I see no problem with Ralf’s Beefcake look. He was a backbreaking powerhouse, he had to show his physique to prove it.
I really love Raiden’s old look on this game. He has that awesome grin expression like he is saying “I’m going to Rip you in half”!!
I hated the CvS2 look, its just Big Bear with his Raiden mask on and he looked and acted like a dumb oaf. Yes, Big Bear is Raiden, I know, don’t bother pointing that out!
Seriously, this game looks sexy as hell.
When I was young, I appreciated SNK as a great game developer, but they felt so constricted to their “realistic” style, that the characters seemed so boring in comparison to the SF franchise, which has no problem exaggerating their character models. They just didn’t seem as fun, when comparing say…kof '99 to SFA3. The vibrancy of the characters really give more life to the SF franchise. Not to say SNK doesn’t have some cool ass characters, but you get where I’m going with this.
Ralf still isn’t much taller than Kyo, he’s definitely more muscular but rightfully so, and he looks SO badass. They’re just having way more fun with their characters now, which is great! Ralfs new look, besides the gorgeous new sprites is what really raised my eyebrows to this game, he looks so powerful now. Kinda like how Chris Redfield in the new Resident Evil looks like he doesn’t really need to worry about running out of ammo, just tear the zombies apart with his BEAR HANDS.
Let’s compare cool factor, past to present. http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters3/ralf-i9.jpg------http://www.fightersgeneration.com/newspics/ralfkofxii.jpg
Someone said that the girls should be muscular. No, they shouldn’t. That’s fucking gross. The chicks are athletically built, and since the japs don’t consider sex such a taboo subject, they make them ladies fine as hell. Leona looks damn good with her new outfit, any chick in a tank top wins my heart fairly quickly (unless she’s the fugs). Check out her art, she’s ready to beat your ass down
All the character sprites are simply gorgeous, and Terry’s classic look IMO, is not as hobo as his other design, plus it emphasizes the difference in character between him and his brother Andy, who is boring. The red design is more “fun” and character appropriate. Seriously the most offensive thing is Andy’s outfit not being re-designed, it’s STILL ugly as hell, gives me the shivers when I look at it.
Can’t really comment on the system, while I own '99 and XI, I haven’t played them as much as say CvS2, where I thoroughly enjoy the SNK fighters, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see for myself. So far it doesn’t look extremely different. On some vids I see the Kyo “floating” when he dashes. I really like the look of the clashes when you do moves at the same time, pretty epic stuff. Looks good so far.
The game looks slow as hell? Good. SF4 looks way slower than this. With better graphics and better animation you get more frames, and more realistic timing.
From what I hear their not doing any story mode currently, so they’re concentrating on balance and gameplay mechanics.
If you’re gonna complain, complain about Iori showing off his midriff like he’s in a 90’s boy band. I already miss the long front and back tails of his shirt, those were badass…
:wonder:
Yeah, that’s true, that’s true. Still, it’s good to see SNK soaking up so much lime light finally. :tup: KoF XII: Revenge of the Corporate Fighting Game Eater. lol Oh, and you’ve got to admit: mugetsu has a blatantly good point in regard to Ralf. ^
KOF is pretty popular in Japanese arcades though.
Eh, Ryo was there before Shen, I am guessing it is just easier to have Ryo in a simple up right stance like everyone else then have him in his KOF stance. Obviously they are probably going to take noticeable short cuts to get this out next year and with a return to the older stance probably is one of them.
I meant specifically the face/hair color change.
With one of the biggest selling points of the game being the massively updated graphics, I feel like SNK was afraid of criticism of the two looking alike as you can see characters heads/facial expressions better than ever before.
ChopperMan:
> Well American and Japan
And Trinidad. 
> but yeah, everywhere else eats KoF up. It’s not really under appreciated by any definition
Cheap easily-pirated hardware and software FTW.
Gorehound:
CvS2 Raiden = Fatal Fury Wild Ambition Raiden.
re: Ralf
I don’t understand this train of thought with Ralf’s physique not matching up to his feats of strength. For one thing, when has that ever been a concern? Chun-li has been throwing behemoths like Gief out of the air for 18+ years now, so who cares about the realism of it or lackthereof?
And secondly, Ralf’s physique was not only accurate before, but 6’3", 245 lbs is not a small, weak physique. It’s not like Ralf looked like Kyo or Ash. Ralf was strongly built before; he wasn’t Goro-size, but he was definitely not a weak-looking character. Now, in his hulked up form, he looks completely different. I find it completely unnecessary.
It seems that no matter how much people disprove this stupid theory some people still believe in it.
Don’t go outside Argentina that much, do you?
You are as uninformed as always, it seems.
To save you the trouble of searching the forum, I’ll repeat what was said several times before: MVS piracy in South America started around 2001-2002. KOF was already a huge phenomenon way before that. And if piracy / cheap hardware were the only reasons for KOF’s success, other SNK games such as Samurai Shodown, Garou or Last Blade should be wildly popular too. But they aren’t.
KOF is popular around here because people here like it, there’s no other reason for its popularity.
It helps them keep their illusions alive.
I live in a “KOF country”, and i’ve never seen a pirated machine.
Where is this kof country you speak of, I wanna go there for next vacation.(I’m half serious when I say that)
Mexico loves their KoF. We even have an arcade here in town that has a modded/pirated version of KoF 2002 (I’m 100% sure it’s bootleg too).
Just take a trip to mainland Curope- judging by your sig I’m guessing you’re USAF (if you’re still there)- just take a hop to Europe. Hell, there’s even a KOF scene in Kuwait and Dubai, though from what I’ve heard it’s largely still 98.
I’ve been watching these vids (when I can!) with as much baited breath as the rest of you; Might as well get out my thoughts:
[LIST]
[*]Character Look/Style: Ralf was disturbing at first, sure: But I have no problem with the look now. I like the way SNK is not afraid to update classic character looks, because I think this is a LOT more gutsy a move than what Capcom pulled off with SFIV, or any game they’ve made. Athena looks like her original inspiration, and this is fitting. Her face looked like it was barely there early on, but now that I see it in detail, it looks fine. Only problem I have with her is that she seems to not be wearing any shorts/biker pants… Athena in early KoF always seemed like she was an anti-pantyshot chara, in that she didn’t dress to titillate, but instead for fashion, so she always worse something modest, even under short skirts. I respected that about her character, and always thought that was a defining aspect of her personality. Now she seems to be as oblivious to the fact that skirts are a HORRIBLE thing to fight in (for decency’s sake), as everyone else… I could deal with that for “Another” Athena in MI, but I think it’s a quality “canon” Athena should always have, to keep her different. Anywho, I always thought SNK had some of the best variety in character sizes and styles. Modern KoFs have had all the important new people being average in build, so I’m glad to see Ralf and Raiden being dramatically different. If you can’t make a FULL new cast (since fighting game fans can’t stand all new cast, as we all know), make the old cast as rich and varied as possible!
[*]“Bellbottom” pants: Don’t bother me at all. I really like them; the way they curl and fold is great for the animation, by the way it makes folds concentrate as points near the moving areas / points of impact. Also, it helps give the characters more recognizable silhouettes, than if they ALL wore the SAME generic style of pants. I think it’s a nice visual flair.
[*]Animation: 3rd strike had A LOT of frames in it that I always had to wonder about; Like with Chun Li hitting the ground, she bounced SO much! I kinda thought some of it was wasted extra, but then I like the other little charm points; such as Makoto’s neck scarf actually kicking up in the wind, after Dudley would bring his car to a halt before her. I think this style is the kind of animation SNK is concentrating on. Look at how Athena’s skirt actually kicks up a bit when she is guarding against attacks! Or how Andy’s hair falls in clumps off his shoulder after he lands from his spinning uppercut! It’s in those areas where XII is nearing, and maybe, in small cases, surpassing 3rd strike. It’s not a matter of HOW much animation the characters have, but what they DO with the frames they have. In Capcom VS SNK 2, Iori’s endpose laugh, Capcom style, simply made his upper body juggle. In SNK’s games, he would actually pull on his shirt fabric as he moved, and his whole body would show the fact that he was laughing. They probably used the same amount of frames, and framerate, but SNK’s way was much better. That’s the kinda thing we’re seeing here.
[*]Clashing: Woot! Epic! Ok, it is pretty stupid if you can stop anti-airs with a kick of punch. It negates the idea of an anti-air! And beating “hot-blooded” supers with a weak punch? Yeah, that has to go. However, I like the style and idea behind clashes. I worry about their execution, surely, but I’m sure if somehow, it comes out broken, it’ll be fixed with playtesting or patches. So I’m not worried about it at all. I await the day of being able to blow through normal fireballs with an explosive burn knuckle!
[*]Backgrounds: THANK YOU SNK! I was playing KoF 94, and It really made me notice how boring backgrounds have become in modern fighters. Old SNK fighters had 10s, if not towards 100 people in the background, doing their own things, offering little sneaks of detailed animation, guest characters, the works! And now-a-days, we get a bunch of cardboard cutouts who looks like they have no real interaction in the places they’re standing in, who mostly move independently. XII is not like that at all! It’s TRULY the evolution of what those early 90s games promised us, in this respect. The “Fat ladies” stage has people hanging out on the tops of flagpole/boat sails, trying desperately to get a view of the epic fights, and the ladies themselves are almost all unique in animation, and dress color, and there are layers upon layers of them! It’s truly very impressive work. The Market and Temple stages look just as impressive. I haven’t seen the others enough to truly know them, but I know that one stage that looks like an Ice rink really makes me hope Kula is in this installment…
[*]Elimination VS Tagging: I personally hated the tag system. Not because I hate change: I just never wanted to USE it. It felt like something tossed into the game that had promise, but it kinda soured the whole “ok, ally down! Next guy, You’re UP!” feeling the games had before. I like how in KoF 94, your teammate could have LIMITED interaction if they where still around, jumping in and getting you out of damaging grabs, and the like. That felt kinda like “I just can’t watch my friend hurting! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!”… it was like a quick motion snuck behind a refs back. And it discouraged fighting in the corner, because, if I remember right, that’s the only place you could pull off those saving moves? I’d like to see those (and the characters constantly standing in the BG, reacting to whats going on) return, as a “midway” between classic elimination rules and tagging.
[*]Game Speed: You know one thing that always defined SNK games to me? The IMPACT of a blow. I absolutely LOVE the final sounds of Ryo and Roberts gattling blows! That loud, echoing clash. When Terry hit with BUSTA-WULF in MoTW, that first impact, that shook the opponent to their core, before the big explosion, that was awesome! It really made the hit feel STRONG. But what do we get in newer KoFs since 2003? “AreYouOkayBusTERwolF!” These stupid, sped up looking moves that try too hard to appeal to modern day “Mugen” like fighting. There is no time for impact, and thus, everything is comparatively weak-feeling. This slower speed will once again make it feel like hits MEAN something: I actually hope to see the slight “hit” pause that was in the first trailer return, too. Maybe not for EVERYthing, but at least for the REALLY strong blows, such as the fierce/roundhouse versions of moves.
[*]Character Count: OH NOES! It’s less than KoF 94! … :rolleyes: WHO CARES! Remember, KoF has always KEPT cast around to increase it’s roster size, and added new people to the fray to kinda “justify” the amount of old in the cast. I mean, there where a lot of character looks and moves that didn’t change for YEARS, and required very little graphic work to snazz up. Hence, allowing the artist to work on new characters with all new frames and effects. But this whole GAME is new. We’re starting at ground zero! And in HIGH RESOLUTION! VERY high for pixel work. 20 characters is a super-impressive feat, really. I’d be very willing to pay for Teams of new characters as DLC, by the way. Imagine if, instead of buying each KoF every year or 2, you could get a DLC pack that basically pulled off the same changes we used to get in the yearly updates? And at a fraction of the cost of buying each year for full market price? I mean, really, a lot of the graphic data for characters and specials in each KoF is pretty redundant; except for graphic overhaul years, introducing new stages, gameplay systems, and characters atop of pre-made elements has always been KoFs style. Heck, if they could deliver this many new-to-HD characters each year for the next 2 or 3 KoFs, we’ll be back to the old numbers very fast. (I’d love to have Tung Fu Rue and Fatal Fury’s Jubei in KoF… Jubei was a fun grappler…) So… yeah… I much prefer 20 unique, well made, different feeling characters, to 40 half made, poorly animated, flair-less creations made JUST to appease number counters.
[*]Lastly, Things I hope to see return: - Stage Intros - Epic “You lose!” falling like in KoF 98 - Terry’s hat flying off his head when he’s KO’d - Character clothing shredding / weapons flying out of their hands when defeated… and not just for the women, but for ALL characters! - Unique special character matchup intros and win poses - A decent “you’re on fire!” effect - Rewards for beating the game with special custom teams - Arranged Soundtracks - Day/evening/Night versions of stages - LITTLE details like Terry’s hat floating on the water, when thrown off, in I forget which KoF that was, lol. 94? 96? - A detailed training mode that explains each system, like VF 4 Evo had - Andy finally giving Mai a solid relationship - A Longshot: various options that replicate features of other KoFs. Such as the option for tagging, if you wanted it, the option for classic 3 VS 3, Single VS Single, overall, just different modes that would attempt to give every KoF player at least a taste of what their preferred KoF would feel like. Remember how VF4 had silly things like the “Hyperfighting” mode? Well, yeah, like that. It might not be tourney-worthy, but it would go a long way to making the game FUN for casual messing around, and making consumers feel like they got just THAT much more for their money. - Detailed Character profiles / character viewers, just like in KoF Maximum Impact - SOME kinda unlockables! - VERY longshot: You can bring back every minigame mode from KoF Maximum Impact II: Destroying the SUV, Fighting the Metal Slug, Beating Todoh off a cliff… I don’t expect these at all, but I wouldn’t complain if they where there!
…I think that’s everything! (MEGA POST!) I’ve been storing all that up as I watched the back-and-forward going on here… feels good to get it out, appreciated or not! :looney:
[/LIST]
No air force in schofield, I’m army, dude. schofield barracks in hawaii. It’s cool though. And fuck I’m not going to vacation in Kuwait, I’ll be there for a good minute for work. No offense meant but that place gets old.
THIS.
seriously I’m getting tired of hearing the same bullshit over and over again.
U.S people can’t accept the fact that they’re one of the few countries who doesn’t dig kof. Just like soccer I would say.
Hot brown girls and KoF. My kind of promised land.
No, I meant as in KoF is not played here. Trinidad is Street Fighter country true and true. HF in particular, which is still played every single day.
KoF was never popular here. Samurai Shodown, on the other hand, was really big once upon a time. Easily a match for SF at one point, but it fell off after SS3 turned out to be rubbish. SS4 still gets some play, as do SS0 if you can find it. SS0S and SST are non-existant though. SS is also still fairly common, but good like finding KoF in the arcade…
And we have hot girls of every creed, race and colour. :woot:
^aww well. Guess I’ll visit to get my Chun ass whupped during Carnival while defacing a curry ninja girl’s ass. Too bad it ain’t KoF! lol
As for aes., KoF will feel too much like a Capcom fighter than a SNK classic.
