I was so psyched to get a copy of this game for review. I have never been a massive fan of the KOF series but have always enjoyed a play through whenever the opportunity arose – and they have arisen frequently. I mean come on, look at it. It’s so pretty. I popped it in once or twice for a couple rounds before I went off to work and thought it was pretty damn cool on top of looking good. Then I got in some serious time. If you’re a hardcore fan, remember: don’t get pissed at me. I didn’t make this game. Let’s continue then shall we?!

Before I got my hands on this game I could have sworn that this game was 3D. But when I popped it in I found that all the characters and stages were hand drawn and shaded beautifully. The characters are only outdone by the outstanding backgrounds. Incredible animations abound. If you have had any time with a KOF game then picking this up will be as familiar as ever. The fighting is fast and the 3-on-3 always makes for interesting times. Super-Special moves are appropriately over-the-top and the new critical counters add for some strategy. The always annoying problem of corner-trapping has been fixed pretty damn well with a new roll option – well done. The Gallery mode is a neat addition that rewards perfection and adds some replay.

And this is where it all falls apart. I’m not sure if it was intended as a nod to the old days or what, but a majority of the moves list has been chopped away for seemingly no reason. I feel like I’m playing KOF ‘95. And 15 years later that’s not a good thing. The combat is fast for the most part but certain animations slow things down for an instant – throwing off your timing. The Super-Special moves are great but one tier doesn’t come close to cutting it (especially considering how scarce everything else is). Character count stops at 22 when previous entries have surpassed 30, which is lame. There are only a small handful of stages which doesn’t help things either. Oh and did I mention that the one player offline is a friggin’ time attack?! Really? No story mode?! NO SURVIVOR MODE?! Hasn’t that been a staple of the series since like forever?! Well at least we have a couple online modes  – ooooo, right. I almost forgot that the online multiplayer modes are so riddled with slowdown they are rendered almost completely unplayable.

Overall, this incarnation of the King of Fighters series may very well piss off casual gamers and fans alike. There isn’t enough to do and what is there is ultimately unimpressive. The fun wears off quickly and leaves you with no reason to come back. For a game that was lauded as a ‘rebirth’ in Japan, KOF XII succeeds only in shooting itself in the foot. Many of us were expecting a critical answer to Street Fighter IV and got this instead. Inventive DLC may be this game’s only hope. Lets see what happens from here. What a huge shame.