[Multiplatform] Burger King of Fighters XII - Free with large Whopper meal

Finally! I know you've all been awaiting the time that SNK would finally do something with the KoF license that wasn't just another rehash or a horrible 3D mangle-job... And if you haven't been waiting for that, shame on you! You should've been waiting! With bated breath in fact!

Anyway. Now it's coming. KoF XII will be the first 2D fighter in full HD it looks like (unless Blazblue beats them to the punch), with completely new character art and backgrounds and it looks absolutely amazing.

Here's the trailer from GDC:

YouTube Video

(HQ non-noobtube version courtesy of Gametrailers and Qwarky)

Here's an interview with producer Masaaki Kukino which is quite interesting:
1up - Previews: King of Fighters XII

Aaand finally there's the mention (in that interview amongst others) that Nona is doing the KoF XII art, which I'm not sure how I feel about when they could've gone with Falcoon or Hiroaki... But I have to admit it looks awesome from the trailer so I can't complain. Nona does have a lot of personality.

The following characters have been confirmed either from that video or screenshots/previews etc. (from Wikipedia, so take with a solid grain of salt):
* Ash Crimson
* Elisabeth Blanctorche (New Look)
* Kyo Kusanagi
* Terry Bogard (his original Fatal Fury outfit)
* Leona Heidern (Returning from King of Fighters 2003)
* Goro Daimon (Returning from King of Fighters 2003)
* Athena Asamiya (New Look)
* Benimaru Nikaido (Original outfit)
* Kim Kaphwan

There will presumably be new characters as well, I should hope. It wouldn't be a KoF without a massive roster.

The release date's a mile off (I believe Q4 2008 for arcades and Q1 2009 for PS3 and 360), but I'm too excited to not make this thread. Whee!

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Originally Posted by Qwarky

Might wanna link to a better quality video

But yeah, this looks fantastic. I can't wait for a direct feed version.

Gametrailers doesn't work properly for me at the moment, but I'll copy-paste that link into my post with extreme justice! LIKE SO!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I read somewhere that Hiroaki is involved in this game as well, although I can't find it anywhere now so take it with a grain of salt. He's a great artist so it'd definitely be good news (he most recently did Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, which has really awesome KoF-ish character art).

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Thanks a lot for the info Rotorblade, it's killing me that this thing is still so far away and so much is unsure. And yes, Olof should be in there. Olof is awesome.

Did you guys notice the sprites in the shade were actually dark? I hope that's not just my imagination, I really want to see that in motion, with the sprites coming out in the sun and becoming brightly-lit... That would be sick. Also, the effects (fire and lightning and whatnot) have always been by far the best in SNK games, so I'm glad to say that these live up to that legacy judging from the screenshots. Very original and kick ass, hope they look as good animated as they look in the stills.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm glad they're seemingly not going for the hyperactive PARA PARA fighting stuff that seems to be the trend lately, but instead creating a proper classic 2D fighting game where you can still think and strategize. I don't really see any problems with the designs (other than Ryo looking a bit EVIL), I really like that they're a bit "spicy" and not so conservative as many of the old KoF sprites were in my opinion, and all the preliminary issues I see in the interface and such are hopefully due to it being an early build.

Most importantly though, the sprite animation and effects look sick. I'm stoked!

I was speaking idiomatically.

Thanks dude, I hadn't seen those yet, I'd only seen one video. I agree it doesn't look boring at all, and nice catch on the hat, that's an awesome detail.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Although I'm not the biggest KOF fan to begin with (I'm hoping KOF XII will change my mind ), I wholeheartedly disagree. That's actually one thing I've always disliked about KOF, the giant roster that never let me get into the flow of any of the characters. As long as the 20 characters are well-balanced and worked out and diverse, I really think it's a good idea to limit the number a bit.

Though, I'd guess they probably didn't choose to limit the number of characters, but were forced to because of the sheer amount of work per character.

Quote:

I'll only say it here, but we believe that this is something that no other company can imitate, something that only SNK Playmore can do

See that Capcom? >:I

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Originally Posted by ROBOTRON

I'm excited for KOF XII, but after watching some of the vids...I must admit this could be run on PS2 hardware.

What are you talking about? That's exactly what it can't be run on.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Setting this Mai argument aside: RE... BARS!

Because the best fighter of 2009 won't start with "Street" or end in "IV".

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Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Is a comment like that really needed?

Haha, I suppose not... But I couldn't think of anything useful to say, and still wanted to post the trailer. To be fair I'm really excited about both, it wasn't a statement to be taken too seriously.

Quote:

They still have time to bring something better to the home versions...If not, then that's something SNK-P has nothing over Capcom. Which is additional characters. =/

Yeah, while it doesn't really affect my judgement of the game, I'm curious what they'll do for the home version. Of course, I was really hoping for some more characters but at the same time, one of the things that always made it really hard to get into KOF was the huge 50+ unique character-roster. In a way this is almost like a reboot, with a lot of characters going back to their roots and the cast not being too big to be intimidating, so with that I guess they're trying to attract new players as well as old fans who feel the series went out of control a bit with those recent versions (I certainly felt that way).

And of course there's the issue where making those huge sprites is apparently an incredible investment on the team's side. Maybe they just can't afford to add more characters.

How ya doing, buddy?