Set after the events of The King of Fighters 2003, the story focuses on a group known as "Those from the Past", who aim to obtain the power of the ancient demon Orochi. The player can choose from a total of forty characters, including characters from other SNK games; in the PlayStation 2 port, this includes characters from the crossover game NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. The game retains many elements from its predecessor, involving fights between six fighters who can tag during the battle. It also provides new features allowing the player to perform simultaneous multiple special moves.
Critical reception to The King of Fighters XI has been positive. Critics enjoyed the new fighting system, the balance between characters, as well as other elements that managed to improve upon its predecessor. However, the graphics were found to be dated due to the use of 2D pixel graphics. Also, a few journalists found the final bosses too complicated to defeat. Despite skeptical commercial expectations for the game, as it was being released on the PlayStation 2 when that console was being abandoned, it was still noted to sell well in Japan, and was followed by a sequel titled The King of Fighters XII, released in 2009.
Gameplay
An example of the Dream Cancel feature. In the above picture, Kyo Kusanagi is using a Desperation Move against Gai Tendo, but changes into a Dream Cancel below in order to perform a stronger move.
The game retains the gameplay elements from The King of Fighters 2003 involving fights between six characters who can tag between members during battle. It also provides new features which allow the player to perform simultaneous multiple special moves. The four most substantial innovations The King of Fighters XI brings to the franchise are Quick Shift, Saving Shift, the Skill Bar and Dream Cancels. The Power Stocks that existed before are still present, and are filled through encounters within fighters. There are now Skill Stocks which gradually build up over time. Each team begins a match holding the maximum of two Skill Stocks. Offensive maneuvers, such as Desperation Moves, Guard Cancels, and Tag Attacks, continue to use Power Stocks; however, more defensive or tactical maneuvers, such as Guard Evasion, Saving Shift, and Quick Shift, use Skill Stocks.[2]
The King of Fighters XI utilizes the Tactical Shift System from The King of Fighters 2003. The Quick Shift allows the player to change into another character in the middle of any combo, prolonging it, or in the middle of any attack, canceling the attack's animation frames if needed. The Saving Shift allows the player to take out a character when they are being hit, or as soon as they are hit, at the cost of both skill bars. The last new feature of The King of Fighters XI is the Dream Cancel. Like the Super Cancel that first appeared in The King of Fighters '99, Dream Cancel allows players to use stocks to interrupt a move in the midst of its execution, with a more powerful move, allowing for devastating combos.[2][3]
Should the timer run down during a match, the winner is no longer decided based on remaining life; instead, the judgment bar, a new circular bar composed of two colors, each one representing a player, quantifies each player's skill. If none of the two teams manages to win by defeating all three characters from the opposite team, the placement of the judgement bar decides who the victor is. The judgment bar is affected by each attack in which the players are involved. Combos affect the bar more, and when a character of the opposing team is defeated, the bar changes significantly against that player.[2] On the rare occasion when the bar is exactly in the center, the match will end in a draw and both sides will lose.
The PlayStation 2 port added multiple modes not present in the arcade version. The player can use the original The King of Fighters team mode where characters are not randomly tagged and instead fight in an order decided by the player. In Challenge Mode, the player is given multiple missions where they can unlock a total of seven characters from NeoGeo Battle Coliseum.[4] There is also an Edit Mode, where the player can alter the appearance of each character and give them different colors such as making Kyo Kusanagi shoot green flames instead of red.[5]
During the events of The King of Fighters 2003, Mukai, a member of a mysterious group known as "Those from the Distant Land", stole the seal belonging to the demon Orochi. Taking advantage of this situation, Ash Crimson attacked Chizuru Kagura in her weakened state and stole the Yata Mirror from her, draining her powers in the process.[6] In due time, a new tournament is established which follows the previous tournament's new rules, with both established fighters and newcomers participating in the competition. The hosts of the tournament are two members of "Those from the Distant Land", consisting of a weapons expert named Shion and a dimension manipulator named Magaki, who serve as the respective sub and final bosses of the game.[7] Following their defeat, Magaki tries to escape and steal Orochi's power, but instead ends up being murdered by his own ally Shion.[8] In the ensuing chaos, Ash attacks a rampaging Iori Yagami (affected by his Riot of the Blood curse) who had seriously injured both Kyo Kusanagi and Shingo Yabuki, managing to steal the Yasakani Jewel from him. Despite being confronted by his estranged childhood friend Elisabeth Blanctorche and her two associates Benimaru Nikaido and Duo Lon, Ash manages to swiftly escape from them, warning the trio that he intends to target Kyo as his final victim in the near future.
Characters
The main cast includes the following 40 characters:[6]
In December 2004, Falcoon, the series' main illustrator, said the next game SNK Playmore were developing would be different from the recent spin-off The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, which was originally intended to be released as The King of Fighters 2004. Development of the game began when SNK completed production on the crossover game NeoGeo Battle Coliseum in 2005.[9] SNK cancelled production of The King of Fighters 2004 in the fall of 2004, after it was announced the company had signed an agreement with Sammy Corporation to use their arcade system instead of the Neo Geo cabinets that had been used for the franchise previously.[10]The King of Fighters XI's arcade version used Sammy Corporation's Atomiswave system.[11] SNK commented that by using this new system, The King of Fighters XI would stand out from its predecessors due to improvements in both gameplay mechanics and graphic quality, specifically the animation frames created for Iori Yagami. However, it lacked the AW-net, a program that allows for online play. SNK had previously tested this system for both NeoGeo Battle Coliseum and The King of Fighters Neowave.[12]
Hiroaki Hashimoto was the main designer for all of the game's characters,[2] while Nona illustrated the endings.[13] When the arcade version was released in the US, cabinets in Tilt Studio locations used converted Final Furlong cabinets, instead of the standard Atomiswave cabinets. As a result of this, there were two screens, one for each player.[14] The addition of mid-bosses from Buriki One and Kizuna Encounter were meant to surprise gamers; since their original moves did not "fit" in The King of Fighters XI, developers had to change some of them.[15][16] In 1999, SNK released a Fatal Fury installment named Garou: Mark of the Wolves whose narrative lacked closure. As a result, the company decided to utilize those characters in The King of Fighters XI with a bigger role.[13] The movements of the boss character Magaki – the leader of the group of antagonists "Those from the Past" – were intentionally designed to "disgust and disturb fans".[17] The staff had mixed opinions about newcomer Momoko due to her relatively young age. She was designed to fit the Psycho Soldier Team.[18] Meanwhile, Elisabeth was created as a "leading lady" character to give Ash Crimson a rival.[19] Developers sought to make the levels as realistic as possible, with particular focus paid to the Esaka stage. The company planned to add more stages, but these were removed due to time constraints.[4]
The game's Japanese port for the PlayStation 2 was released on June 22, 2006.[6] Multiple changes were made for the port to make the controls more responsive, based on feedback from the arcade.[13] On September 8, 2006, Ignition Entertainment announced they had licensed The King of Fighters XI for a European release.[20] SNK Playmore USA announced the game on November 13, 2007.[21] With respect to the progressive scan, SNK explained that the North American version of the game was based on the PAL region. As a result, the American and PAL versions do not support progressive scan, but the Japanese version does. The port was mostly done by Ignition and then reused in other regions, although SNK remained silent about this.[22] Similar to previous entries, the port offers a rearranged version of the audio.[23] SNK Playmore re-released the game in Japan on June 28, 2007, under the label of "SNK Best Collection".[24] The company once again released the game for the PlayStation Network on December 17, 2014, in Japan.[25] In 2020, a homebrew conversion was released for the Dreamcast.[26][27]
On March 24, 2006, Scitron and SNK released The King of Fighters XI Sound Collection (ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズXI サウンドコレクション), a soundtrack from the game. It consists of two CDs, each containing different versions of the same 37 tracks. While some tracks are identical to the ones from the game, others have been rearranged. Disc one has the tracks from the arcade version, while disc two has the tracks from the PS2 version. The music was composed by SHA-V and arranged by Koji Takata, Masuo Okumura and Masanori Kuki.[28]
Since the PlayStation 2 was being replaced by a new console during the release of The King of Fighters XI, Gamasutra listed the game as one for the "hardcore gamer".[35] However, in its release week in Japan, The King of Fighters XI was the only PlayStation 2 title to be featured on Japanese sales charts alongside Konami's World Soccer Winning Eleven 10. The number of copies the game sold in Japan throughout 2005 is unknown,[36] although it sold 47,225 units in 2006.[37]
Critical reception to The King of Fighters XI has been "generally favorable" based on an average score of 75 out of 100 on the Metacritic website.[29] The quality of gameplay and cast of characters was the subject of positive response.[30][34][33]GameZone said it offered the "most bang for your buck" on the PS2, considering its late release schedule, calling it a "complex" 2D fighter game.[38]GamesRadar+ enjoyed the considerably higher number of characters and the noticeably fast combat than in previous entries in the series.[33] Ryan Clements of IGN called it "a very old-school 2D fighter" while indicating that the style of the series had not changed much since The King of Fighters '94. He said the game was well organized, despite the large number of playable characters, and enjoyed experimenting with each character's variable fighting techniques. He added that fights would be very difficult for players, until they learned how to use the special moves.[34] Andrew Park of GameSpot opined that the game was well-balanced with its variety of playable characters and complimented its illustrative design.[32]Eurogamer called it an "excellent 2D game", comparable to other works such as one of Capcom's most famous games, Street Fighter III, although they complained about the lack of popular characters from the franchise such as Joe Higashi.[30][3]
Numerous publications said the graphics were dated due to SNK Playmore's constant use of sprites,[30][34][33] although Siliconera enjoyed the art employed in other areas of the game which they said showed a significant increase in graphic quality.[3]Eurogamer said The King of Fighters XI would not stand out amongst other fighting game franchises like Soul Calibur or Tekken, which employ 3D graphics in contrast with this game's 2D graphics.[30] Meristation agreed, saying the franchise was in need of a major overhaul.[39] IGN said the developers should have optimized the graphics, though they felt the menus and cutscenes were well done.[34] uVeJuegos.com was more critical, saying that SNK Playmore should have updated the graphics of the series several years earlier.[40] On the other hand, Game Revolution did not mind the use of 2D graphics based on how the scenarios change across the fights.[41] Despite finding the game's graphics dated, GameZone enjoyed the overall presentation, which the reviewer called "one of best fighting games ever to grace the PS2", noting its low price provided great replay value.[38]
The boss characters attracted some negative responses. GameSpot described the sub-boss Shion as "terribly powerful" and the final boss Magaki as "absurdly overpowered", and criticized the voice acting for the Magaki character, additionally noting that his appearance was unimpressive.[32]GamesRadar+ agreed, describing Magaki as a "Typical KoF final boss from hell".[33] While noting the artificial intelligence had improved from that used in The King of Fighters 2003, uVeJuegos.com said Magaki had unfair moves due to his massive damage input during battles.[40]Game Revolution's reviewer felt that Magaki was one of the strongest bosses they had ever seen based on the way he moves across the screen. He said that proper use of the game's mechanics would allow the player to defeat him and said that the game was still enjoyable despite this boss.[41]
In a retrospective review, HardcoreGaming regarded The King of Fighters XI as one of the best entries in the franchise, noting the backgrounds' quality, the gameplay and quick load times compared to the original arcade game.[2] In 2012, Complex ranked it as the eighth best SNK fighting game ever made, adding that "Shion has to be the coolest sub-boss ever".[42] In 2009, SNK Playmore released a sequel called The King of Fighters XII.[43] However, as the game did not feature a story, SNK Playmore finished the story arc involving Ash in The King of Fighters XIII released in 2011.[44] Writer Akihiko Ureshino lamented Mai Shiranui did not make it to the game canonically but was satisfied with her inclusion in KOF: Maximum Impact 2 as a meaning of compensation.[45] ONE37pm listed it as the 16th best SNK game, for improving on KOF 2003's new content and further expanding the amount of playable characters, especially thanks to the PS2 port.[46]
Notes
↑ Japanese: ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ XI, Hepburn: Za Kingu Obu Faitāzu Irebun
Related Research Articles
The King of Fighters (KOF) is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of The King of Fighters '94 in 1994. The series was initially developed for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware and received yearly installments up until its tenth entry, The King of Fighters 2003 — thereafter, SNK moved away from annual The King of Fighters releases and games adopted a Roman numbered format, while simultaneously retiring the use of Neo Geo. The first major installment after this change was The King of Fighters XI (2005) on the Atomiswave arcade board. The series' most recent arcade hardware is the Taito Type X2, first used with the release of The King of Fighters XII (2009) and continues with the latest entry in the series, The King of Fighters XV (2022). Ports of the arcade games have been released for several video game consoles.
Iori Yagami is a character from SNK's The King of Fighters video game series. The character first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team, as the initial enemy and later rival of Kyo Kusanagi. Iori is the heir of the Yagami clan, who use pyrokinetic powers and sealed the Orochi devil along with the Kusanagi and Yata clans. Iori suffers from a curse – "The Riot of the Blood" – under which he becomes faster, stronger and wilder, exhibiting a deadly tendency to indiscriminately attack everyone in close proximity. In this state, Iori is commonly called "Wild Iori" or "Orochi Iori". Aside from the main series, Iori appears in several other media series, including spin-offs, crossover video games and comic adaptations of the series.
The King of Fighters '98, subtitled Dream Match Never Ends in Japan or The Slugfest elsewhere, is a 1998 2D arcade fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo system. It is the fifth game in The King of Fighters series and was advertised by SNK as a "special edition" of the series, as it featured most of the characters who appeared in the previous games ; it has therefore also been labeled as a "greatest hits" game.
The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle, also called KOF '99, is a 1999 fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS arcade and home consoles in 1999. It is the sixth installment in The King of Fighters series following The King of Fighters '98, introducing a new story arc known as the "NESTS Chronicles" which is centered around a young man named K', who is formerly associated with a mysterious organization known only as NESTS. The game introduces several changes to the established KOF format, most notably an assisting character labeled "Striker". The game was ported to the Neo Geo CD and the PlayStation. Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows versions were also released under the title The King of Fighters' 99: Evolution whose stages were remodeled in 3D.
Ash Crimson is a character in The King of Fighters fighting game series developed by SNK Playmore. His first appearance was in The King of Fighters 2003 as leader of its Hero Team. Ash, a teenager, participates in the series' fighting tournaments. He employs a personal fighting style that involves pyrokinesis with green flames. Despite being the series' protagonist during its third story arc, Ash's behavior is generally antagonistic and he tries to steal powers from several recurring characters, leaving them powerless. His identity and intentions are further explored in the 2011 title, The King of Fighters XIII, and he has been featured in print adaptations and a drama CD based on the games.
The King of Fighters 2006, known in Japan as KOF: Maximum Impact 2 (KOF:MI2), is a 3D fighting game produced by SNK Playmore and released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. An updated version was released in 2008 under the title KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A. It is the sequel to KOF: Maximum Impact, which itself was a spinoff of The King of Fighters series.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves is a 1999 fighting game produced by SNK, originally for the Neo Geo Arcade system and then as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves for the Dreamcast. It is the sixth main installment of the Fatal Fury series. Though released a year after Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers, the game is canonically a sequel to the 1995 installment Real Bout Fatal Fury, taking place a decade after the events of that game. Ten years after combatant Terry Bogard kills crimelord Geese Howard in the King of Fighters competition, he and his adoptive son, Rock Howard, enter into a Southtown tournament known as Maximum Mayhem to learn about the Howard legacy. The game features 14 characters, all new, with Terry's exception. As a fighting game, the game employs a mechanic known as the T.O.P system, which strategizes the use of Desperation Moves. The game also uses a Just Defend system in the form of blocks.
The King of Fighters 2001(KOF 2001, or KOF '01) is a 2D arcade fighting game produced for the Neo Geo originally released in November 2001. The eighth game in The King of Fighters series, it was the first to be produced following the closure of the original SNK Corporation, developed by the South Korea-based Eolith with assistance from BrezzaSoft, a company formed by former SNK employees. Although the SNK logo is displayed at the game opening, SNK's development staff was not involved in the production of the game itself at all, except for the game sound.
The King of Fighters 2000 is a fighting video game that was produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 2000. It is the seventh installment in The King of Fighters series for the Neo Geo and the final game in the series SNK produced before the original company's bankruptcy. The game was ported to the Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2 in 2002. The game's story, a sequel to The King of Fighters '99 and the second part of the "NESTS Chronicles" story arc, focuses on a new tournament held by the commander of the Ikari Warriors, Heidern, who seeks to capture and interrogate former NESTS agents K' and Maxima into revealing crucial and critical information about the NESTS cartel. The gameplay retains the Striker system of the previous games in the series, but the assisting character can also cooperate with the playable character to generate combos.
The King of Fighters 2002: Challenge to Ultimate Battle(KOF 2002, or KOF '02) is a 2D arcade fighting video game originally released for the Neo Geo in October 2002, published by Playmore, the spiritual successor to the original SNK. It is the ninth title in The King of Fighters series and the second one to be produced by Eolith. Similarly to The King of Fighters '98, it brings together characters from various SNK franchises and has a diverse roster of fighters.
The King of Fighters 2003(KOF 2003, or KOF '03) is a 2D fighting video game for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms, produced by SNK Playmore in 2003. It is the tenth game in The King of Fighters series and the last one released for the Neo Geo, which served as the primary platform for the series since The King of Fighters '94. It was ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and was released on both consoles in North America in a two-in-one bundle with the preceding game in the series, The King of Fighters 2002.
The King of Fighters Neowave(KOF Neowave, or KOF NW) is a 2004 2D fighting game produced by SNK Playmore as their first coin-operated arcade game for Sammy's Atomiswave hardware. Home ports of the game were released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is a remake of The King of Fighters 2002 with some changes in the roster and stages. The character artwork was done by Tomokazu Nakano. Compared to usual The King of Fighters games, Neowave received a lukewarm critical reception.
The King of Fighters '94 is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system in 1994, as the first in The King of Fighters series. The game was also released for the Neo Geo home console systems, including the Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD. In 2008, KOF '94 was one of sixteen games included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii.
Neo Geo Battle Coliseum is a fighting game designed for the Atomiswave arcade board developed and released by SNK in 2005. The game features characters from several SNK and ADK titles. Subsequently, a PlayStation 2 version of the game was released in Japan, North America, and Europe. The Xbox Live Arcade version was released worldwide on June 9, 2010. In 2020, a homebrew conversion was released for the Dreamcast.
The King of Fighters XII is a 2009 arcade video game produced by SNK Playmore and the twelfth installment in The King of Fighters series of fighting games, following The King of Fighters XI (2005). Built on Taito Type X2 hardware, home ports were released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Similarly to KOF '98 and KOF 2002, this game does not have a storyline, but it is the third chapter in the Tales of Ash Saga that started in KOF 2003. The King of Fighters XII received a lukewarm reception, with criticism given to elements such as its roster, gameplay and lack of single-player content. SNK Playmore responded a year later with a follow-up, The King of Fighters XIII (2010).
The King of Fighters XIII(KOF XIII) is a 2010 fighting game in The King of Fighters series, developed by SNK Playmore, coming a year after The King of Fighters XII (2009). Released on Japanese arcades, it was ported to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 globally in 2011, and an updated version for arcades followed in 2012 subtitled Climax. The game is set after the events of The King of Fighters XI (2005) and is also the conclusion of Ash Crimson's story arc, which started in The King of Fighters 2003. It follows another King of Fighters tournament secretly hosted by Those From the Distance Land, the organization behind the events from the two prior games that are trying to break the seal of the demon Orochi and take its power.
The King of Fighters XIV(KOF XIV) is a 2016 Japanese fighting game part of SNK's The King of Fighters (KOF) franchise, with this installment being published by Atlus USA in North America and Deep Silver in Europe. After the 13th installment from 2010 that used 2D raster imagery, this game is rendered entirely in 3D similar to the spin-off Maximum Impact, although gameplay is restricted to a 2D plane. The game was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 in August 2016 and ported to Windows and Japanese arcade cabinets in June 2017.
K Dash is a character from The King of Fighters fighting game series developed by SNK. He debuted as the leader of the Hero Team in The King of Fighters '99, released in 1999. He often stars as the reluctant hero. K′ is a young man who lost all his memories when the NESTS syndicate captured him and injected the DNA of Kyo Kusanagi to replicate his pyrokinetic abilities. While rebelling against organization, K' forms multiple bonds with other NESTS agents. Aside from the main series, K' also appears in several other media series, such as spin-offs and crossover video games, as well as printed adaptations of the series.
References
↑ "King of Fighters 11". Sega Amusements USA. Archived from the original on April 28, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑ SNK Playmore (November 13, 2007). The King of Fighters XI (Playstation 2). SNK Playmore. Shion: I hear that the King of Fighters is proceeding according to plan, Magaki. / Magaki: You seem very confident. But if Orochi doesn't respond, this will be in vain.
↑ SNK Playmore (November 13, 2007). The King of Fighters XI (Playstation 2). SNK Playmore. Magaki: There's no way Orochi won't respond... Impossible... T-his is... Damn you... Shion....
↑ "天童凱"[Gai] (in Japanese). King of Fighters 10th anniversary website. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
↑ "ズィルバー"[Silver] (in Japanese). King of Fighters 10th anniversary website. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
↑ "禍忌"[Magaki] (in Japanese). King of Fighters 10th anniversary website. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
↑ "桃子"[Momoko]. SNK Playmore. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
↑ "エリザベート・ブラントルシュ"[Elizabeth]. SNK Playmore. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
↑ "ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズXI サウンドコレクション"[The King of Fighters XI Sound Collection] (in Japanese). SNK Playmore. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
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