KOF Re-birth!
The King of Fighters XII is the twelfth game in The King of Fighters series. It was released for arcades on April 10, 2009, and for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on July 30, 2009. It was the first KOF game to be released for the Taito Type X2 arcade system.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 the vein of Arc System Works' BlazBlue series, the first instalment of which releasing a year earlier.
KOF XII is also known (and criticized) for being barebone and missing a number of the series' traits. From a gameplay perspective, KOF XII drops the Tag Team system in XI and goes back to the standard 3-on-3 format, with a few new systems like Critial Counter that makes your opponent momentarily defenseless by carefully timing your strong attack.
SNK Playmore would soon release its follow-up The King of Fighters XIII in 2010, which uses the same graphic as XII and offers deeper fighting system, proper storyline, and generally more complete game.
Character roster
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 . 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.
- Returning from KOF '94: Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikaido, Goro Daimon, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Athena Asamiya, Sie Kensou, Chin Gentsai, Kim Kaphwan, Ralf Jones, Clark Still
- Returning from KOF '95: Iori Yagami note
- Returning from KOF '96: Leona Heidern, Mature note
- Returning from KOF 2003: Ash Crimson note , Duo Lon, Shen Woo
- Returning from KOF XI: Elisabeth Blanctorche note
- New to KOF: Raiden note
This work shows examples of:
- Adaptational Expansion: The console versions add Elisabeth Blanctorche and Mature as playable characters.
- All There in the Manual: The official Japanese website includes a special feature
that show story snippets for every character in this game, even if it has no bearing on the game itself. - Canon Discontinuity: Despite not being a dream match game, this game's story (such as it is) does not follow up from XI. The next game KOF XIII ignores this game and does follow up from XI, leaving this one officially non-canon.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!:
- Clark, Kim, and Duo Lon perform a Critical Counter with the Heavy Kick button, instead of Heavy Punch.
- Throws are performed by holding a direction and pressing both punch buttons, instead of pressing Heavy Punch for forward throw or Heavy Kick for back throw.
- Mooks, but no Bosses: Unlike other games in the series, there's no Final Boss or even a Mid-Boss in Arcade Mode.
- No Plot? No Problem!: There's no real plot to speak of — You fight five randomly-generated teams of characters, then see if your time was good enough to be put on the leaderboard.
- Production Foreshadowing: This game has some story elements that would be relevant in KOF XIII.
- In KOF XI, when Iori goes mad from his Orochi blood in his team ending, Ash confronts him in the same way he did to Chizuru and stole her Yata Mirror in 2003. Come this game, Iori can't use any Special Move that involves fire, confirming Ash succeeded in stealing Iori's clan treasure and ripping his power out of him.
- Big Bear from Fatal Fury shows up as a newcomer, but he's in his Raiden costume when he was a villain in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, instead of his reformed appearance in Fatal Fury 2. This foreshadows that he's not heroic in the KOF universe, and indeed becomes one of Kim's apprentices in XIII. Also, this hints at Kim's other teammate, Hwa Jai, who only appeared in Fatal Fury 1 before his return in KOF XIII.
- The console version adds Mature, a character who got killed by Iori's hands in KOF '96. Her appearance effectively confirms that she would come back from the dead, and she did in XIII with her partner Vice, although it still doesn't provide much explanation about how they're alive.
- Punch Parry: 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.
- Tech-Demo Game: 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 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.
- A Winner Is You: At the end of Arcade Mode, a reporter character congratulates you, then you're immediately shown a leaderboard.
