King of Fighters 12 [360] Review

29 Sep 2009 at 13:38:04 by John Robertson
Systems used to review this title: (360)

While not quite reaching the lofty heights that many other fighters have managed to achieve in the west, the King of Fighters series has been plodding along for many a year, appealing to those with a taste for fast-paced, 2D action. The issue for any beat ‘em up that launches today however, is that it will inevitably be compared to the all-conquering Street Fighter IV. Indeed, King of Fighters 12, with being 2D and all, will be judged against Capcom's masterpiece more than most and, unfortunately, it's a comparison that doesn't do it any favours.

The primary fighting system takes the form of a three on three battles in which characters are eliminated upon their health hitting zero. Characters cannot be switch in and out of battle at your discretion, with a knock out being the only way to take control of your next fighter. As the game is played at such a frantic speed it seems like a missed opportunity in not allowing you tag in and out as frequently as you like, chaining together special attacks while avoiding those of your enemies in a way similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The result is that the team system feels more like a gimmick than a fully functioning gameplay feature, with fights being played within the standard rounds structure, only this time involving different combatants at each juncture.

Combat itself is based on timing and the correct use of the available attacks, in very much the same way as SFIV. Any who has played any Street Fighter game in the past should find the move commands fairly natural, seeing as they are more or less the identical; expect to see plenty of quarter-turn, half-turn and zig-zaggy patterns on the d-pad before your fight is up. The real skill comes when attempting to link various attacks together into combos, requiring perfect timing and knowledge of your move set to consistently unleash attacks that turn the tide of battle in your favour. While it doesn't have the finesse or depth of SFIV, KOF 12 still delivers a fighting system that holds its own amongst the competition and will please those looking for a more traditional (i.e. 16-bit with added speed) experience.

Arcade mode, the staple of any fighter, is comprised of only five rounds, with the objective being to work your way through them in the fastest time possible. Competing against the clock initially seems like a welcome break from the norm and challenges you to learn new moves and combos that will eliminate your adversary in the shortest time possible. However, you quickly realise that, with no preset times to beat, you're merely competing against your own records time after time - spamming those combos that you've figured out to be the most effective. Couple that with the frustratingly short five round tournament structure that makes up arcade mode and you've got a primary game type that loses its appeal very quickly - especially given the complete lack of any proper ending movies for the characters.

If you're thinking along the lines of the single-player game not being that important compared with the multiplayer then I hope you have plenty of friends interested in playing because you can forget about playing online. Lag almost always ruins the online experience to the point where it's just not worth the effort. The problem is constant, almost every game suffering from slow-down to such an extent that you can identify each frame of the individual animations which, interesting though that is to look at, doesn't quite work for a game based on speed and timing.

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