For gamers who preferred the digitized setting of one-on-one battles there was no better time to be alive than during the mid 1990s. While “Mortal Kombat” and “Street Fighter II” will be talked about revolutionizing the genre, SNK’s offerings with “The Art of Fighting”, “Fatal Fury”, and “Samurai Showdown” franchises can’t be denied as anything short of innovative games that, while not as popular as their counterparts, pushed the figurative envelope and greatly inspired its competition.
“The King of Fighters” series came from those aforementioned SNK creations in 1994 (a game that wouldn’t see a North American release until 2008). My first taste of this glorious franchise based on team battle (usually three-on-three teams in matches that could go up to five rounds thanks to the single-elimination rules attached to trio battles) wasn’t at an arcade or even on my home consoles at the time, but thanks to a friend who had a copy made for Nintendo’s Game Boy. “The King of Fighters ‘95” became an obsession of mine once I got the game for my birthday a few weeks later.
As the years progressed, I played every western release either at any arcade I could find the cabinet or, more conveniently, on my Playstation and Playstation 2 consoles. “The King of Fighters XIV” – released in 2016 – was meant to be something of a new beginning to the franchise. With gameplay changes, a new story arc, and a different character model design, “KOF 14” set a solid standard for the franchise during gaming’s eighth generation without changing the established fighting dynamics. The cross-generational announcement of “The King of Fighters XV” promised to be more of what “XIV” had to offer and then some; and this old school fighting gamer was ready to see what SNK had to offer during this round.
Did I Complete “The King of Fighters XV”?
The minds behind “KOF XIV” looked to keep the fundamentals that have made previous games in the series a success while implementing some new mechanics to give more “casual” gamers an easier route to glory – a strategy that continues with “The King of Fighters XV”. There are a variety of options both offline and online including a “Story” mode and “Ranked” online play respectively. Complementing the online options are “Casual” bouts, lobbies/“Rooms”, and even a training facility where gamers can join in helping each other learn some of the best tricks of the trade.
The single player options aren’t necessarily strong or revolutionary including the aforementioned “Story” mode that can last a gamer about twenty to thirty minutes depending on the difficulty level and how well they handle the final boss. The general tutorial section is relatively bare bones, while the character-based “Mission” mode provides players a set of five different combos for each character available. A majority of the trophies & achievements are built around grinding including reaching level sixteen in “Ranked” mode, finishing twenty fights with a “Super Special Move” outside of PvP bouts and training mode, and unlocking ten albums for the in-game music. A majority of my time was spent playing online; enjoying the rollback netcode and some stellar fights against opponents both on my level and beyond. More trophies will be attained including finishing “Story” mode with more than just one team and getting through those mildly grind-heavy requirements.
Did “The King of Fighters XV” Live Up to the Hype?
Just like “The King of Fighters XIV”, “XV’s” core mechanics are rooted in the past while updating certain aspects to really flesh out an already incredible fighting system. There are the typical quarter-circle joystick/analog stick movements everyone is used to as well as heavy & light strikes that actually affect the effectiveness of certain moves to either increase a maneuver’s power while making it a little sluggish if the player taps the “Heavy” button instead of “Light”, or vice versa. Players can dodge roll through attacks by hitting a punch and kick button simultaneously, turn successful blocks into reversals or cancels, and even perform a variety of overpowered attacks connected to a meter at the bottom of the screen known as “Climax Super Special” maneuvers.
As noted earlier, “KOF XIV” didn’t play it completely safe with the fundamentals by implementing something that would benefit gamers struggling to execute rudimentary combos with the “Rush Combo” system – a mechanic that returns in “XV” as well. By tapping the light punch button while near an opponent, the character will unleash an automated combo that can be topped by a special move if the player has a bar of the aforementioned power meter filled.
The “Rush Combo” is a good idea, but in practice does nothing to really help the player improve as the automated combos can not be turned off and may become a crutch made even more emphatic due to the developers upping the damage output of said combos compared to “KOF XIV”. Add that to the fact the actual method in utilizing the “Rush Combo” can leave a player wide open for an attack more often than not if the opponent is smartly blocking – which is made even worse when someone executes the combo by accident in the heat of battle as it can be easily activated if the player isn’t careful.
There’s also “Max Mode” that, with the tap of both punch buttons, gives the character a chance to unleash extra powered (EX) versions of regular attacks – though EX moves can be used outside of “Max Mode” for the cost of a half a bar without being as powerful as they would if “Max Mode” is activated. Unlike “Rush Combo”, “Max Mode” actually feels like something that truly adds to the gameplay as a well-timed activation and utilization of an unblocked attack can mean the difference between failure and victory during a clincher of a fight.
The big difference between this version’s “Max Mode” and “XIV’s” is it costs two meter bars to activate instead of one. Also, canceling a special in “Max Mode” will reduce the damage output while upping a character’s speed temporarily in the form of “Quick Mode”. Added to the combat tactics are “Shatter Strikes” – a maneuver that, when it hits, drops an enemy to their knees and leaves them open for a combo extension or allows the player to armor through an attack after blocking to unleash one of their own; opening up an adversary for a retaliatory onslaught.
And just like the games before it in the franchise, “XV” provides a good amount of options and characters when it comes to keeping things fresh for hours on end even if the roster is smaller than the previous game’s base offering. A majority of the returning characters play similarly to their earlier counterparts like Iori will feel right at home with people who perfected him in “KOF ‘98”. Personal favorites Athena, Mai, and Terry Bogard also follow suit without suffering any fundamental changes that would make them unplayable to long-time fans. New characters such as Isla and Delores feel right at home with the rest of the cast.
There are a variety of modes for players who enjoy things offline including the simple “Versus” mode where the player can fight the computer, local players, of even watch the CPU combat itself. As noted, “Mission” mode focuses on teaching players each character’s go-to combos, while the “Tutorial” is a rather rudimentary explanation of the combat’s mechanics. “Story” mode – essentially the game’s version of “Arcade” mode with team-driven endings (illustrated sequences filled with text boxes) for each official team, and even a few secret endings if the player can figure out some of those odd pairings – leaves a lot to be desired in terms of giving long-time “KOF” fans a narrative worth remembering.
From an online perspective there are several options when it comes to fighting: “Ranked”, “Causal”, and “Room”, as well as an online training facility. While the first two online features are pretty much what one would expect as players have the option of fighting in both team and singles battles, the “Room” option has changed greatly in comparison to “KOF XIV”. Gone are lobbies where multiple players can fight at one time – in its place is a waiting room of sorts where players line up and wait for their turn a la the old school arcades and the recent “Mortal Kombat’s” “King of the Hill” mode. There are a pair of interesting sub-options that can be applied to these lobbies in regards to fighting because only in “Room” battles can players participate in “Draft” or “Party” fights.
“Draft” battles sees each non-spectating player pick a character for their team with that character chosen becoming unavailable to select by the opposing gamer or teammate; meaning if a player’s opponent chooses someone’s main the second player will have to adjust their strategy or choose someone they’re not familiar with in hopes of winning. “Party” is directly lifted from “KOF XIV” where up to six players in a room will pick one character to control and attempt to help their team survive as when a player falls on a team, their teammate will have to enter the battle in hopes of regaining the momentum. Though it may be less likely to see “Draft” or “Party” in the description of a “Room”, they are the most enjoyable options in regards to non-“Ranked” action.
Thankfully, the netcode is practically flawless with fights rarely suffering from lag no matter the connection quality shown before a bout. The biggest problem with online play is just having to wait for a fight at times as there will be connection errors when attempting to join a lobby or agreeing to a “Ranked” fight. Also there’s an odd glitch that happens rarely where a character will do their “death cry” when having a slither of health to falsely indicate the round is over.
In a lot of ways, SNK played it safe with its latest offering in the franchise; remembering the old phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” By being conservative on the modes and character gameplay changes, the latest “KOF” lets its gameplay do the talking in grand fashion both offline and, most importantly, online.
Should You Play “The King of Fighters XV”?
For long-time players, stepping into the latest world of the “KOF” will feel like old times in the best way possible. A majority of everyone’s favorite characters play as great as they did during the franchise’s height of popularity. For gamers unfamiliar with the franchise, this is the type of game you can pick up and play without much thought, but is ready for you to delve into and find out who you enjoy or don’t in the heat of battle (or “Training” mode).
Though the game doesn’t feature a grandiose amount of modes similar to “Mortal Kombat 11”, the online action stands head & shoulders above so many other games in the genre; though offline gamers may not see this iteration holding their attention for years to come. Just like its predecessor, “XV” mostly refuses to rock the boat while emphasizing a fighting engine that works just as well now as it did over a decade ago; truly being a king of kings in the fighting game genre that shouldn’t be ignored.
