King Without A Crown
A decent game in its own right, The King of Fighters XII is nonetheless outclassed by the competition everywhere that counts.
Published: August 10, 2009
Sometimes I wish I could reach back in time and pull my younger self forward a few years. There'd be the usual "whooooaaaa" moments when I saw the advances of technology, sure, but nothing could compare to the awe of learning that there were no less than five 2D fighters hitting just the PS3 alone in 2009. A genre that was, by most accounts, officially kaput just a few years ago is absolutely thriving, beginning with the rebirth of Street Fighter, continued with the arrival of a new HD sprite-based king and will culminate with the re-release of a modern classic.
Despite being awash in nostalgic bliss, though, I can't seem to muster the same enthusiasm for the latest entry into what is arguably the franchise that kept the 2D fighting torch lit during its huge lull. On any other year, it's entirely possible that folks would be ecstatic about the kind of time and effort SNK Playmore poured into their quasi-reboot of the series; 3D models were effectively rotoscoped to make all-new 2D sprites, then extra 3D effects were layered on top to make a gorgeous looking, but weirdly clunky playing fighter. The 3-on-3 duels are always welcome, of course, but even one-on-one competition seems to have bested SNK's attempt at injecting some new flavor into what was an iterative series.
It meant a fairly steep decline from genuine excitement about seeing how the series would change with this new version to a growing kind of unease about the changes that had been made. The roster is smaller (though this helps immensely with learning the ins and outs of the character tweaks, some of which are major revisions that completely change characters' play styles), Mai wasn't included as part of it (why remove one of the the ways to showcase all new sprites unless you're prepping to milk some horny gamer DLC?), and two new core mechanics help make the game quite a bit more accessible.
Or at least they were supposed to.
Similar to Street Fighter IV's Focus Attacks, Guard Attacks effectively turn a well-time parry into a counter possibility. The problem is, there's very little in the way of a risk/reward set-up. Properly timed, a Guard Attack can deflect anything, including Supers. It's a quick, dial-a-counter that can be heavily abused even for newcomers, and it changes the flow of KOF in weird, twitchy ways. Perhaps in an attempt to balance this out, Critical Counters were also added, effectively putting the whole of all your moves into a move that can be executed when the meter fills. Once activated, multiple moves can be chained regardless of their normal execution orders, meaning, if one were to save up enough mojo, one could actually chain multiple Specials into a Super if you're quick enough.
I can understand the mentality behind adding both new moves, as they're meant to be momentum flippers, allowing characters with their backs to the wall to halt a rush or pour everything into a last-ditch effort to overwhelm their opponent. Unfortunately, it leads more to both players playing conservatively rather than trading rushes, which has always been KOF's bread and butter. Newcomers, once familiar with the move will likely settle on characters that can zone with projectiles as they build up the proper juice, and vets used to memorizing a rushdown will end up being forced into baiting for quick hits rather than back-and-forth duels -- or at least that's how my play sessions ended up.
Despite being awash in nostalgic bliss, though, I can't seem to muster the same enthusiasm for the latest entry into what is arguably the franchise that kept the 2D fighting torch lit during its huge lull. On any other year, it's entirely possible that folks would be ecstatic about the kind of time and effort SNK Playmore poured into their quasi-reboot of the series; 3D models were effectively rotoscoped to make all-new 2D sprites, then extra 3D effects were layered on top to make a gorgeous looking, but weirdly clunky playing fighter. The 3-on-3 duels are always welcome, of course, but even one-on-one competition seems to have bested SNK's attempt at injecting some new flavor into what was an iterative series.
It meant a fairly steep decline from genuine excitement about seeing how the series would change with this new version to a growing kind of unease about the changes that had been made. The roster is smaller (though this helps immensely with learning the ins and outs of the character tweaks, some of which are major revisions that completely change characters' play styles), Mai wasn't included as part of it (why remove one of the the ways to showcase all new sprites unless you're prepping to milk some horny gamer DLC?), and two new core mechanics help make the game quite a bit more accessible.
Or at least they were supposed to.
Similar to Street Fighter IV's Focus Attacks, Guard Attacks effectively turn a well-time parry into a counter possibility. The problem is, there's very little in the way of a risk/reward set-up. Properly timed, a Guard Attack can deflect anything, including Supers. It's a quick, dial-a-counter that can be heavily abused even for newcomers, and it changes the flow of KOF in weird, twitchy ways. Perhaps in an attempt to balance this out, Critical Counters were also added, effectively putting the whole of all your moves into a move that can be executed when the meter fills. Once activated, multiple moves can be chained regardless of their normal execution orders, meaning, if one were to save up enough mojo, one could actually chain multiple Specials into a Super if you're quick enough.
I can understand the mentality behind adding both new moves, as they're meant to be momentum flippers, allowing characters with their backs to the wall to halt a rush or pour everything into a last-ditch effort to overwhelm their opponent. Unfortunately, it leads more to both players playing conservatively rather than trading rushes, which has always been KOF's bread and butter. Newcomers, once familiar with the move will likely settle on characters that can zone with projectiles as they build up the proper juice, and vets used to memorizing a rushdown will end up being forced into baiting for quick hits rather than back-and-forth duels -- or at least that's how my play sessions ended up.
