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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. [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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »