King of Fighters XI PS2 = blistered thumb goodness

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I've been a fan of the 2D King of Fighter series since the 1st installment on Neo Geo.

Make that a "casual" fan.

Casual, as in I know the characters that were in most other SNK fighting series, I can play the game relatively well against moderately skilled opponents, I've collected most games in the series on home consoles, and beaten most of them with most of the characters.

And, while I know that the series has some freaking hardcore fans ... even for a fan that considers himself to be "casual" yet "a fan" ... I'm absolutely KICKING myself for not playing KOF XI in any incarnation prior to it's recent release on PS2 in the US last week.

Picked it up during the December 1st NAVA meeting, and ...

HOLY CRAP this is by far the BEST iteration of the series I've ever played, with the wonderful Marvel Vs. Capcom style swap outs last seen in KOF 2003 back in play, and the bevy of customizable options down to CHARACTER PIXEL RESOLUTION, this possibly one of the most technically brilliant, stylish and beautiful 2D fighters I've ever had the pleasure to display on my TV ... and hell, it's $20 MSRP doesn't hurt either.

If you're a fan of the series, there's no reason not to own this one. (Granted if you're a HARDCORE fan, you probably imported it last year)

It looks great on a PS3 in PS2 mode with screen smoothing on too.

My only gripe is that it doesn't have online play, but, even if it did, it's rooms would be populated with more "hardcore" players than I'd likely be able to last a minute with...so, no big loss there.

... I did the first 10 challenge mode bouts last night to start unlocking exclusive characters ... and for the first time since Street Fighter II on SNES I have a raw near-blistered thumb.

Remember when that was the mark of a great 2D fighter??



Ah, good times.

[heybtbm]

FYI: I just saw stacks of KoF XI at Toys R Us for $14.99. I bought it from Amazon for the same price a few weeks ago. Great game.

My only gripe is that it doesn't have online play, but, even if it did, it's rooms would be populated with more "hardcore" players than I'd likely be able to last a minute with.

This is the truth. I found that out pretty quickly with SFII on XBL last year.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Woah, $15 is a no-brainer purchase even if you only get a weekend of 2-player fighting in with cousins that are visiting for the holidays ... but even if I had paid $30 for it, I'd feel like I made a good investment.

Great stuff - I'm not sure if I'll be able to do all 40 challenges without a thumb-skin graft.

I was in the top 25 of Street Fighter II on XBL in the first 3 months it was out ... but then Microsoft and/or Capcom reset the rankings after an update patch, and I gave up on regaining my rank.

[Kitsune Sniper]

The game HAS online fighting. In Japan. They took it out for everywhere else.

That said, that stupid boss is one infuriating motherfucker! It took me HALF AN HOUR to beat him! All I wanted to do was see the Art of Fighting team's ending... which made me fall to the floor laughing. Holy jeesus was that ending fucking amusing. XD

[Hwj_Chim]

This is one of the Gems in my collection I love it and would wish that it would get more love than it does. I imported my copy for 30 bucks and would have gladly paid 60 for it. Kitsune Sniper welcome to SNK Bosses

2D Forever

SNK

[Kitsune Sniper]

This is one of the Gems in my collection I love it and would wish that it would get more love than it does. I imported my copy for 30 bucks and would have gladly paid 60 for it. Kitsune Sniper welcome to SNK Bosses

2D Forever

SNK

Welcome to SNK bosses? I've been dealing with them since 1992! The old SNK never made them so fucking hard!

[Chuplayer]

Probably the best SNK Shitmore game so far, but I'm still sticking to the 90s SNK games and KOF2000.

[Hwj_Chim]

the last blade 2 boss did not have a duck animation so that boss was hard.

Anyway I Just hope that this is not the last 2d king of fighters

[Kitsune Sniper]

the last blade 2 boss did not have a duck animation so that boss was hard.

Anyway I Just hope that this is not the last 2d king of fighters

They've been working on XII for a year now, it comes out next year.

[ScourDX]

I got this game yesterday. I can't believe EB employees didn't display this game. They had 8 copies sitting at back storage room.

With the success of KOFXI, I hope SNKPlaymore will port KOF98 Ultimate Match to N. America.

[Chuplayer]

With the success of KOFXI, I hope SNKPlaymore will port KOF98 Ultimate Match to N. America.

What?

[Kitsune Sniper]

What?

They're remaking / updating KOF 98. They're fixing some priority things, changing graphics around, that sorta stuff. Kinda like '94 Re-Bout.

It's coming out on the PS2 and in Arcades.

[Poofta!]

hmm havent heard about this game. gonna def pick it up tomorrow.

[ScourDX]

What?

KOF 98 Ultimate Match

[Damaramu]

Niiiice. KOF98 was my favorite of the series.

[Damaramu]

I just ordered this game off of Amazon, along with with Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury collections.

KOF XI and NGBC were both $14.99; AOF and FF collections were both marked down to $12.99. Oh yeah, free shipping too. Screw Gamestop and their $5 markups! Get them at Amazon if you don't have them yet! Order before the 17th and you'll get them before X-Mas!

[Aussie2B]

This game is beyond bootleg, if you ask me. Just about everything reveals it as low-budget and low-effort, and really makes it all the more apparent that all of SNK's staff from their glory days is long gone.

Just about everything in the presentation is inferior to King of Fighters games from 10 years ago, which is pathetic because they're working with MORE advanced technology. The portraits look like bad DeviantArt fan art, the sprites are the same stuff they've been reusing for a decade and it's all the worse because they don't work in higher resolutions, the one character they redid - Robert - looks ridiculously bad and totally unlike himself, the animation is terrible and beyond choppy making the characters less fluid than they were a decade ago, the backgrounds are high-res and nice enough in a screen shot but that's all null and void for the fact that they barely have any animation in them, but that's not the worst of it.

Eiji has a move where HE LITERALLY TURNS INTO LAWRENCE BLOOD. It sounds like a joke, and I sincerely wish it was, but it isn't. If you don't believe me, go into training mode and try it out, and clear as day there's Lawrence's sprite ripped right out of Real Bout. It's so bad it's almost laughable, but you'll probably be too busy shaking your head in disgust to get out a chuckle.

[ubersaurus]

This game is beyond bootleg, if you ask me. Just about everything reveals it as low-budget and low-effort, and really makes it all the more apparent that all of SNK's staff from their glory days is long gone.

Just about everything in the presentation is inferior to King of Fighters games from 10 years ago, which is pathetic because they're working with MORE advanced technology. The portraits look like bad DeviantArt fan art, the sprites are the same stuff they've been reusing for a decade and it's all the worse because they don't work in higher resolutions, the one character they redid - Robert - looks ridiculously bad and totally unlike himself, the animation is terrible and beyond choppy making the characters less fluid than they were a decade ago, the backgrounds are high-res and nice enough in a screen shot but that's all null and void for the fact that they barely have any animation in them, but that's not the worst of it.

Eiji has a move where HE LITERALLY TURNS INTO LAWRENCE BLOOD. It sounds like a joke, and I sincerely wish it was, but it isn't. If you don't believe me, go into training mode and try it out, and clear as day there's Lawrence's sprite ripped right out of Real Bout. It's so bad it's almost laughable, but you'll probably be too busy shaking your head in disgust to get out a chuckle.

Yes let's complain about the presentation in a genre that doesn't matter in.

Gameplaywise it's far and away one of the better KOF games, which I'm pretty sure most fans of the genre and competitive players are more concerned about. The whole dream cancel system is a shit-ton of fun, and it really doesn't take long for someone to find some good stuff with their characters and that.

If SNK's "glory days" staff are the people behind the gameplay trainwrecks of 94 and 96, then good riddance.

[Aussie2B]

Yes, yes, I'm already well aware to not argue with you over SNK games, Ubersaurus, since I already know you prefer the Korean cut-&-paste hack jobs over the games that actually had considerable effort put into them, and trying to back up your stance by ignoring '97 through 2000 and bringing up their FIRST freakin' KoF isn't helping either. Yeah, I guess Capcom Fighting Evolution must be the best fighter with Street Fighter characters too because, man, that first Street Fighter really sucked.

But, seriously, how you can argue that presentation matters in one genre but doesn't in another is totally beyond me. Of course gameplay is most important; there's no such thing as a genre in which presentation takes precedence, but that doesn't mean presentation isn't crucial in ALL games. If you can excuse a character randomly transforming into a different character, then more power to ya. :P

[ubersaurus]

Yes, yes, I'm already well aware to not argue with you over SNK games, Ubersaurus, since I already know you prefer the Korean cut-&-paste hack jobs over the games that actually had considerable effort put into them, and trying to back up your stance by ignoring '97 through 2000 and bringing up their FIRST freakin' KoF isn't helping either. Yeah, I guess Capcom Fighting Evolution must be the best fighter with Street Fighter characters too because, man, that first Street Fighter really sucked.

But, seriously, how you can argue that presentation matters in one genre but doesn't in another is totally beyond me. Of course gameplay is most important; there's no such thing as a genre in which presentation takes precedence, but that doesn't mean presentation isn't crucial in ALL games. If you can excuse a character randomly transforming into a different character, then more power to ya. :P

Nah, Evolution sucked balls. It was broken as hell and a total hack job on every level-not just graphics.

You know I'm a tournament player. I don't like playing games that are terribly broken, because I play them to play against other people. Simple fact is that most of the KOFs ARE broken for tournament play...94-97 were no good for competition, nor was 2000, or, sad to say because I thought it was really really fun, 2001. Or 2003, which was also really fun. The games can still be fun, and they can still have an awesome single player...but that doesn't necessarily make them good fighters.

I'm not going to hold the lower resolution sprites against KOF, simply because I'm used to it from previous SNK fighters. Hell yeah I'd like to see them redrawn, and from what I hear, KOF XII is doing exactly that. But they work well enough, the music, stages, art, and effects are all things I felt were pretty good about XI, so overall as far as presentation goes, I'm fine with it. If it looked like Art of Fighting 1, then I may have a problem :P

I'm just much more lenient on graphics in a fighting game...especially an SNK fighting game.