King of Fighters XIII Review

Regardless of where you stand on the franchise, you can't deny that the King of Fighters series is certainly prolific. Now in its 13th iteration, SNK's flagship arcade fighter has been gobbling up quarters for over a decade, combining the rosters of several SNK fighters, like Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, and even some non-fighting games like Ikari Warriors. The franchise has stuck to its guns, staying firmly set in 2D and offering some improvements here and there while maintaining its general look and feel over the years. The last game in the series, King of Fighters XII, was criticized for its poor online performance and lack of modes. However, The King of Fighters XIII aims to fix the issues that players had, and for the most part succeeds.

To make up for the dearth of gameplay modes in KOF XII, SNK has included several new ones this time around, including a Story Mode, a Mission Mode for mastering individual characters' move sets, and a few other new modes. The Story mode is probably the biggest addition to the KOF formula, and includes some cut-scenes that highlight some of the behind the scenes interactions with the characters in the game. The storyline concludes the Ash Crimson story arc that began in King of Fighters 2003, but as it's presented here, is convoluted and hard to follow.

The King of Fighters XIII Video Review

The traditional one-on-one mode returns, but the real focus here is on three-on-three combat. However, you won't be able to switch out your characters on the fly as you can in other 3v3 fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Instead, the fights unfold in elimination style matches where you select the order of your three fighters and face them off against another team of three. In order to win, you'll have to take down all three of your opponent's fighters, or vice versa.

King of Fighters XIII features more than 30 fighters from the series, drawing the roster from existing fighting games in SNK's fighting library. The characters are divided into specific teams. While you can create your own team of three when playing through the arcade mode, the story requires you to play in pre-chosen groups of three, with each team featuring their own specific relation; for example, there's a team of Fatal Fury fighters as well as a team of Art of Fighting characters and so on.

The combat mechanics have gotten some changes from the last game as well. The Guard Attack, Clash, and Critical Counter systems have been replaced with EX Special moves, Hyperdrive Mode, and super-powered NEO MAX moves, with the game emphasizing bigger moves driven by your gauges for attacks. The new Hyperdrive gauge fills up when you perform prompted moves or tasks, and lets you perform Drive Cancels, where you stop special move at just the right time to earn bigger combos and more damage to your opponent. The key to winning matches is filling up your gauges and utilizing special moves like MAX Cancels and NEO MAX moves, which require a decent amount of timing and practice to get right.

The game has seen some improvements to the online component, but it still leaves something to be desired. In our online play session, we experienced some input lag during matches. While this wasn't as gamebreaking an issue as it was in KOF XII, it was enough to be an annoyance in online play. The problem wasn't constant, but it happened enough for us to take note.


Another annoying element in KOFXIII are the game's boss characters. Of the two final bosses, Saiki is probably the cheapest in the game, and among the cheapest boss characters in any recent fighting game. Saiki will take every dirty trick out of the cheap boss handbook and throw it at you. Special attacks that fill up the screen and are impossible to avoid? Check. Unavoidable holds? Check. Projectiles that freeze your character in place while he can just pound on you? Check. Saiki is a huge pain, but occasionally you can get lucky and take him out.

Graphically, King of Fighters XIII looks great, showcasing some fantastically animated 2D sprite-based characters and detailed environments. While they look a bit pixelated, the character models look quite good, each with their own details and fluid animations. However, the environments really steal the show here. Each one is filled with an insane amount of detail and crazy activities throughout. However, while the environments have a lot going on, they're never distracting from the on-screen action.

The game's music is the same brand of cheese the series has been kicking out for years now. The sound is pretty good, but the lack of voices in the story mode is a strange omission.

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