After a long wait, The King of Fighters XIII is finally here, promising to set things back on track after its disppointing predecessor.

The game is beefed up with 33 playable characters, and 20 backgrounds, all drawn in glorious 2D graphics. The game retains the beautifully drawn and fluid 2D animations of its predecessor, but removes the camera zoom in / out feature, resulting in cleaner, less pixilated graphics and a more balanced game pace. Even on large screens, the characters don’t seem pixilated at all. The amount of animations in this game is comparable only to the Street Fighter 3 games and Mark of the Wolves, except that the sprites here are bigger and more detailed. The light effects create shadows that somehow overlap the effected parts of the sprites too. Something I’ve never seen in 2D graphics before (except in the previous game). The level of details in the backgrounds is also stunning. Whether it’s for the dazzling number of hand-drawn skyscrappers, a wandering stray cat or trivial cameo appearances, you will never get tired of gazing at these backgrounds. Not to mention some of the backgrounds receive some changes between the match’s rounds. The King of Fighters XIII also features a mixture of solid soundtracks that range from symphonic themes to jazz and rock music.

Before getting into the game’s content, I would like to shed some light on the gameplay. The game is deep, on the competitve level, it’s a fast, aggressive, and heavily combo-based. However, that doesn’t stop it from being enjoyable for casual fighting game fans, especially for those who are familiar with Capcom vs SNK 2, or the 90′s era fighting games in general. It May not be as easy to get into as Street Fighter 4, but it certainly gets very enjoyable once you get the basics and learn some moves. Some of the characters like Kyo, Ash, Andy and Robert were made so that they can be easily used by beginners, or you can go more in depth with them by learning various combos and set ups. This also leads us to the game’s roster of 33 characters, all of which are unique and play extremely different from each other. Having spent a considerable amount of time, I can say that regardless of your preferences, you will defenitely find a team that suits your play style in this game.

Unlike its predessor, The King of Fighters 13 has plenty to offer for both single and multi player gamers. If you are new to the series, there is a tutorial guide that goes through the basic game controls and machinecs. Arcade mode, as its name indicates, brings you the 1-player excperience that was originally in the arcade version, which already includes brief story cutscenes, final boss(es) and team endings (all of which were missing in the previous game). The home version also comes with a story mode that explains the story in more details through a collection of simple-animated cutscenes. Sadly, this mode is too short, and ends before you know it. However, since this mode is based on multiple scenarios, you will need to play through it multiple times to unlock and view all the cutscenes, which adds up to its length.

In addition to Arcade and Story modes, there is the standard VS mode, practice mode and Mission mode, which consists of time attack, survival, and character trials, which takes you in depth with each character’s combos (warning: the trials will drive you nuts, and this comes from someone who finished all Super Street Fighter 4 trials). During your play, you will also get to unlock tons of little extras in Customization and Gallery. Customization mode lets you set your online profile and customize the characters’ colors. The colors are picked from a pallette as opposite to setting RGB colors like in previous games. Gallery mode contains tons of arts, videos and sound clips.

Sadly, my terrible internet connection disables me from trying the game’s Online mode, but based on current reviews, it seems to be stable and good, but not excellent like in BlazBlue and Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition. Most of those who tried it compare it to the online stability of Super Street Fighter 4. Unfortunately, many online players may be disappointed by the lack of spectator mode. On the other hand, the game offers you to upload and view your matches online, given that it meets certain gameplay criterias.

The veridect:

Whether you are a KOF veteran, a long-time fan, a new or old fighting games player, do not miss on The King of Fighters 13.

8 / 10

The plus side:

+ Wonderful 2D visuals
+ Solid and balanced gameplay that is accessible for both beginners and experienced players
+ A huge and balanced roster that offers plenty of variety
+ Various game modes and plenty of content

The down side:

- Short story mode
- Lack of online spectator mode