KOF library currently discounted on PC

One of the greatest fighting games of all time just got that little bit better. Developer Code Mystics has released a new update for the Steam port of The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match, adding rollback netcode to the three-on-three tag-fighting classi??c.

Originally released for PlayStation in 2009, KOF02 UM can be considered a celebration of sorts for the legendary SNK franchise's halcyon days. Boasting an incredible roster of over 65 characters, KOF02 UM compiles the greatest fighters from The King of Fighters '94-'02 in one mighty battlebowl. On a personal note, it's one of my pe?rsonal favorites in the franchise, and a regular "go-to" whenever I settle down for some 2D punchin'.

Now available on PC via Steam, the new update will make online play smoother than ever before, boosting performance for dedicated KOF fans across the globe. This technical upgrade will hopefully help prolong the life and community for one of the most top-tier titles?? in the history of 2D fighting games.

In related news, Steam has discounted its entire library of KOF releases, with discounts applied to The King of Fighters '02 Unlimited Match, The King of Fighters '97: Global Match, The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, as well as modern entries The King of Fighters XIII and The King of Fighters XIV. So if you fancy a solid dose of 2D fighting action, bag yourselves a?ny of the above. They're all excellent scrappers.

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SNK hoping to increase support for tourneys

The King of Fighters XIV is a great game. I say that without bias as an SNK and KoF devotee. Unfortunately, like a lot of great punch-ups in re??cent years, it failed to set the scene alive, despite having its own dedicated community of players, who enjoy throwing down with Kyo, Zarina, Kim, Blue Mary, and chums.

Still, SNK are?? continuing to support the title, with news that there is a new update planned for release at the end of the year. No specific details have been given as to the patches contents, but SNK has stated that it will be mostly focused ??on balance changes for the team fighters' huge roster.

SNK have also noted that they will continue to provide recognition and support of the KoF XIV tournament scene, both online and off. Organisers can give the publisher a heads-up via the application page of the SNK e??-Sports Support Program website, where SNK will try to h?elp out successful applicants with advertising and prizes.

King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

KOF XIV will have another update at the end of December, 2018!
This version will focus on balance changes.#SNK #KOFXIV #KOF14 pic.twitter.com/N9uOa2wVxY

— SNK GLOBAL (@SNKPofficial) November 26, 2018

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You're all lucky I'm not going, yessire...

As part of next month's EVO 2018 fighting game tournament, publishers SNK and Atlus have teamed up to offer a nice $5,000 cash pot for the winners of a King of Fighters XIV tourney, held at fun side-event AnimEVO.

AnimEVO is an adjacent event that runs parallel to the main Evolution Championships. AnimEVO features a cool selection of classic competitive titles, which this year includes Gundam Versus, Windjammers, Melty Blood, Catherine, Samurai Shodown II, even TMNT: Tournament Fighters, among many others.

SNK's brilliant KoF XIV will be in attendance, with the classic arcade developer teaming up with Atlus to offer the four-figure prize as a pot to be divided up among the eventual winners. If I was going, I'd beat everyone, but I'm not, so I won't. (Also, I'd actually go 0 - 2, guaranteed.)

AnimEVO?? 2018 takes place at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, between August 3-5.

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Also tweaks new members of the KoF crew

An awesome new update recently brought balance changes and cool new characters to SNK's fighting title The King of Fighters XIV. Unfortunately, it also brought a night??marish bug to some on the receiving end of Robert Garcia's co??mmand grab.

As you can see in the images below certain fighters, such as Chang and Nakoruru, would momentarily morph when hit with the fast-kicking grab attack. Despite the comical side-effect of making these characters look like extras from Brian Yuzna's Society, SNK have thought it best to ??put forward a patch eliminating th??e issue.

Alongside the bug fix, Update 3.01 will also tweak issues pertaining to the new characters, including fixes to hitboxes, move whiffs and other glitches. Superfan @frionel26 has liste?d some of the translated patch notes on their twitter. As of yet there is no scheduled release date for Update 3.01.

King of Fighters?? XIV Version?? 3.01 reportedly coming to fix issues [Event Hubs]

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KOF for EVO

Despite getting knocked off the main stage at EVO 2018, SNK has steadily been supporting King of Fighters XIV -- overhauling its vis??ual style, adding new fighters, and tweaking old ?ones.

Part?? of that support is by way of patch 3.0, which adds in Blue Mary, Heidern, Oswald, and Najd -- the latter of which is the winner of a create-a-character contest. Created by Saudi Arabian artist Mashael Al-Barrak, Najd dons an Abaya at night that grants her shadow powers, and lives as a college student during the day. She's rad and I can't wait to try her out.

Oh, and th?ere's ?a 31-page English changelog that explains everything in 3.0! SNK should really be commended for their support.

Ver 3.0 patch notes [SNK]

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VERTICAL ARROW!

Blue Mary, the baggy-pants lovin' bone-breaker, will be making her return to the ring in SNK's King of Fighters XIV next week.

Mary, who originally debuted in Fatal Fury 3 back in 1995, made her first King of Fighters appearance in KoF '97. The petite wrassler closes the distance feet-first via dives and flips, before transitioning to painful joint locks on??ce she hits her mark.

Her KoF XIV iteration is rockin' slightly shorter pants, she has also abandoned her classic buckled boots for some ice-white kicks. I'm a bit disappointed to see her badass sculpted guns have been somewhat trimmed into noodle arms reminiscent of my own, but at least her wres??tling skills, heel-hooks and ??playful attitude are present and correct. All that's missing now is her ever-faithful doge, Anton.

Blue Mary joins Oswald, Heidern and Najd as a quartet of upcoming DLC characters. All four will be made available to purchase on April 12, when SNK drop the Version 3.0 update, which also contains bug fixes and balance c??hanges for the team-based brawler.

The King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

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New trailer shows off Saudi Arabian content

SNK have released a new trailer featuring the newest character set to make an impact in The King of Fighters XIV.

Najd is an unassuming college student who hails from Sau?di Arabia. When night falls, howeve??r, she dons an ornate Abaya and ventures out into the shadows, protecting those who cannot protect themselves from the evils of the world.

The winning entry in a character design competition held last year, Najd was created by Mashael Al-Barrak, who won the judges over with her artwork o??f the mysterious vigilante. From the video we can see Najd likes to keep things up close and personal, going toe-to-toe with some of the roster's combatants and coming out on top.

Also visible is a new stage, also designed?? by a fan. ?The stage is reminiscent of the Masmak fort, located in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh province, and was created by competition winner Zainab Al-Lawaty. Congratulations to both winners, I can only imagine the immense pride of seeing your creations finally made real.

Najd and the new stage are set to arrive in-game sometime in April. King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

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Dad's back

SNK have announced the next warrior joining the roster of team-based punch-up King of Fighters XIV. It's none other than OG Heidern, ??making his long-awaited return to the fr??anchise.

The military strategist, who debuted way back in KoF '94, is the Commander of the Ikari Warriors and the adoptive father of Leona, having found the young girl a?lone in a village, surrounded by blood and bodies. The lanky officer fights with deceptive speed, slicing through the air to create sharp projectiles. Heidern is the master of the same Rebel Spark techniques he passed on to his daughter, and makes for an imposing and formidable foe.

Heidern is the second DLC character to be announced from KoF XIV's current wave of DLC, following the recent return of Oswald. We can expect further characters going forward, such as the fan-created Najd.

King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

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More curious silhouettes

We reported last week on how card-thrower Oswald would be making his return to the ring in King of Fighters XIV. Well, it appears h??e's not alone, as SNK confirmed at EVO Japan that, in April, three more DLC characters will also be joining the team-fighting title.

Similar to the game's last batch of DLC characters -- which included Whip, Vanessa and Yamazaki -- a strange hybrid silhouette has been unveiled, with the previously confirmed Oswald already filled in. It is also worth noting that KoF XIV is still to receive its Saudi-Arabian character, Najd, a fan-created fighter who won a con??test held in?? 2017.

When the previous DLC silhouette was shown, I pretty much nailed everyone in it. But this new one has me kind of stumped. You can see Najd's feathered clothing, but that's about the only other figure I can m??ake out. I wonder if the often requested Adelheid will make his return? Or h?ell... maybe it'll just be the entire USA Sports team.

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What a card

SNK have revealed the latest roster addition to team-based battler The King of Fighters XIV, and it's?? none other than creepy card-chuck?er Oswald.

Oswald is one of the legendary franchisers lesser-known players, having only showed in a single iteration, King of Fighters XI, where he teamed with my boy Ash Crimson and hot-tempered puncher Shen Woo. While the latter two both made later appearances, Oswald has never appeared in a KoF roster since.

Until this year, as? the sharp dressed man is returning to the ring, complete with his bizarre fighting stance and playing card-based attacks, (G?ambit who?) Although he is yet to be given a release date, a trailer has been unveiled showing off his rapid-fire special attacks. Ace.

King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

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Translation plz...

The King of Fighters franchise is no stranger to spin-offs, having seen numerous comic-books, an ongoing anime series and... erm... that live-action movie. Well, this week saw a new manga series, b?ased on the SNK fighting franchise??, launch in Japan.

The new title, King of Fighters: A New Beginning, is an adaptation of the series' latest video game release, King of Fighters XIV. The series will be delivered through the Monthly Shonen Sirius app with chapter one, Member Select, ready to check out right now.

Naturally, the manga is currently only available in Japanese. Hopefully, some kind member of the KoF community may provide translation as ch?apters are released. Until then, well, the pictures are pre??tty good...

King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

待望の『KOF XIV』のコミカライズ「THE KING OF FIGHTERS ～A NEW BEGINNING～」が漫画アプリ「マガジンポケット」にて本日より連載開始！　#KOF #マガポケ//t.co/cTBYFpM3DO pic.twitter.com/5INaO3iwpq

— SNK JAPAN (@SNKPofficial_jp) December 31, 2017

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To what extent is unknown

King of Fighters XIV didn't make the splash that SNK intended in the pro scene, but they still seem proud of it nonetheless. In addition to a massive visual overhaul they've also peppered in various bits of DLC, worked on the?? netcode??, and provided various fixes and the like since its August 2016 launch.

The folks over at 4Gamer decided to check in with Yasuyuki Oda, Game Department Vice Manager and 1st Studio Producer for SNK, who stated that things were going swimmingly with the series and that this year, XIV will be getting a new update? on top of a 40th anniversary celebration of SNK as a company.

Oda lays out his plans for 2018, stating: “Thanks to everyone, in 2018 we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the SNK brand. On the game side, we have new title releases and announcements for both consoles and apps (I cannot say anything yet!), and we are also planning to update The King of Fighters XIV, which is available now. First, the King of Fighters manga will start on New Year’s Day! We are also preparing 40th anniversa?ry commemoration goods, which will be gradually released mainly through the SNK Online Shop. Please look forward to SNK in 2018!”

Sure thing. Now if I could just find more people to play it with loc??ally.

Interviews [4Gamer via Gematsu]

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Oswald returns?

SNK have announced that visitors to the EVO Japan tournament, being held late next month, will be able to to get their hands on a new character, coming to King of Fighters XIV next year.

No information was given as to the challenger's identity, but the announcement did feature the image of a playing card, which strongly hints at the the return of KOF XI entrant Oswald. Oswald fought with a peculiar stance and used playing cards as weapons, (including a move literally call?ed "Joker"). An original partner of former series protagonist Ash Crimson, Oswald has yet to return since his initial app?earance.

Those wishing to try out the new character, whoever it may be, need only visit the studio's booth at the event, where you'll also be able to pick up a bunch of KOF and SNK-branded merch.

EVO Japan is being held in Akihabra, Tokyo on January 26-27. King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

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Middle-Eastern character and location coming to SNK's fighter

Back in September, Manga Productions held a competition in the Middle-East to design a character and a stage for SNK's legendary fighting game franchise, The King of Fighters.

Entries came in from across the region, with some 300 character and stage designs in total. In a presentation last week at the Misk Global Forum, attended by SNK chairman Zhihui Ge and Manga Productions' President, Badr Al-Azerkel, and CEO Essam Bukhary, the w??inning entries were formally announced.

For the character portion of the contest, a slinky and mysterious female fighter, hailing from the Saudi Arabian region of Najd, was chosen as the winning combatant. This rad-looking gal was created by Mashael Al-Barrak. In the stage category, Oman's Zainab Al-Lawaty was selected as the winner for their int?erpretation of the Masmak fort, a legendary monument located in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh province.

The winning entries were chosen by a selection committee made up of SNK and Manga Productions staff, including KOF's character designer Eisuke Ogura, and?? art director Nobuyuki Kuroki. No date has? been given for when the new character and stage will be available in the game.

The King of Fighters XIV is available now on PS4 and PC.

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Predictable!

SNK has just announced that The King of Fighters XIV Steam Edition will launch on Steam June 15.

There will be two separate editions available for purchase on PC. The standard edition, or Steam Edition, will be priced at $59.99, and will include not only the base game, but also the Classic Kyo costume for Kyo Kusanagi along with the Nightmare ?Geese costume for Geese Howard.

The Deluxe Pack on the other hand will be priced at $74.99, and will include the four DLC characters and ten DLC costumes that have bee??n released to date. In addition, buyers will also receive a digital art book which promises to include concept art for all four DLC characters, as well as a digital sound??track containing 30 unspecified tracks.

SNK is also running a pre-order campaign for the game at this time. Anyone who chooses to pre-order either editio??n before 10 AM (PDT) on June 15 will not only receive 20% off, but will also be granted immediate access to the Closed Beta Test. However, the DLC content will not be accessible until the game's official lau??nch.

SNK Global [Twitter]

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Here's hoping for good netcode

I've been saying since its launch that King of Fighters XIV deserves more respect. Sure, visually it looks ugly as sin, especially compared to the beautiful Guilty Gear Xrd, but it plays well, it has a massive roster, and shipped with an arcade mo?de (hey?o).

Well thankfully ??it's breaking the chains of being stuck on the PS4, as SNK has announced that the game is coming to Steam..."this May." Wait, that's this month! Yep, apparently pre-orders and a closed beta are planned for later this month, which doesn't leave much time for the beta to actually play out if it's still arriving by the end of May.

Lately I've been playing Rock/Terry/Joe to some success, an??d I think I'm going to just stick with PS4. That said, I'm eager to try out the PC version and I hope it finds a decent community (and shows well at EVO this year).

SNK [Twitter]

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Red Riding Hood

In addition to the four extra characters and the free DLC levels coming to King of Fighters XIV??, we're also getting new costumes -- and it looks like a decent amount of effort was put into them. The four that have been revealed by way of a new trailer are "Diabala Angel," "Little Red Riding Hood Sylvie," "Pajamas Meitenkun," (my favorite) and "Sundress Kula Diamond."

KOF XIV is the gif??t th??at keeps on giving. If they can have a good showing at EVO this year, I hope more people pick it up.

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Holy [expletive]

I'm not really sure how, but SNK has really impressed with each of their DLC character announcements. While some folks (like myself) might have wanted Baenessa Vanessa, Whip, and Yamazaki in the base roster, it's been so g?ood to see t?hem confirmed now especially with these great intro trailers. Though I'm sure no one expected an outsider would join the fray. 

Rock Howard, Geese Howard's biological son and Terry Bogard's adopted son from Garou: Mark of the Wolves (of the Fatal Fury series), makes his first appearance in the King of Fighters seri??es proper. Just watching this trailer makes it seem like he's been a part of the series all along. I can't wait to counter everything. 

There's also a promise from the development team that Rock won't be as "low-tier" as he was in Garou. Also great news? All four of the announced DLC characters will be available April 5th. The new stages and background music will also be available f?or free to everyone too. 

Now I just want a full ??SNK fighter in this eng??ine. 

[via PlayStation Blog]

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Baenessa

The King of Fighters XIV DLC characters have been delivering on every count so far. Sometime after Whip and Ryuji Yamazaki come to the game as DLC, fan-favorite boxing mom Vanessa joins ?the roster. 

I've never been a big Vanessa user, but watching this trailer definitely makes her seem really fun to ?play. I've been set after Yamazaki was confirmed, but I'm sure this will make a lot of fans happy. Many of the comments for the previous two reveals were for "Baenessa," haha. 

There's one more DLC character to reveal, so who do?? you want it to be? 

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SHAAAAAAA

Plenty of the King of Fighters XIV fans (myself included) were chomping at the bit for a possible Yamazaki roster addition as soon as DLC characters were announced, and with Whip confirmed as the first character, l??uckily Yamazaki was announced soon after. 

It might just be my overall Yama-bias, but he's loo?king like a really good addition. His Drill super has a great angle, his animations are crisp (especially his snake arm), and his ne??w model has a lot of personality. His Climax Cancel? Grabbing pieces of the background and nailing his opponents over the head with them. The tuna's a personal favorite.

Yamazaki's release date has yet to be confirmed.

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My desires are...unconventional

King of Fighters XIV gets a ba??d rap. It's yet another great entry in the franchise even if the new art style makes it seem more stiff than previous entries. I'll admit it was tough for m??e to get used to at first, but after putting some time in, my girl Athena and I are wrecking the place like before. 

Maybe new DLC characters, like the just announced Whip, will help bring old/new fans into the game? Whip is definitely a fan-favorite, so this is a good step forward (though I'm vying for Yamazaki), and she looks like she fits right in. Her Climax Cancel looks especially fun to pull off, too. Wonder who the other silhouettes belong to? 

Whip will be available April 5th for $4.99 $5.99 USD. 

_{[This article previously reported Whip's pricing at $4.99. It has since been corrected.]}

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Also, a few costumes

As I've said before, King of Fighters XIV deserves more credit. Look, I get it if you were hesitant because o??f the art? style. The pixelated visuals of the last few games were gorgeous, and eliminating it feels like a betrayal of sorts for SNK -- it's part of the reason why they're having trouble onboarding people.

But hopefully, over time, those people will come, and new DLC might help. On February 23 SNK will start adding more content, including stages, costumes, and characters. Classic Iori will hit on that date, followed by more DLC and the big st??uff at a later date.

At the moment yo??u can speculat?e on who will be arriving into the ring with the teaser below. As long as Rock Howard makes it in at some point I'm good.

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Three locations in February

King of Fighters XIV initially launched ?just on PS4, but SNK announced back in 2016 that it was worki??ng on an arcade edition that would debut in Japan this year. Well, that work is seemingly completed, as they've given us cold hard dates. Dates for testing that is.

If yo??u head on over to three select Taito Stations (in Machida, Osaka, and Fukuoka Tenjin), you'll be able to test out the game for 100 yen a play, and possibly net a sticker for your troubles after participating in a survey. The tests will run from February 3-5, from 10AM to midnight.

Hopefully the arcade version is smooth and it leads to more PS4 sales. This deserves to be headlining at majo??r tournaments, and a bigger arcade scene ?could lead to that.

The King of Fighters XIV [Famitsu via Gematsu]

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Version 1.10

I'm still very happy with King of Fighters XIV, and although I can't find that many people that actually play it, it's still getting plenty of love from SNK and the community at large. Part of that passion from the former group has taken form in a 1.10 update, mostly developed to address one of the chief concerns of XIV -- it's off-putting look.

Now every single character has been touched-up graphically, two new color variations for each fighter have been added, and other bugs have been squashed. In other news you can still pick up a free Athena throwback costume on the PSN until January 22.

I hope we keep seeing reactive patches for KOF, and when XV rolls around, ??that it'll gain a bigger following. It's one of my favorite fighters at the moment despite the huge downgrade from the classic spritework.

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1.10 is out on January 11

SNK decided to listen to fan complaints and up the visual quality of King of Fighters XIV -- which, not coincidentally, is the worst part of the game. It's still planned for a 1.10 update, which is?? on track for a January 11 release date, and will upgrade the shading and lightning aspects, and bump the color variations for ea?ch character from four to six.

In other news, there's a new free "classic costume?" DLC out for Athena today, which you can grab until January 22, as well as two Athena-centric PS4 themes that seem to be premium downloads, but SNK didn't disclose the price (several themes are availabl?e now, and range from free to $2.99). The developer also notes that folks should "grab the DLC before it becomes a paid costume," at which point it'll probably revert to a $1.99 asking price, joining the classic Kyo and Nightmare Geese outfits on the PSN.

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Yasuyuki Oda speaks at TGS

There was a massive presentation at TGS yesterday regarding fighting games, and Yasuyuki Oda (King of Fighters XIV producer) was in attendance.

He dropped a ton of information on us, including news of a balance update, a larger rage quit penalty, and bug fixes for XIV in October. More updates are planned beyond that (though no DLC beyond costumes are planned at this time), and he's very happy with how the game turned out overall. He also shared? some insight into the development process, noting that initially his team made everyone "as strong as possible," then a balanced around that to ensure that every fighter was fun to play.

Oda also muses on the scene in general, saying that a new Samurai Shodown might be on the table (yes! Bring back Hanzo), even though they're currently understaffed. Sadly, he also reconfirms that even the Japanese arcade scene is in dire straits, so he's happy that there are events like EVO Japan where people can meet up. He even wanted to remake NeoGeoLand, but the CEO of SNK shot that idea down.

Oda also has an amusing story about beetles that you should totally read over at Mad Man's Cafe, who translated the whole talk.

TGS Day 2 [YouTube via Mad Man's Cafe]

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Also some tweaks

King of Fighters fans won't be left wanting for updates for XIV when it drops this week, as SNK has a day one patch already planned. Lead designer Hidetoshi Ishizawa has confirmed that not only will some characters be tweaked for the live version, but there's also going to be added support for Dua??lShock 3 controllers and older arcade sticks. So if your equipment doesn't work out of the box, download that update first.

Events were held last weekend in both Tokyo and Osaka last weekend -- the latter of which I can't think of without having this theme pop into my head.

Neo_G [Twitter via Mad Man's Cafe]

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ARE YOU OKAY?!

While most people were introduced to fighters with Street Fighter, my first foray into the genre was King of Fighters at a local arcade. I had no prior training or guidance, I kind of just jumped in, picked Andy Bogard, a??nd had a ball. Before I knew it I had graduated on to a long line of fantastic SNK ??fighters.

But one of the former "kings" of fighting lost some of its relevance in recent years, especially with the much-hyped but bare-bones King of Fighters XII. Thank the stars SNK regained a lot of goodwill with the much-improved XIII, and nearly five years later, in what has to be a miracle due to its constant corporate restructuring, we have XIV.

You just need to get past th?e art style and you'll be okay.

The King of Fighters XIV (PS4)
Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK (Japan), Deep Silver (Europe), Atlus (US)
Released: August 23, 2016
MSRP: $59.99

Where have all of those good, beautiful, emotive pixelated characters gone? They're lost to what we call the ether of "the budget." Now, it's not like you can??'t make 3D art look incredible, but SNK hasn't quite done its due diligence here like Arc System ?Works. It's a shame, because there are so many great new designs here and they don't really get the justice they deserve due to bland coloring, especially when it comes to skin details. It does have a few bright spots. While I'm not going to rush out and buy the soundtrack, it's jazzy, upbeat, and gets me in the mood well enough. The menus are ace too, exemplified by the fact that SNK fit all 50 fighter's command lists on the same screen.

Most importantly, I'm happy to report that the style doesn't impact the actual engine in the slightest, and it still feels like a King of Fighters game. Yep, it's still fast, intuitive, and combo-heavy (great OTG and cancel in that by the way!). The four-button (Punch and Kick x2) setup holds up, as you can easily run any alteration ?of a light or heavy variant right on the face buttons, opening up all of the triggers for anci??llary shortcuts or macros.

You can still vary their jumps between hops, leaps, and "large jumps," and cue up emergency evasions (rolls) to easily dodge projectiles or blowbacks to push foes away while getting hammered in a corner. I've also always enjoyed the way three-on-three fights are handled as you can change the order secretly right before a battle, adding an extra meta-element to the proceedings. King of Fighters makes you w??ork for it, but it does give you the tool?s to succeed.

Word of warning for newcomers: it doesn't feature the most comprehensive tutorial (everyone should just copy Skullgirls), but it does give you a decent enough grasp on the fundamentals, even if you have to practice the Climax (super) cancel tutorial a ton of times before you clear it. I didn't get a chance to play many matches online, so I'm unable to accurately assess the netcode. When it launches I'll report back, and while SNK says it is making it better than XIII (which isn't hard), there is no rollback. In the meantime, you can take a gander at what the lobbies look like.

Okay, so it passes the hardcore test, but how is it content-wise? Well, it's better than say, Street Fighter V at launch, but not by much. There's a mission menu with three variants (trials, time attack, and survival; all standard old-school stuff), the typical versus mode (with one-on-one or three-on-three variants), plus offline and online play, and a campaign. I know all of you are champing at the bit on that last one, but let me make it clear that you shouldn't rush out and buy it just for the story, if you can call it that. Kicking off with a J-Rock music video that basically just showcases the cast, it moves into a few short cutscenes across 10 stages, and that's it. The final boss (who has some crazy OTGs that do half-life damage) is fun to fight, but since I was able to beat him on my first try it's a fleeting fancy. The story mode is nice to have, but it's more of an arcade mode? a?nd plays it safe.

Again, if all you're looking for is a solid fighter, this massive roster has your back. Pretty much all of your old favorites return, but there's a ton of new blood as well, including Sylvie Paula Paula, Hein, Xanadu, King of Dinosaurs, Kukri, Mian, Mui Mui, Love Heart, Alice, Meitenkun, Gang-il, Luong, Nelson, Zarina, and Bandeiras Hattori. Kukri is probably my favorite, looking like he's a mix of something straight out of Kingdom Hearts and Gaara from Naruto. I also adore Maxima's design, sporting an enhanced suit lifted (tastefully) out of Platinum's Vanquish.

Some of their backgrounds are hidden behind "mysteriously unknown entities" like King of Dinosaurs, and Kukri, but nearly every character has some form of meaningful connection with the lore. Take Hein, a cat I don't really dig all that much -- he was recruited by Billy Kane and Geese to fight on the Howard Connection. Alice, an amalgamation of a few main characters, came from a pachinko game (as do Mui Mui and Love Heart). Tung Fu Rue, who taught Geese and Terry and Andy's adoptive father, gains a few disciples. And Kim's (one? of my personal classic characters) master makes an appearance. It's all pretty well thought out.

Others have been shuffled around, like the Dhalsim-flavored Duo Lon, who has been replaced by the female Luong. In other words, it took me days on end to try out all of these newcomers, much less pick up all the new tech from the old ones, so if you're someone who spends lots of time in the lab you have your work cut out for you. I also think we're going to be seeing a few unknowns in tournaments and in future iterations in years to come. It's a fresh, good feeling to have as a KOF fan!

King of Fighters XIV falls somewhere between XII and XIII. It's not exactly bare-bones and th??e roster is mighty, but the gaudy presentation and by-the-book story is distracting, and takes away a lot of the uniqueness of the series.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: The King of Fighters XIV appeared first on Destructoid.

And a free PS4 theme

In yet another hot EVO announcement, Atlus (who is handling publishing duties for SNK) has revealed that King of Fighters XIV w??ill be getting a ?demo on PS4 -- and surprise, it's out tomorrow.

You of course won't get access to the entire 50-character roster, but you can play&n??bsp;Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Sylvie Paula Paula, Mai Shiranui, King of Dinosaurs, Shun’ei, and Nelson, as well as engage in solo or versus play locally. Atlus is also packing in a free PS4 dynamic theme.

As for the game? My boy Billy Kane is in repping the South Town team with Gee?se, so I'm pretty happy. It's coming a long way since its initial showing, and now everyone can finally ?see it in action for themselves.

The post King of Fighters XIV is getting a PS4?? demo tomorrow appeared first on Destructoid.

Video games are weird

This latest trailer introduces Team Official Invitat?ion members Sylvie, Kukri, and Mian. These guys are three of the nineteen brand new char??acters featured in the game's full, 50-fighter roster.

Despite abandoning the visual style of past games for 3D graphics, this is shaping up to be a solid entry in the series. King of Fighters XIV releases August 23, 2016 for PS4. 

The post Meet the all-new characters of King of Fighters XIV’s Team Official Invitation appeared first on Destructoid.