The King of Fighters XII

 PlayStation 3
User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 50 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 50
  3. Negative: 21 out of 50
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  1. JerseyChris
    Aug 1, 2009
    1
    The essence of KOF had is missing... Don't buy this game, just rent it!!! I rented my copy and on the 2nd day finished all the characters. No Boss! No Plot! No Story! No Ending! No Secret Characters! & NO GOOD!!! The only good thing is the detailed graphics... :(
  2. Darkstrike
    Oct 6, 2009
    4
    As a long time fan who has played every single title in the series since 94', I am thoroughly disappointed in the latest over-hyped and under-delivering iteration. The movelists are paltry compared to the hugely enjoyable predecessors (not to mention the exclusion of many fan-favourite characters). The excuse that every single character has been painstakingly redrawn does not make upAs a long time fan who has played every single title in the series since 94', I am thoroughly disappointed in the latest over-hyped and under-delivering iteration. The movelists are paltry compared to the hugely enjoyable predecessors (not to mention the exclusion of many fan-favourite characters). The excuse that every single character has been painstakingly redrawn does not make up for the many shortcomings of this game (no final/mid boss, no intuitive training mode, among others). However, based on the game play, potential remains for the next KOF to make it up to its fans.… Expand
  3. RobN
    Jul 28, 2009
    2
    Wow. How far the mighty have fallen. This series used to be a favorite of mine for it's balancing and character design. This entry is just anemic. It's missing a lot of the favorites from the series, the arcade mode is short and way too easy, and the netcode makes the user deal with enough lag to be consistently frustrating. The fighting system is ok but most characters have Wow. How far the mighty have fallen. This series used to be a favorite of mine for it's balancing and character design. This entry is just anemic. It's missing a lot of the favorites from the series, the arcade mode is short and way too easy, and the netcode makes the user deal with enough lag to be consistently frustrating. The fighting system is ok but most characters have actually lost moves since the last game. With games like BlazBlue and SFIV out right now, there is no way I can justify the money I spent on this title.… Expand
  4. Thom,LordofKittens
    Jul 30, 2009
    3
    What a let down... This isn't KOF... Character designs are great, but everything that made the series great is missing. No Cheesy Boss, no endings, no nothing... Animation is great until you realize how many moves were cut from characters, and how few characters there are. Very, very disappointed.
  5. DanH
    Jul 28, 2009
    3
    Many years ago, when my brother and I first got a PlayStation for Christmas, there were a handful of games that helped define our impressions of fighting games; among them was King of Fighters '95. Though plagued with loading times, the crisp animation, catchy music, and massive amount of interesting characters, teams, and locales let me know that the arcades had finally come home. Many years ago, when my brother and I first got a PlayStation for Christmas, there were a handful of games that helped define our impressions of fighting games; among them was King of Fighters '95. Though plagued with loading times, the crisp animation, catchy music, and massive amount of interesting characters, teams, and locales let me know that the arcades had finally come home. Fast forward to July 2009. After loading up KoFXII, aware the series had opted for "quality over quantity" with characters--in theory--I eagerly established a team of the original Fatal Fury dudes, with Terry as my frontman. Bizarre anime-esque newsreel interludes aside, I fought off through five (just five?) stages of enemies, only to learn at the end...that no memorable cheap-yet-satisfying to trounce SNK boss laid in wait to force me to use that continue service once more. Baffled, I thought back to Capcom vs. SNK 2, and how if you did poorly, you were denied the chance to fight a final boss. "Clearly, this was the case," thought I, as I proceeded to play through once again, with increased gusto! Six plus minutes later, yet again the last match was followed by nothing more than the credits...and my time, like I cared. Funny, Ignition (the publisher who will live in infamy with me from now on) didn't indicate on their website--amongst this shocker--all of the following absentee features that make KoF...well, KoF: No final boss, no character intros/outros, only one win pose, only 6 stages (2 are effectively palette-swapped), no special effects when finishing a foe with a super, no arcing story, no teams...no nothing... With some 5 teams of 3 characters each still represented, and a few stragglers, it honestly feels like this game was published incomplete, like the deadline was a sword of Damocles, threatening doom. Well, the doom falls upon the unfortunate KoF fan who--like me--spends $60 to find they bought an incomplete game. (Don't even get me started on Iori.) The Critical Counter and "Clashing" mechanics seem well enough at first, thought the clashing seems subverted by the ubiquitous roll, and the critical counters cannot be comboed into; rather, you must be in relatively close range, and your hard punch/kick must somehow have priority over whatever they are being countered with--not likely if light attacks are being used. I don't even mind that they're trying something new with this idea, but it's implementation seems tacked on. This is the worst King of Fighters title I have ever played. (Say what you will about Eolith, I personally liked KoF 2001.) With a renaissance of 2D-fighters this year on next-gen consoles, it will be a long time before Ignition gets one more of my dollars.… Expand
  6. Eric
    Jul 26, 2009
    5
    I am a huge KOF fan and wanted to like this entry, but I just can't. Despite all the time it took to make, it still feels rushed. A weak arcade mode can be completed in five to ten minutes and has no story, boss, or even some lousy taunts or winquotes. A lot of characters are dumbed down, which might make them more accessible, but KOF veterans will miss the depth of some of the more I am a huge KOF fan and wanted to like this entry, but I just can't. Despite all the time it took to make, it still feels rushed. A weak arcade mode can be completed in five to ten minutes and has no story, boss, or even some lousy taunts or winquotes. A lot of characters are dumbed down, which might make them more accessible, but KOF veterans will miss the depth of some of the more advanced fighters. The new, flameless Iori is just awful, too. On top of that, the new fighting system that's in place is pretty basic compared to other entries in the series. No tactical shift, no leader moves or dream cancels or guard counters. The critical counter system they have instead feels a bit simple by comparison, and getting it to work is often feels dependant on luck more than skill. While this might be intended to make the game more newbie friendly, longtime KOF players are likely to feel underwhelmed by this system. The online mode is pretty laggy. This might be fixed in a patch, so I won't count that against it too much. The biggest offense, to me, is that all these painstakingly hand-drawn hi-res sprites STILL look like crap when you compare them to Blazblue's sprites. While not too many people will probably care about this, the achievements/trophies are pretty bad, too. They're not too difficult (except for beating the game in three minutes thirty seconds), but most of them tend to be along the lines of "beat everyone with X character." As you can imagine, this isn't fun or challenging. I do not recommend ANYONE to buy this at the full price of 60 dollars, and even with a price drop, I only recommend it to hardcore KOF fans with good internet connections who intend to spend every second of this game online, because the single player content is borderline nonexistant.… Expand
  7. ReyS
    Jul 27, 2009
    5
    -----PROS AND CONS----- - Bare bones fighter with bare bones gameplay modes to choose from (Arcade, Versus, Online, Gallery, Practice, Options). This is pretty lame, considering that KOF XI had more to offer in terms of it's selection, and other franchises put so much into their single-player campaigns to keep the replay value up. (Tekken, Virtua Fighter, Guilty Gear XX, Soul -----PROS AND CONS----- - Bare bones fighter with bare bones gameplay modes to choose from (Arcade, Versus, Online, Gallery, Practice, Options). This is pretty lame, considering that KOF XI had more to offer in terms of it's selection, and other franchises put so much into their single-player campaigns to keep the replay value up. (Tekken, Virtua Fighter, Guilty Gear XX, Soul Calibur...) -KOF was originally about 3v3 TEAM play. Regardless if there is no real storyline in this year's game, there was usually reason in the KOF universe for characters to be there and to team up. No teams nor reasoning in this one. One on one fighting only... with no endings! This is a straight arcade port. -All gameplay additions from past years such as tag-ins, LSDMs, or extra DMs have been exempt from this year's game as well. Even though the arguement that the game has been reverted and there is no storyline, it still does make it right to lose better movelists, nor totally change a character's movelist due to an non-existant storyline (Iori, I'm looking at you...) +The only 2 possible lifelines to this fighter are (1), the totally graphical overhaul of it. Animation is incredibly fluid and smooth compared another game in it's genre, "BlazBlue". It is at least on par with, if not better than, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike in terms of fluidity and motion of characters and moves. (2) The other save would be the online portion, but by now, most big name fighting franchises are making this a staple of any fighter that comes out these days.… Expand
  8. ghostbinder
    Jul 29, 2009
    6
    Having been burnt out playing Street fighter 4 and not really feeling Blazblue.Though ill admit Blazblue is a well polished game,just not my cup of tea.I decided to buy this game.Now ill admit im not the biggest King of fighters fan.Ive always been a street fighter player.I wanted something different so i thought why not?and so far im really enjoying it.Maybe its because im a king of Having been burnt out playing Street fighter 4 and not really feeling Blazblue.Though ill admit Blazblue is a well polished game,just not my cup of tea.I decided to buy this game.Now ill admit im not the biggest King of fighters fan.Ive always been a street fighter player.I wanted something different so i thought why not?and so far im really enjoying it.Maybe its because im a king of fighters newbie.But i like the simplified gameplay.Its not a button masher by any means but you don't have to memorize a million moves either to enjoy yourself.Its fun and that's the most important thing to me.I will say though that i haven't tried online yet.(have heard some bad things)and the lack of single player modes is a real downner.But if you're a looking for another 2d fighting fix,gameplay wise its a good game.Its at least a solid rental.… Expand
  9. JuanDiez
    Sep 2, 2009
    8
    Just like I thought! It keeps the original flavour of the series, but playable on a PS3. For me it is a must. I have enjoyed SF IV, BlazBlue and then this KoF. Each one has its pros and cons, but definately I am able to find a time to play each title without being bord.
  10. [Anonymous]
    Jul 24, 2009
    5
    This game is lazy, SNK finally reveals that they've been phoning it in for years. If BlazBlue showed us all how great a 2D fighter could be on a next-gen console, KOF12 shows us how lackluster the genre can get, Also, the sound design in this game is horrible. This is the only game I've ever owned that I have to play on mute. The music is bland and uninspired. There's also This game is lazy, SNK finally reveals that they've been phoning it in for years. If BlazBlue showed us all how great a 2D fighter could be on a next-gen console, KOF12 shows us how lackluster the genre can get, Also, the sound design in this game is horrible. This is the only game I've ever owned that I have to play on mute. The music is bland and uninspired. There's also a crowd noise in the background of every stage that can't be eliminated. The sound of the crowd is part of the sound fx , so if you want to turn it off you have to also turn off every other ambient noise (including the sounds of punches & kicks). BlazBlue set the bar for next-gen 2D fighters extremely high. Every aspect of that game was well crafted. KOF12 doesn't even attempt to reach for the bar.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

76
#76 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2009
33
#33 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 48
  3. Negative: 10 out of 48
  1. Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)
    60
    Maybe hardcore fans will appreciate the subtle mechanics at work in KOF XII, but as fighting game fans who aren't devoted enough to count frames of animation and the like, we can't help but feel indifferent. [Aug 2009, p.78]
  2. Cheat Code Central
    74
    If you like online play, King of Fighters does it extremely well. However, with only one single-player offline mode, this title feels a little empty overall.
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  3. GamePro
    70
    Most gamers may not want to pay full retail price for only a handful of light features, despite how pretty the game is, but if you love your fighters old-school and 2D, The King of Fighters XII is probably worth checking out.
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