Over the past 20-odd years, SNK has attracted a dedicated-yet niche audience for their 2D fighters. Always featuring solid, old school gameplay, they’ve always been challenging, but haven’t made a fantastic transition to current generation consoles.
Until now.
Unlike King of Fighters XII, the newest addition to the series is packed with several different options, simple, yet smooth online play and over 30 unique fighters to choose from.
After a few rounds, you’ll feel like a kid again, transported to the corner deli or the crusty laundry mat with the old “Fatal Fury†cabinet in the back.
Simply put, “King of Fighters XIII†is the closest thing to an old-school arcade fighting experience you can have on your 360.
Though it lacks the beauty of the “Blazblue†and “Guilty Gear†series and the overt sexiness of a Capcom 2D fighter, its retro difficulty and addictive nature make it not only the best game in the series, but a sleeper hit on the 360.
The war between Capcom and SNK has been over for quite some time obviously and rather than adapt and grow like Capcom, SNK still hasn’t changed. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Their graphical presentation has been polished, but still remains the same. Their complex control schemes are still prevalent. Unlike the recent slew of Street Fighter titles, it takes time to fall in love with “King of Fighters XIII.†Each character is different enough that it’s a transition to learn their moves and their tendencies. The game’s difficulty also makes this adjustment a time-consuming one.
That’s something that young fighting fans may not want to deal with. They want to button mash and be able to perform similar button movement for all the characters they play with. That’s just not the case in this game. To them, “King of Fighters XIII†will almost feel like it’s from a completely different world. I
Although they share the same genre, the two titles are completely different from one another. If “Super Street Fighter IV†is Green Day, then “King of Fighters XIII†is The Bouncing Souls. One is mainstream and known around the world. The other is absolutely popular, but isn’t for everyone. Nonetheless, it can’t be denied its due. If the Street Fighter series never existed, this wouldn’t be a problem. Terry and Andy Bogard would have been pop culture icons and would have had their own crappy movie in the early ‘90s with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. But this isn’t the case. By straying away from mainstream conventions, “King of Fighters XIII†won’t cater to everyone, but to those who do “get†it, it’s a title they’ll remember for a long time.n a way, it is.
The main reason for that is the depth in the gameplay. There’s a lot to do in this game. Between the story and mission mode, you could find yourself spending at least a dozen hours playing through with all the characters and possible team combinations. Although the story itself is vanilla, this series was never about a narrative.
 The gameplay, fast, yet tactical is where most of the meat is and for good reason. After all of these years, it still works. Newbies to the series will have a hard time pulling off moves at first, as the movements need to be ultra precise, but veterans will fall in love with an old friend all over again.
This is a straight-ahead, rock solid, 2D fighter, with little bells and whistles. It works. There’s no Brazilian savages spewing electricity or hand-slapping Sumo wrestlers here. If that’s your cup of tea, you probably won’t enjoy this game. SNK has made this game for their dedicated-hardcore, the ones they know will appreciate the 2D sprites, 3D backgrounds and complex combos. They haven’t disappointed them at all.
Again, it’s just not a game for a casual fighting fan aficionado.
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