History VideoGame / TheKingOfFightersXII

''The King of Fighters XII'' is the twelfth game in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' series. It was released for arcades on April 10, 2009, and for UsefulNotes/Playstation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 on July 30, 2009. It was the first ''KOF'' game to be released for the Taito Type X2 arcade system.

* Returning from ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters94 KOF '94]]'': [[PlayingWithFire Kyo Kusanagi]], [[AgentPeacock Benimaru Nikaido]], [[TheBigGuy Goro Daimon]], [[LivingLegend Terry Bogard]], [[HighlyVisibleNinja Andy Bogard]], [[HotBlooded Joe Higashi]], [[HeirToTheDojo Ryo Sakazaki]], [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob Robert Garcia]], [[MagicalGirl Athena Asamiya]], [[TheIdiotFromOsaka Sie Kensou]], [[DrunkenMaster Chin Gentsai]], [[JusticeWillPrevail Kim Kaphwan]], [[BashBrothers Ralf Jones, Clark Still]]

''The King of Fighters XII'' is the twelfth game in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' series. It was released for arcades on April 10, 2009, and for UsefulNotes/Playstation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 on July 30, 2009. It was the first ''King of Fighters'' game to be released for the Taito Type X2 arcade system.

Owing to its status as an ObviousBeta, there are no pre-defined teams or even a final boss to speak of, and the character roster is smaller than even ''KOF '94'' [[note]]'''94'' had 24 playable characters, ''XII'' only has 22[[/note]]. However, some of the roster choices do provide a glimpse at what ''XIII'' would bring to the table with its roster, and those will be noted below where necessary.

* New to ''KOF'': [[{{Heel}} Raiden]] [[note]]originally from the first ''VideoGame/FatalFury'', first time he was ever playable[[/note]]

SNK Playmore would soon release its follow-up ''KOF XIII'' in 2010, which uses the same graphic as ''XII'' and offers deeper fighting system, proper storyline, and generally more complete game.

After 11 games (plus many remakes and spin-offs) worth of building on and recycling the same pixel art style over and over, ''KOF XII'' is the game where SNK decides it's time to move on from them. ''XII'' introduces all-new HD graphics drawn from the ground up, featuring high definition pixel art in vein of Creator/ArcSystemWorks fighting games.

* Returning from ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters95 KOF '95]]'': [[AxCrazy Iori Yagami]] [[note]][[{{Depower}}now without his powers]][[/note]]

* Returning from ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters95 KOF '95]]'': [[AxCrazy Iori Yagami]] [[note]][[{{Depower}}]]now without his powers]][[/note]]

* Returning from ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters95 KOF '95]]'': [[AxCrazy Iori Yagami]] [[note]][[Depower]]now without his powers]][[/note]]

Owing to its status as an ObviousBeta, there are no pre-defined teams or even a final boss to speak of, and the character roster is smaller than even ''KOF '94''. However, some of the roster choices do provide a glimpse at what ''XIII'' would bring to the table with its roster, and those will be noted below where necessary.

----

* ProductionForeshadowing: This game has some story elements that would be relevant in ''KOX XIII''.

** Big Bear from ''Fatal Fury'' shows up as a newcomer, but he's in his Raiden costume when he was a villain in ''VideoGame/FatalFuryKingOfFighters'', instead of his reformed appearance in ''VideoGame/FatalFury2''. This foreshadows that he's not heroic in ''KOF'' universe, and indeed becomes one of Kim's apprentices in ''XIII''. Also, this hints at Kim's another teammate, Hwa Jai, who only appeared in ''Fatal Fury 1'' before his return in ''KOF XIII''.

* AWinnerIsYou: At the end of Arcade Mode, a reporter character congratulates you, then you're immediately shown a leaderboard.

* TechDemoGame: ''KOF XII'' isn't so much a standalone game than a showcase for SNK's upcoming game. It's a playable game with some good-looking HD graphics that are comparable to ''Franchise/BlazBlue'', but it lacks a lot in many places. There are only 22 playable characters (20 in the original arcade version), many of them know only one Super Move, single-player contents in the console version are little to none, etc. It's telling this game disappeared from arcades as soon as the next game, ''KOF XIII'', was released only a year later.

''The King of Fighters XII'' is the twelfth game in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' series. It was released for arcades on April 10, 2009, and for UsefulNotes/Playstation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 on July 30, 2009.

* PunchParry: This game introduces the "Critical Counter" mechanic. When the Critical Counter gauge is full, you can counter an incoming attack by pressing the Heavy Punch button. If it connects, the opponent is stunned, allowing for a free punish.

* ActionizedSequel: Inverted. Most of the mechanics that allowed for flashier fights in previous games have been removed.

* ActionizedSequel: Inverted. Most of the mechanics that allowed for flashier fights have been removed

** Throws are performed by pressing both punch buttons, instead of Heavy Punch for forward throw or Heavy Kick for back throw.

* ImplementingTheIncomplete:
* MooksButNoBosses: Unlike other games in the series, there's no FinalBoss or even a MidBoss in Arcade Mode. You just fight five randomly-generated teams of characters, then see if your time was good enough to be put on the leaderboard.
* NoPlotNoProblem: