I have been a fan of the KOF series for some time – KOF 97 being my favorite. I, like many others was very disappointed with King of Fighters XII but I am pleased to say that this new installment makes up for the mistakes that KOF XII had.
I have only played about three hours and so far I am pleased with what I am seeing. I have only beaten the arcade mode once using the Ikari Warriors team. The game play feels just like I’m playing 97 again! The controls are smooth and it’s easy to make the characters do their moves. SNK has taken a page from Capcom and used an EX system where you press two punches or kicks together and do a special move, which then makes that move do more damage.
There is a story mode that I have only watched for thirty minutes and this mode gives you a rundown on what the characters are doing when they receive the tournament invite. I also played a little of the challenge mode, but only in the mission mode with Takuma. In this mode you complete a series of moves which gets more difficult with every level. As far as the way the game looks the characters were updated in XII so it looks like the same sprites. SNK has not done any drastic change to the look and feel of KOF like what Capcom has done with the Street Fighter series.
From what I have seen so far KOF XIII looks like it will be a great game and I am looking forward to playing more of it.
