The failure of King of Fighters XII was felt by gamers wide and abroad. SNK fans familiar with the franchise were severely disappointed when KOF XII launched with only a fraction of the KOF cast. Worst of all, the fighters present only had a third of their special moves. Also missing were the trademark character interactions that made the series stand out above most 2D fighters. There is one thing you can give SNK credit for doing: they gave their characters life.
While Capcom’s Street Fighter series is undoubtedly the pinnacle of fighting franchises, its characters still don’t acknowledge their rivalries when they pair off. (You don’t see Ryu and Ken expressing their heated rivalry over who is the best before each match. But when Terry and Geese meet in the arena, watch what happens.). The smaller details count, and SNK has been known to fuss over such intricacies. When KOFXII launched and felt more like an unfinished game, SNK gamers everywhere were outraged. No Mai? What about Yuri and King? Takumai (also known as Mr. Karate in the original the Art of Fighting) was also missing. The single-player mode was a time trial, there was no story, and no boss. Luckily all of this has been rectified in KOFXIII.
Rumors circulating after the launch of KOFXII indicated that SNK-Playmore was close to bankruptcy, and the decision to release KOFXII unfinished was made to recoup their loses.
Fast-forwarded to present day. SNK-Playmore promised its fans that future installments of KOF would be more akin to the franchise that we’re all familiar with. When news began circulating about KOFXIII, SNK gamers sat up and took notice. Rumors began circulating that Mai and other missing fighters from KOFXII would be included in the next installment. Teams would make a return, fighters would finally receive their full list of moves / specials, and the ‘bouncy’ would finally jiggle its way back on to the digital screen.
While the prospects may sound exciting, one pressing question remains: will gamers embrace this new KOF after the travesty that was KOFXII? Despite having teams, Mai, and an upgraded combat system, gamers everywhere still feel burned. SNK-Playmore promises stable netcode for KOFXIII, but there isn’t a gamer among us who hasn’t forgotten the long wait they had to endure for the netcode fix that hardly fixed anything.
SNK’s recent release of Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum on XBLA showed a very promising -and also stable – netcode that offered smooth online match ups. If this is the foundation for KOFXIII’s netcode, then it is safe to say that we are all in for a treat once KOFXIII launches. It looks like SNK has learned from its mistakes, but is it too late for them? Only time will tell.
Mike ‘STGuy1040’ Pittaro
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