At one time, The King of Fighters XII was a huge step forward for the entire The King of Fighters series. The popular fighting game series, quite seriously competing with the legendary Street Fighter, finally left behind the decrepit PlayStation 2 and moved to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in 2009. And, of course, the change of platforms brought a bunch of improvements on all sorts of levels. This year we’re waiting for The King of Fighters XV, which will be the first game in the series on Unreal Engine 4 – and that alone gives us reason to expect a new revolution in the fighting genre. However, while we are waiting for the next game in the series, we can have a look back at King of Fighters XIII.
Bigger and better
The King of Fighters XIII, which was released just a year after the stunning 12th game in the series, certainly couldn’t offer gamers a new revolution anymore. It was more like a serious work on the bugs, a polished and improved version of the previous game.
The fundamental features of the 12th part have remained unchanged in the new The King of Fighters 13. We still take part in hand-to-hand fights, controlling a team of three fighters who take turns entering the ring – respectively, we are opposed by exactly the same three opponents. Competing with a solo fighter in the main game modes are not allowed, keep this in mind.
The King of Fighters XIII is a two-dimensional anime fighting game. The 14th part of the series moved to 3D, but back in 2010, players were still enjoying the cartoon arenas and completely flat, 2D drawing of the characters. The lack of three-dimensionality cannot be clearly written in the pluses or minuses, it is rather a matter of taste. The same goes for the anime-styled graphics, the long cartoony headlines in Story mode and the cheerful J-rock soundtrack. Thanks to all these features of the game it is immediately clear that we are playing the title made by developers from the Land of the Rising Sun. And again, it’s not a minus, it’s a matter of taste.
And yes, The King of Fighters has always been a game about anime, it has always been a beautifully drawn fighting game, so the fans of the series get exactly what they expect. It’s like with Australian pokies online – you always get games you want. Especially because the picture looks magical: bright, pleasing to the eye, full of color and fine details. The animations are incredibly smooth and beautiful, and the super-strikes are accompanied by stunning special effects, sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow. In addition, there is always something going on in the background, for example there are helicopters flying around the arena or the audience is cheering actively – and even this whole background in the game is also drawn very well (though the interactivity, just like in the 12th game, is still zero – you can’t grab the arena element and smash your opponent with it). In fact, even in XII part the graphics were excellent, and it seemed that it couldn’t get any better, but The King of Fighters XIII managed to surpass the level of the previous game in the series.
Hardcore fighting game
Another typical feature of the series is hardcore, and in XIII part it is fully present. The four-button control system seems deceptively simple – you can do the usual punches, blocks, jumps and somersaults without difficulty, but you’ll tie your fingers in a knot doing combos. Moreover, The King of Fighters XIII unobtrusively encourages players to think about tactics. Before the fight, you choose three characters, deciding exactly how to place them in the three, who will enter the ring first, and who is better to save for the very finale. Accordingly, to play with confidence you’ll have to study not one, but three fighters, forming a cohesive, well-played team. However, both the hardcore and the team fights are familiar features of The King of Fighters, for which fans will not scold the game, but on the contrary, praise it. And to be fair, this part is still more beginner-friendly than the previous one. For beginners there are two modes – Tutorial and Practice. So, if you find enough time and desire, the game will give you everything you need to become the champion of The King of Fighters XIII. It’s like learning about casinos online at toponlinecasinoaustralia.com you always will be in tact with the game and its mechanics.
Variety of fighters
OMG! This game has over three dozen fighters of all styles and sizes – so many that you can’t help but divert your eyes. Fragile girls and athletic-looking men, fat and stuntmen, tall and small, unarmed and armed with poles or swords, representatives of different schools of martial arts – the choice is huge. In addition, during the game you come across the challenger fighters, acting alone – if you beat them, they fill up your roster of characters. All you have to do is pick your favorites and start fighting.
Finally, The King of Fighters XIII has a full-fledged final boss for once. The previous game didn’t have one, and passing through, for example, the arcade mode was just reduced to a few battles with common fighters from the roster. The 13th game’s finale features the powerful demon Saiki, who fights alone but is incredibly strong. Even if you manage to get through walls of other fighters to Saiki, you’ll see from the first seconds of the battle that the real hardcore action starts right now.
Extra Stuff
Like any great fighting game, The King of Fighters XIII offers many game modes. The most original is the Story Mode, done in visual novel style – the story is served with anime pictures. It’s interesting that in Story we don’t choose specific characters; we are presented with a pre-packaged trio of fighters to choose from. Also, an important advantage – the story is non-linear, from time to time there are plot forks, and after losing we can continue the mode from any scene of our choice.
Apart from training modes there is an Arcade mode borrowed from ye-olde arcade cabinets. There is also a possibility to take part in a two-player battle in Versus mode, and you can customize the game for yourself in Options. The cherry on the cake is the ability to change the character costumes in a special mode for customization.
Conclusion
The King of Fighters XIII is a good-looking and hardcore fighting game that keeps up the tradition, but is considerably friendlier to newcomers than previous games in the series. If you are looking for an alternative to Street Fighter IV – we recommend you to check out The King of Fighters XIII. Especially because this is the last more or less classic The King of Fighters game, especially due to the 14th numbered game in the series will get a serious change in the visual style.
Caroline is doing her graduation in IT from the University of South California but keens to work as a freelance blogger. She loves to write on the latest information about IoT, technology, and business. She has innovative ideas and shares her experience with her readers.