it kept the dash and roll moves but also introduce counterattack and intercept moves. In addition, the fighting has been sped up a bit, making for a more up-tempo pace (to my liking). Lastly, they have added a "clash" feature in which two attacks of similar strength and timing repel each other (a la Weaponlord and Soul Calibur). The fighting system is definitely the strongest point of the game.

The graphics are also excellent. The new sprites make the characters look incredible (although they all suspiciously look like they're on steroids). In a way, it reminds you of Street Fighter 3 or BlazBlue, but the visuals in KoF XII look better and there are a few more characters. The animation is very smooth and the sprites were very nicely done. The only minor complaint here is that when the characters are in a close-up the sprites look a little pixelated. Doesn't hurt the animation though. The backgrounds also look great, although they are a little devoid if life. There are a total of 22 playable characters, although some of the fan favorites (like Mai) are suspiciously absent and some teams (like the Art of Fighting Team) are incomplete. That's definitely nothing like Neo Geo Battle Coliseum in terms of characters, but that's still more characters than some KoF XII 2D competitors (like BlazBlue).

And now, the bad. It's sad to say but I suspect that KoF XII was a rush job, especially for the consoles. For a game with such high production value, why does it not have any game modes other than Arcade or Versus? Where the hell is the Survival mode? How can you have an SNK fighter without a Survival mode? There isn't any. Also absent from this game is a story and an impossibly hard boss character. Basically all you do is fight a few team matches and then the game ends. This seriously reduces the replay value and makes you wish you were playing Mark of the Wolves (which has incredible replay value). This is definitely the worst part about KoF XII. For a fighting game, especially one with such excellent controls and play mechanics, this is completely unacceptable.

I have also heard bad things about the online play although I have not gone multiplayer myself. The lag is supposed to be incredible and there are no players to even fight against.

Verdict: I give the game 4/5 stars in the fun department. This is a fun fighting game that has great mechanics and the controls are super tight. When you actually want to pick it up and play some of it, it is incredible.

I give the game 2/5 stars overall. Two great ideas in this game are trumped by the lack of game modes, a boss(es), and a story. They took a great concept, rushed it to consoles, and destroyed whatever they were trying to accomplish. They had an idea that could have become a legitimate contender in the fighting game genre but they blew it.

Recommendation: if KoF XIII turns out like what SNK Playmore originally wanted KoF XII to be, then I definitely recommend not buying this game and waiting for KoF XIII instead. If you still want to play this one, rent and do not buy. If you are not a KoF fan, stay the hell away from this one!

As A Gaming Fan I would Like to Say That I did Absolutely no Recon on this Game, I went purely on faith that it would be A faithful reproduction of a genre that i loved growing up. the three on three battle with over 30 characters to choose. characters like buxom, jiggling Mai Shiranui, or the all business King. beautifully Sprite driven hand drawn characters. what i got was a 50 dollar demo of game that had the potential to be as mind blowing as Tekken, but in the end turned out to be BattleToads. Dont get me wrong I love Battletoads, but the problem is the lack variety. in Battletoad's, and in King Of Fighters. Basically what it comes down to is that if you are familiar with this series then you know there are a mind blowing amount of characters. this is just not so in K. O. F 12 and that is a problem for me.

2D fighters are the games to play with my friends. That said we've played quite a few in our time from SNK, Capcom, and Arc System Works. I read the reviews about this game and was completely turned off. Then recently when my GF got me a TE stick for the holidays I thirsted for more 2D action and decided to give this game a shot.

I was not disappointed. I don't know why fans cannot appreciate all the work that went into this game. SNK reused the same graphics for 11 games. 11 games. You're lucky they brought back 22 characters. HALF the cast they redrew and remade all the moves for. SF4 has 25 characters and Blazblue has 12 and you're happy with that aren't you? This is all beautiful 2D art in high resolution. Did you want crappy 3D like that Maximum impact bucket of baloney? All of the fighters are iconic to the series and play very well. What more all of their moves work well together and serve distinct purposes for their characters. It is WAY more balanced than any other fighter I've played and you'd be hard put to abuse anything. The controls are smoother than any other SNK game I played despite what everyone else said. People complain that they removed moves, but they also added moves and made all of the characters much more interesting to play in my opinion. I don't need moves that aren't useful to my character or moves that make my character more overpowered than the rest of the cast. Some people complain about Iori's completely and utterly different move list. I didn't need a second Kyo for my main character. I'm much happier with this totally new and interesting and innovative character design.

The major qualm with this game was that the online sucked. It was patched get over it. What more, get a friend to play with.

All of the stages LOOK GREAT. They are interactive and ALIVE. All of the characters look amazing as well.

Would I have liked to see a story mode, Time attack, survival, 10 more stages, and 20 more characters? Yes. I would have loved that. But can I acknowledge that the 22 characters I got all look amazing and play really well and are fun to use and are balanced and intuitive? Yes I can. That the stages are beautiful? Yes I can. That the fighting engine is smooth and fresh and innovative with new features to KOF and a simplified system that beginners can get into and experts can master? Yes I can.

So Bravo SNK. Bravo. Everyone else will give you crap for this, but I'll give you a clap on the back for a good job. I appreciate a good balanced beautiful looking fun fighter. You may go bankrupt for making a great game, but hey you gave it a shot. Thank you SNK. Hopefully you'll wait a few years for the next one and really work on it like you did this one, and fans will really appreciate it this time.

Although the graphics to this game was a visual pleasure, the game content was not.

1. It took me forever to figure out in Practice Mode where the command button was.

2. Some characters move list were so limited in comparison to the original KOF series.

3. Controlling character were not user friendly at all.

4. The overall fun factor was not there.

I am so glad I had a chance to rent this game before purchasing it. Trust me if you are a true KOF fan, you will be very disappointed.

I bought this game after reading a lot of the prehype positive reviews and seeing some nicely smoothed screenshots on the net. When I loaded it up on my xBox it looked like crap. All I can say is big pixels and a lack of colors for shading make this game look OLD. Your only options to change the appearance is setting a blur filter that just makes the graphics look worse. If your stuck in 1995 then this is the game for you. No Wait I had a Neo Geo back then and KOF 95 was light years better then. At least Iori had flames and the bad guys were cool. If you have played Street Fighter HD or BlazBlue you will be hugely dissapointed. Someone should tell Playmore that it's 2009.

KoF XII is a solid fighting game. Sure it's not as simple as the more recent KoF titles but this game is a restart to the roots of KoF. I played this game and I was taken back to my times at the arcade playing KoF 98 and I loved it. Now what I was sad about was what most people are the lack of content. This game in general is just one of the dream matches in the series where no story takes place, sad thing unlike other dream matches they didn't add more fighters to play with and normal favs had gone missing. So as much as I love playing I missed one of the great things KoF offered tons of fighters and a crazy story with an evil boss that get me so upset that I'll throw my controller at the wall.