It looks like you have XBox Live, and although it’s probably not similar to XIII, KOF '98 is pretty cheap to download (800 Points) and it’s probably one of the best fighters I’ve ever played (although I still suck at it). I would check that out to tide you over to 2k2 UM which will hit the service in a few months. Alternatively you could get then on PS2, but I’m not sure which platform has the better versions.
And not KOF related, but you should check out Mark of the Wolves as well, another great SNK fighter.
I was in this situation also, I didnt know what game I should pick if I wanted to get into kof13. Kof2002 or kof12? I picked up kof12 cause I can just play kof2002 on ggpo. And it seems like kof12 is the closest thing to kof13 right now. All Ive been doing was practice mode in kof12, everything else is uninteresting =. There is no one online. I am not sure if it`s the netcode or is this game that horrible that no one plays online? lol but i am still hyped for kof13 and i think kof12 is the way to go if you are looking to jump into kof13.
only thing i want coming from xii > xiii xi already had this is the easier chains and links… kof is a system heavy game… like tekken… the better u control the system the better ur chances of winning despite the character u use… while sf4 focuses it’s combos heavily on link timing …the game isn’t really a combo heavy game… footsies take up most of the round…
this is due the huge ass jumps and no running… no one can just run up and get in ur face as fast as kof allows u to… and so while moving back and forth on the stage a lot combos aren’t that very often… most times it’s about 4-5 hits max… not to mention the same string over and over pretty much… so that’s y the linking of sf4 isn’t that much of a pain…
however in kof if u r playing any non-grappler chances r u got quite some strings to fiddle around with… as doing the same block string over and over will result in a guard cancel roll to punish… and u r constantly spacing and closing in ur opponent in every round… mixing up high/low or setting baits or w/e…
in the middle of this if u got a really hard combo system to deal with it really takes the fun factor out of any casual not a scrub player… if u notice sf4 is soo popular because everyone understands what a hadouken/shoryuken is… so while the hardcore players enjoy the game, the casual players can have fun too…
and i think kofxiii is doing a good job by introducing ex moves… new players will have fun with this… and also it’s not hard to understand drive cancel… while the flashy looking hyper drive mode will also attract more audience… the main point here is yet all these put together create a very deep game engine along with the other key elements kof already has…
now if all these cool looking things were damn hard to do like a simple link combo being too strict or a simple hyper drive combo being too hard then i think it will drive non-hardcore players away… now don’t get me wrong… i don’t want the controls to be short-cut-ish or sloppy like sf4… nor do i ask for new players to be able to pick up the game and be able to do everything in a week… what i’m really asking here is that the controls to be as smooth as xi/xii and not be stiff like 98 or cancelling time not be as strict as 02…
The reason we have schools is so that people would learn how to appropriately communicate with others, you know, in the real world. Oh since we’re not in school, let’s forget everything we learned because it’s a bother and return to a mental vegetative state of that of a 4 year old child. I’m sure people will be able to understand my opinions let alone find them validated.
I suggest KoF98 (through GGPO). There are a few people you can play here and there, and you can also (basically anytime) watch some people play the game to try and get an idea of what you could do with xxx. It’s a great (FREE) resource.
You could also play 2k2 on GGPO, but I don’t know a lot about those fellahs (Who plays it, etc).
imo kof 98 og and 2002 og definitely good start to learn about kof
-try play on ggpo and learn the system by watching many match
-don’t easily feel discouraged if you lost when you play