STORY: King of Fighters XIII takes place after KOF XI and is the last game of the third story arc that started in The King of Fighters 2003. Ash Crimson has absorbed the powers from two of the descendants of the clans, Chizuru Kagura and Iori Yagami, who sealed the Orochi away 1,800 years ago, while Kyo Kusanagi is to be his last victim. As his former comrade, Elisabeth Blanctorche, prepares to stop him, fighters receive an invitation to another King of Fighters tournament hosted by a person labeled as "R". The tournament is sponsored by Rose who is being controlled by "Those From The Past", the organization behind the two previous tournaments that has been trying to break Orochi's seal.
At the end of the story, Saiki, the leader of "Those From The Past" puts his work into motion. Saiki intends to use the energy expended by the winning team to enable him to cross time. However, as the fight rages, Botan notes that the gate that links them to the past is starting to close. Before Saiki can act, Ash Crimson ambushes him and steals his power. While Ash was enlisted by Saiki to obtain the Three Sacred Treasures to power the time gate, he had no intention of helping Saiki. Suddenly, Ash is overtaken by Saiki's persona, who then attempts to cross the time gate in Ash's body. The winning team pursues him into the time gate and the final battle of KOF XIII begins. Saiki is defeated in the gate but persists on crossing over to the past, believing it means nothing since he can return to the past and cross the gate again to attempt his plan anew. However, Ash stops him and allows the gate to close, leaving Saiki trapped in the present. Ash then reveals that he is a descendant of Saiki. By locking Saiki out of the gate, he denies Saiki's existence in the past and forces his own existence to cease. As Ash vanishes from the living world, the flow of time resumes.
REVIEW: "Pure" and honest 2D fighters are far and few between these days. The genre's progressive shift to 3D graphics has brought along some positive aspects, but many fighting game fans will forever have a special place in their heart reserved for through-and-through 2D fighting games. In recent years, titles like Blazblue and Arcana Heart have successfully kept the "2D look" alive, and offer unique gameplay experiences in their own right. While those games appeal to some, many fighting game players would tell you that those games are a bit too "off-the-wall"... "floaty"... or "air-dash-happy" for their tastes. I happen to be one of them.
Leave it to SNK, which includes some of the original pioneers of the genre, to create a new age, yet traditional 2D fighting game that looks and plays amazing. 2009's King of Fighters XII presented a badass new art style and some awesome, high-res 2D sprites. Unfortunately, the gameplay, character roster, and presentation all fell short. King of Fighters XIII improves upon the KOF XII graphics engine, using the Taito Type X2 arcade board like its predecessor. In addition to the 22 returning fighters from XII, KOF XIII brings back an assortment of recognizable faces, including: Mai, Yuri, Takuma, Vice, Maxima, and one of the series' most prominent badasses, K'. There are even a few console-exclusive fighters (some DLC), such as: Billy Kane, "Classic" Iori Yagami, NESTS Kyo, Mr. Karate and Human Saiki. All together, KOF XIII boasts an impressive roster of over 30 (hand-drawn) fighters, offering great variety.
The console version features a nice variety of game modes, including: Story, Tutorial, Mission (complete with Survival, Time Attack & Trials), Online, Customize, Replay, and Gallery. As I kind of expected, the storyline revolves around a cast of odd, feminine male characters and is a bit sleepy overall. The high point would be the ultra high-res artwork and the short-but-sweet animated cut scenes. Story Mode is a little hard to follow, but allows players to make a few selections which alter the events in the storyline. It's also pretty cool that you have to use the default teams in Story Mode, which make for some pretty entertaining pre-fight interactions between teams.
Even if Story Mode puts you to sleep, SNK packed a ton of fan service into KOF XIII. For starters, unique pre-fight conversations before every possible character match-up in the game! This technique was formerly seen in 2003's SNK VS Capcom: Chaos, but is executed a lot better in KOF XIII. There's a ton of character-to-character dialogue to enjoy, and not only before the fight, but after the fight as well. The dialogue for when two of the same character are onscreen is especially entertaining. Some of these "mini conversations" are clever; others are chuckle-inducing, and a few are just kinda awkward. Nonetheless, this element equates to a ton of dialogue per character, which really allows their personalities to shine. It's an effect that so few fighting games these days bother with, but is surely appreciated by fans of these iconic characters.
Most importantly, KOF XIII's momentum-based gameplay brings back many of the elements that made it stand out in the past, but expands upon them exponentially. In addition to improving the gameplay speed, the combo system has been completely redone from KOF XII, and let me tell you, there are some INSANE and very hard-hitting combos in this game. While anyone can enjoy the game casually, mastering the deeper system mechanics like Hyperdrive Mode, Hyperdrive Cancels and MAX Cancels may even take seasoned players a while to wrap their heads around. To get you acquainted with the gameplay system, SNK included Tutorial and Mission Mode, which are designed as intuitively as you would hope. Mission Mode features 10 combos per character, many of which are very challenging.
To sum up some of KOF XIII's gameplay features.... Special moves now have "normal" and "EX" versions. The EX specials cost a small amount of the power gauge and can add extra hits, boost attack speed, and/or add an extra frame of invincibility! A new gameplay feature is the Triple Cancel, which allows players to unlimitedly cancel their character's moves. The Triple Cancel is dependent on the Hyper Drive Gauge, a three-tier gauge which gradually drains as the fighters cancel their moves. When a fighter is in Hyper Drive Mode and has three power stocks, they can perform a powerful technique known as a Neo Max Desperation Move. Players can also link a Neo Max technique into a combo, called MAX Cancel, which usually results in a huge, screen-filling super move! Flashy stuff...
As with any fighter, playing through Arcade Mode is sometimes the best way to get you acquainted with the gameplay at first. In addition to the character interactions, KOF XIII's Arcade Mode offers something else that is very unique. When fighting against a computer opponent, players are challenged to complete a random objective during stages, or Target Actions. Completing these tasks can award bonus points at the scoring screen. Meeting certain conditions can also reward players the next round by filling up their power gauge or Hyper Drive Gauge. Objectives include goals such as completing a certain amount of hits within one combo, successfully hitting the opponent with a desperation technique (including EX and Neo Max desperation moves or specials), or being asked to perform a certain attack within 10 seconds.
Not only does the console version feature a greater selection of character colors over the arcade, but also contains a full-fledged and simply brilliant Customization Mode. KOF XIII's Color Edit/Customize Mode is the most elaborate mode of its kind to date (in a 2D fighter) and offers tons of options (especially after downloading the extra colors DLC). SNK's artists broke down the character sprites in such a way that you can edit practically any part of them that you desire! It's designed so well, in fact, that you can actually remove or add certain clothing items to some characters. On top of the 10 default colors, you can save up to 5 different color edits per character, which is pretty generous. Additionally, several "head swaps" are also available for certain fighters (and also are fully customizable). Also worth mentioning is that you can even have Kyo wear his original '94 jacket! Epic fan service. An actual alternate costume for a 2D fighting game character? I haven't seen that since the X-Men VS Street Fighter days.
In typical KOF fashion, the end boss is ridiculously, disturbingly, and insultingly overpowered. Screen-filling bullshit super moves and throw spamming ftw! Aside from being a total asshole, the end boss, Saiki, is also a pretty lame design if you ask me. However, as with any fighting game, there's no reason to hate on the game just because of the boss. Thankfully, the boss actually has an alternate "human" version which is a cooler (and fairer) alternative for casual play.
If you haven't figured it out yet, King of Fighters XIII is an incredibly beautiful game. The character sprites appear to be smaller than they were in XII, but haven't lost any of their detail. The high quality of the large character sprites are complimented with some incredibly smooth animations that rival the best of the 2D fighting genre. Every frame of animation seems to have purpose behind it, and most moves look as painful as they should when they connect. Returning characters from KOF XII have also received some brand new animations (not to mention entirely new super moves), all of which looking badass. Worth mentioning, most characters only have one win animation, unfortunately, but considering KOF XIII's main competition, it's not a big deal. However, I will say that it would've been much appreciated if SNK gave their characters a few more taunt & win animations (like the old days) to flesh out those personalities even more.
Many returning characters have certainly seen their best days in this installment, and feature some pretty deep movesets for 2D fighting game characters. The 8 new hand-drawn stages are all graphically impressive, and returning KOF XII stages have been updated with new elements. Old school KOF fans can also appreciate several character cameos in some of the backgrounds, and a variety of "classic" King of Fighters stages, all re-imagined in gorgeous HD visuals. Did I mention the game runs in 1080p? 2D eye candy to the extreme! A pure 2D fighting game like KOF XIII will always have a certain "magic" that cannot be obtained with 3D graphics. I highly prefer KOF 13's visuals to SF4's any day of the week. King of Fighters XIII is a work of art in motion.
astig neto mga dre!!
