After years of simply sitting there and housing nothing but obnoxiously loud light gun cabinets and ancient fighting games with multiple broken buttons, the little arcade in the mall near my house finally gave me a reason to spend some quarters within its walls again last month when the owners acquired a brand new, duel-screen upright platform cabinet featuring the King of Fighters XI. I got the chance to try this game a few days ago, and holy crap, I dare say this is one of the best KoF games yet.

I'm impressed with the way the Atomiswave hardware renders the backgrounds and special effects, and the character sprites look better than ever thanks to plenty of new animations. Speaking of the characters, the roster for XI is superb. The series continues its beloved tradition of featuring a truckload of playable fighters, including some awesome newcomers we haven't seen in the KoF universe before. I'm a little surprised (and slightly annoyed) that they left Mai and Yamazaki out of this one, but it's a forgivable flaw in an otherwise excellent installment in the series.

Anybody else here have the chance to play this one, yet? Besides that, are they any other KoF fans who'd like to discuss the series? If not, then hang your heads in shame. This franchise is called the King of Fighters for a reason, fools.

You're the best person ever.

XI is out?! In America?! Holy shit!! I just creamed in my pants! And I thought the soundtrack being on Galbadia Hotel was cool enough. And yes, the new characters kick ass; especially Oswald. Magaki's a cool boss, and you can see how he connects to Mukai in appearance, as well as story (and I can guess that Orochi's gonna come back soon! Woohoo!).

I'm not too sad about Mai being gone, as I was never too into Mai.

God do I love KOF. Like a groupie, I am. I probably know more little details about the series than I should, but I'm pretty knowledgable about anything I like, so I guess its not that bad. I've even put some info up on the KOF Wikipedia pages (character info, and all that). I've even got an import of KOF94 Re-Bout...

Hell, half my MUGEN roster is SNK and KOF characters.

I should stop now. I'm becoming a raging fanboy...

Oswald is the shit. He's probably my favorite new non-boss entry in the series since Duo Lon joined the roster in KoF '03. And of course, having B. Jenet in there is awesome as well. I really gotta play 'Garou' one of these days...

You got an import of '94 Re-Bout, huh? That's pretty sweet. I've been tossing around the idea of importing Neowave for awhile now, simply because it looks like SNK might only release that one for the Xbox in the US... IF they even do a console release over here, that is.

Yup. Got an import of Re-Bout and '97. Truthfully, Re-Bout ain't that hot. I was hoping for move rosters updated throughout the years, since 94 lacked ALOT of the specials that are in later games. It just ended up being a prettier step down. With 3-D backgrounds.

I wanna play Garou. =(

Hot damn! I just found out that Mai is going to be reintroduced to the roster in the upcoming PS2 version of KoF XI... Along with Robert Garcia, Hotaru Futaba from 'Garou', aaaand my main man Geese Howard! The home version is also supposed to include new stages and music tracks, a color edit mode, and playable boss characters. If there was ever a KoF game worthy of importing, this is gonna be it.

Eh...



FUCK! YES!
Awwww-haw-haw, someone at SNK loves me. Yes they do. Oh yes they do...

Seriously. Awesome.



Holy shit, this game's got almost too much good shit! Oh, man, if they do a new version of Geese's theme, I'll shit myself...

Hotaru? That's one of garou's least inspiried characters. I'd rather have seen Grant, Kain or Tizoc (TIIIIIIIIIIIIII-ZOC!) but SNK luvs the little girls...

And neither of youhave played Garou? It's SNK's answer to SF3... and that's saying something.

I agree with the first sentence, and as for the second, my friend and I have been searching for it high and low. Closest I've come is some characters from Garou downloaded for M.U.G.E.N.

I ran into the same problem awhile back. For some reason, the US version of Garou seems to have fallen off the face of the earth a few years ago... Even eBay only sees the game up for bid once in a blue moon, where it's not at all uncommon for a used copy to go for three figures.

By the way Muzzy, Tizoc is already in KoF XI.

...There was a US version of Garou!?

Oh yeah... he was in KOF '03, wasn't he.

Well then I'm happy.

And seriously, can't you people run a Kawaks Emulator? Easiest and cheapest way to get Garou running, hands down.

Shmeckie: There sure was, although it wasn't called Garou. For the US release of the game, it was retitled 'Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves'. You can check it out here and here.

Muzzy: I've never dealt with any emulator for a system more recent than the SNES, simply because they're too damn complicated. I spent almost a week trying to get a PS1 emulator running so I could play a couple of Japanese One Piece games, and I never did get most of it working properly. And God knows I don't have the kind of time it would take to set up Kawaks.

Well, I managed to finally get NeoGeo Battle Coliseum imported, and I figure it's close enough to KOF to keep here...

First off, I gotta say I love the roster. It spans many different Neo Geo titles, and includes my main man, Geese Howard. It's notable Geese's Jaei Ken has been turned into a charge move (hold back for a few seconds, then forward and kick), and that this is the first game in which I've managed to successfully pull off the entire Deadly Rave. Made me happy. =) Ai was funny to see in action, because she fights with a Neo Geo Pocket, and her techniques, amoung other things, has her summoning Tetris pieces that drop on your head.

The Arcade mode is different, but has a pretty cool format, actually. It plays like Survival mode, where your health stays as-is (though recovers a bit after each fight), and the opponents come at you endlessly. The difference here is that not only do you get battle bonuses after a certain amount of fights (increase the time limit, increase health, etc.), but when time runs out, depending on your performance, you'll face one of four bosses. Meet a certain amount of requirements, and you'll face Neodio (from World Heroes, who looks so god damn badass in this game), Shin Kinglion (from Kizuna Encounter, who, like Neodio, looks 100x more badass here than he ever has), or, if you do extra-good, you'll face the ever-awesome Goodman, who's an original character, and the game's main villain. Meet none of the requirements, like I did, and you face Mizuchi, a clone of Orochi from KOF97 made by Goodman's WAREZ organization.

Let me talk about Mizuchi for a second. Now, I've seen some SNK Boss Syndrome in my day, but HOLY FUCKING GOD DAMN MIZUCHI! God, he makes the original Orochi look like some kind of little pissant! You CANNOT reach this guy! It was a struggle just maneuvering past all his flurries of energy coloumns (he can make 2 ata time, by the way), and when I got to him, BAM, he'd stop me with that mirror or some shit. When I did manage to hit him, or once, even get him with the Geese Howard 1-2-3 (a term I coined for the rapid strikes in the air, followed by his lunging punch right after landing, and ending it with a crouching hard kick to knock the opponent off their feet), he would HEAL! That's right, this fucker gets his health back after taking damage. Specifically, he regains the last hit that was done on him. God DAMMIT! I never got him below 1/4 of his health! And having seen Goodman in action in MUGEN, I'm damn scared to fight him! Hell, in MUGEN, I can fight some of the best AI characters with Goodman, and get perfects! Good lord, the AI in Battle Coliseum is gonna be able to do that to me! Jesus H. Christ!

I may complain now, but I'll be honest; I love every minute of it. I get off on challenges like this. Though it does disappoint me, now, that the MUGEN counterparts of these Battle Coliseum bosses don't have AIs like this...

Also, even though I got the soundtrack beforehand, I should note to everyone that the soundtrack is awesome. Mizuchi and Goodman's themes sound like they were pulled from Castlevania and Final fantasy, respectively, and Neodio's theme is cool in a funky kinda way (any song that kicks off with an echoing "UNH!" is okay by me, I just wish I could tell what the guy is saying in that song). The regular stage tracks are great, and really set the mood, but the boss themes just stand out so much...

Next up? I'ma import KOF XI

That game sounds like some badass shit... I've had my eye on this one for some time, and the game's style coupled with it's "best of" SNK game all-star roster have been taunting me all the while. The whole game is really like one big thank-you note from SNK to its fans, which is made that much cooler since more and more video game companies seem to distancing themselves from their fanbases as much as possible these days...

Thanks for that comprehensive review, Shmeckie. I really like the sound of the way the game handles the main arcade mode... That's an area of the fighting game genre we haven't seen much innovation in since the days of the Super Nintendo, so it's nice to see SNK mixing things up a bit.

Concerning Goodman, I haven't seen him in action yet, but the character design alone is awe-inspiring. Don't tell Muzzy, but my first impression of Goodman was that he looked like Gill's older and more hardcore brother. Seriously, take Gill and wash off the body paint, give him some awesome duds and a cape, equip him with a giant whip made of fire (!), and who do you have?

On a final note, I'd like to ask you or anyone else familiar with the subject about importing PS2 games. I assumed you could just buy the Japanese version and use a freeloader disc on the PS2 like you can with the GameCube, but apparently that isn't the case... Do I have to buy a Region 2 system or what?

You just need an original model PS2 (not the slim). Just get a Magic Swipe disk for, like, 40 dollars. Then, remove the front plate where the disc tray coems from. When you use the Magic Swipe, you insert the disk into the tray like a game (there's two disks; one for DVD games, and one for CD games), and wait for the "Load Program" screen. Then you take the little contraption that comes with it, insert it into the closed try, and tug on what I think is the eye, then you pull it back to open the tray, swap the magic swipe disk for the game you wanna play (you can use it to play impoirted games, or you can burn copies of games via a PC, and play the copies this way), push the tray closed MANUALLY, pull the eye back in place, and select "Load Program". After that, the game plays perfectly. Plus, this neither endangers your PS2, nor does it even void the warranty!

Apparently, the PS2 Action Replay allows for importing, as well, but that I'm not as sure about.

As for Goodman, I love the fact that, not only does he have one of the coolest levels and musics in Fighting Game-dom as of late, but also one of the most inventive and original powers I've ever seen. See, he doesn't use that whip as a weapon, oh no. Instead, he uses it like an animal tamer to command a fire-like gorilla spirit that fights at his side (although getting hit by the whip when he lashes it does do damage). The guy is fucking devastating; he can make the spirit jump back and forth in an arc fast as shit, travel in either direction as a shockwave-like series of flaming bursts, or leap in the air, and drop right down on your head. Oh, and when the spirit does these attacks, he's going at BREAKNECK FUCKING SPEED. You seriously have to watch Goodman's actions, and know which use of his whip commands the spirit to do which attack, or you will be raped. Oh, yeah, and he's got Rugal and Igniz's projectile-reflecting shield.

You do not fuck with Goodman.

The MUGEN version of Goodman I have even adds a fuck-you-in-the-ass powerful super attack (Goodman oroginally doesn't have any Supers, save the ability to turn blue and increase his already ridiculous power), where the spirit does 3 arcing leaps, before leaping upwards, slamming down in the center of the arena, and sending two fire shockwaves in both directions, effectively combining all of the spirit attacks into one. Seriously, you need to get in on MUGEN, man. Just lemme know when, and I can immediately hook you up with a screenpack and a bunch of characters, all of which will rock you ass off. Unless you DON'T wanna kick ass with a CvS version of Nightmare Geese...

EDIT: As a sidenote, Kong Kuwata (Geese's VA) seems to have gotten alot better at speaking English. His "you cannot escape from death" sounded so good I thought Geese got a VO change, and his broken English seems to have been worked out (so Geese won't be staining his house with anyone's brud anymore).

SO, hey, I managed to get my grubby hands on an import of King of Fighters XI, since it looks like it won't be hitting consoles in the US anytime soon. I must say that, like Moab said, this is the best KOF to date, in every aspect. The gameplay feels smoother, and the Special and Dream Cancels really make everything feel smoother, and really let me play the way I like! And finally, FINALLY, we have a KOF game that USES THE JOYSTICK! Oh happy day, I'm not forced to use the D-Pad anymore! I mean, you can if you want, but I much prefer using the joystick and now I finally can! SWEET!

Also, I fucking love Oswald. Sure, I had him in MUGEN before I played this, but my love for Oswald remains valid!

And the music is phenominal! Definately the best in the series! I mean, sure, I had the soundtrack before I played the thing, but now I get the chance to say something! Seriously, this is some fucking awesome shit! Sure, I've heard better standalone tracks (Adelheid's theme in this game, that he shares with Gai Tendo, is nowhere near as awesome as his theme from '03), but as an overall soundtrack, this one takes the cake. The guitar solo in the Hero Team's theme should earn someone a medal (plus, the voice samples in it are neat...)

The cutscenes are also the best in the series! Damn! The artwork is fucking terrific, looking like a cross between mainstream anime, and what Aeon Flux would look like if it didn't suck (untransformed Magaki, in the cutscenes, reminds me of Trevor Goodchild, the bad guy from that series). God, I would KILL to know Japanese, or at least get a translation of these cutscenes. I've seen a few translations, bet they were low-quality... And even though SNK does the "slideshow w/ animations" thing they always do for cutscenes, the artwork and graphics quality make it look, at times, like an actual anime cutscene (just look at Magaki spraying blue blood like a firehose when Shion gets her revenge).

I still gotta figure out what you do during those challenges, though, what with me not knowing a word of Japanese and all...

Oh, and Magaki is a fucking MONSTER! Seriously! Good LORD! That man does some fucking DAMAGE!

Aww MAN... Did I mention those bastards at my local arcade fucking sold the KOF XI console a few months ago? Yeah, I haven't played any sweet, sweet KOF arcade goodness since early July. And they even replaced it with one of those DDR-esque button-rhythm games, as if to give me the finger.

I am seriously going to have to import this one. Like Shmeckie said, the gameplay is smooth like butter... Since playing it, all the other KOF games seem too jerky and rough to me.

How does Geese play in that one, man? Is he available from the start, or is he one of those unlockable "bonus" characters?

Oh yeah, and if you want a translation guide for the challenge objectives, this one seems to do the trick.

Yeah, I found that guide.

And yeah, Geese has to be unlocked. You get him from Challenge 40, and he's hard as hell to get. You're Geese, on a one-on-one with Terry, with 50% health, and the only move that'll hurt Terry is Geese's counter throw. So, it's a game of rock-paper-scissors, of sorts, trying to guess when Terry will use a physical attack, or his projectile. Hard as hell, but I found ways around it, and I got the Geese-man. I never got to see if he has his theme music back, but Kyo-EX has Esaka back, so I'm sure Geese has an "A _____ For Geese" in this one, too. They went with the toned-down, close-range Geese, though, with the non-projectile Reppuken, and short-range Shippuken, and all that.

Mr. Big seems easier to use than I remember, too. I've never been this good with him before. I kinda like how he and Geese are directly below Shion and Magaki, respectively, on the select screen. Don't ask me why I like that, but I do...

And Jazu and Silver are hard as balls to get...!

Umm is this the same game? http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=281490

Cause if so it is coming out like at the end of the month...

Very different games, thats the 3d KOF game, which I'm not sure is good, and XI is a 2d game.

Yeah, that's just Maximum Impact 2, not XI. I will be getting that, though, if only for the chance to play as Nightmare Geese in 3-D.

I'm shallow...

Would it be any good to someone who has never played KOF?

I know very little about Maximum Impact 2, but I did play the original MI, and I was less than impressed with it... The format was very different from a traditional KOF game, and the controls didn't transfer very well into a 3D engine. Plus, I wasn't very fond of the original characters... Maybe the sequel will be better, though. Like I said, I don't know very much about it.

I don't like the original characters, either, and the boss of MI2 (I've seen him/her. DOn't ask) is fucking retarded. Nowhere near the standard of KOF bosses like Rugal, Krizalid, or Magaki.

But, it's not like I'll be paying for it, and I get to play as Geese in 3-D, complete with all his alternate costumes (except his AOF suit, of course) being homages to other SNK bosses. Geeze as Goenitz, or Mukai? Sweet...

Update to tell of things I have found within XI...

Geese does, in fact, have his theme back in this game. Unfortunately, this has to be the weakest rendition of his theme I've ever heard. It's great to hear the theme, but it's really dissapointing...

The mid-bosses that shared themes seem to have gotten their own. For instance, Adelheid and Gai had a shared theme, but Gais eems to have gotten his own. I dunno if Jazu and Silver are the same, but I'd guess Silver will get his own (since Gai was also originally from Buriki One).

Adelheid seems have been toned down big time, and now seems to be made of glass. Perhaps SNK is trying to convey how fragile a bishounen type really would be, but this is no way for Rugal's successor to be. At least they have him the Kaiser Wave, but like all of his dad's regula rspecials, it's been made into a Super Art. And what's up with the fact that his drop-kick (the one that follows a hard punch Grosse Kicken, or whatever its called) is gone?!

God motherfucking damn are Jazu and Silver hard to get to!

So I've been wondering lately... I know I keep saying I'm going to import one of these fighting games and then I never do, but if I should eventually, and I'm seriously thinking about it here, I'd like to decide which one I'd want. Both KOF XI and NeoGeo Battle Coliseum look sweet, albeit in different ways... I'm having trouble picking which one I'd rather add to my PS2 library if I got the chance.

As somebody who has actually played both of them, Shmeckie, which one would you say is the better game overall?

XI, definately. Battle Coliseum is the kind of game that's fun, and good to have in your library, but isn't anywhere near a first choice. XI is that first choice. GET THAT GODDAMN GAME!

Seriously. You'll thank me later.

Well, I just got MI2, or whatever you call it, and I personally liked it. Its nothing TOO stellar, but its fun in its own right.


The english voices suck balls, though. Mai's is horrible, "I'M SORRY, HUMOR ME" sounds like one word.


All in all, I like it, and Lilly Kane is so fucking awesome.

News!

SNK will be remaking KOF 98 for the PS2, calling it "KOF 98: Ultimate Match". Changes include an updated combat engine (making it more modern), the addition of EX characters and the Boss Team from 96 (Geese, Krauser, and Mr. Big).

Souce, with more info.

Release date is unknown.

Also, SNK dropped a bit of a bombshell regarding what XII will be like. See here. Looks like they're revamping the series completely; new engine, completely new graphics and sprites, new everything.

If Falcoon fucks this up, I WILL go for his Jugular.

Falcoon doesn't work in the main series. Just Maximum Impact.

Oh, whoops, I misread the wikipedia page.



Still, if he DOES do anything to it, besides adding Nagase to XII, I will kill him.

So SNK is finally giving the KOF series an overhaul, huh? I'm glad! Though I haven't played a lot of it, it seems to me like KOF XI was pretty much the pinnacle of the current game engine. For them to try and top that would be pretty much futile, and we'd end up with just another rehash of "last year's model". New sprites and whole new engine, though... I am quite intrigued.

I'm also pissed, because the current console developers are dickheads who don't appreciate the greatness of 2D games, which means we probably won't see KOF XII in the US... Just like we didn't see KOF XI, or NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, or Fatal Fury Battle Archives, or Guilty Gear X2: Slash, or Melty Blood... GOD.

I always figured XI would come to the states when XII was done, released in another 2-pack, like the other titles.

MoA, to point this out there are plans to bring the latest GGXX to America... or at least there was back in November.

Edit:

Actually I just looked it up and retails are expecting something, but god knows what. Right now it is either a GG Collection or Slash... I really doubt it is Ancient Core, but that would be fucking awesome...

Well, considering Accent-Core is essentially just Slash with a few minor gameplay tweaks, two different backgrounds, and new voices for some of the characters, I'd be perfectly satisfied if we just got Slash. I'm wondering, though, where did you get this information? If anything Guilty Gear is coming to the US in the near future, I'd like to know more about it.

Well from different places. I lurk gamefaqs, and generally find out information that way. There is a game titled Guilty Gear Series for the PS2. No one knows what it is, but retailers can confirm there is a GG out there coming out for the PS2. Though the title is rather an enigma.

Many figure it will be Slash, though I'd rather have Ancient Core... but hell I'd have sex with Slash...

It's Accent-Core, not "Ancient".

As for this new compilation game, there is an entry for "Guilty Gear Series" on GameFAQs, but it could very well just be a mistake... An entry for the series as a whole that someone mistakenly thought was a new game. It's possible they're cooking something up, especially with Sony's policy of no 2D games for the PS2 unless it's a compilation package, but I'm still very skeptical considering that no one seems to have any information on this game whatsoever aside from its title, and even that sounds a little fishy....

It is a dummy title, it happens. Retailers do know of such a game in question in existence... though it is odd. However ask your local retailer (EB or Gamestop for best results) and see what they tell you. Mine said that it was coming out last time I asked.

Retailers don't know shit, man. I can't tell you how many times I've seen placeholder pages or reservation notices for games "coming soon" that never get released or are just postponed indefinitely (I wonder if any of those poor slobs are still hanging onto their preorder tickets for Duke Nukem Forever). 99.9% of the time, retailers are the very last people to find out about upcoming games, well after official sites and media sources (gaming websites and magazines and the like) have been informed, so chances are that if there's zero information about a game on the internet, then any guy behind the counter at the GameStop in the mall who claims to know something that no one else does is either full of it or is just reading off a name that was erroneously entered into their computer database for whatever reason.

Anyway, we should probably stop derailing this topic and get back to discussing KOF... If there's anything to discuss. If you do find out any more concrete information about this upcoming Guilty Gear game, feel free to start up a GG topic (every forum should have one, after all) and share what you know. I do hope that some sort of awesome compilation package is coming out, but I need a more reliable source than the employees at some game store before I can believe it.

CHECK THE NEWEST UPDATES!

KOF NESTS coming out in April, and KOF XII to be debuted Feb 16-20th! Will XII be as mind-blowing as has been promised? WEEEE SHAAAALL SEEEEEE!

"No"

"NESTS Hen"? God...

I can't wait to see what XII is going to look like, though. If Capcom stated they were going to attempt something like making the "ultimate 2D fighting game" I'd probably call bullshit, but with SNK they might just mean it. In any case, it should totally rock regardless.

"We're gonna throw in Dante, all of the DMC cast, Megaman, Resident Evil, 2 original characters, and we'll even hire Clover Studio's again, just to fire them!!"

Hey, got my hands on Maximum Impact 2! I must say, there is fun to be had, even if the story's a bore, and the boss is HARDLY SNK worthy. It's still worth playing, though. The voice acting is atrocious, except for Billy Kane (who actually sounds cooler in English), but there's always the Japanese option. The action's nice and fast, and it all flows well. All the extra combos on familiar characters adds to the fun, as well (thanks to the combo system, I can murder folks with Terry and Billy). The only problem is that you can't use the joystick, and I hate having to do the SNK rolls (QCF-HCB, or QCB-HCF) with a D-Pad.

Nightmare Geese is fuckin' awesome in this, too. And I'd like to point out that one of his alternate outfits makes him look like Lupin III (no joke).

Haha, that sounds awesome. Glad they fixed some of the mistakes that made the original MI a sub par game... By the way Shmeckie, it's going to be the 21st where I live in about fifteen minutes. Did they show KOF XII or what? I can't find any info on that site you linked to.

I would assume they did, but there's no info online yet. Hell, it's not even mentioned on SNK's website.

So, in other words, you screwed up, they're not showing KOF XII yet, and you're just trying to save face.

Okay, cool.

The fuck I did you fuck faced fuck! There just ain't no info on the into...rnet...

Anyway, when someone reports on what they saw, I'll be on it like Ron Jeremy on some regretful woman.

Yeah, I'm callin' bullshit on this one. There isn't even going to be a KOF XII, is there Shmeckie. You just made the whole thing up to get attention.