The King of Fighters franchise is making a comeback

You may or may not remember SNK's 2D fighting game franchise, The King of Fighters that was pretty huge during the mid to late 90's, depending on how into the genre you were (long sentence alert!) While KOF never did manage to sell as good or receive the amount of praise the Street Fighter franchise did, it was still arguably SNK's finest series.

In the early 00's, KOF -and SNK in general- went through some bad times, with certain entries in the series that didn't quite live up to their legacy, or with the standards of the genre. In fact, the only memorably thing about those games was how unbelievably cheap the end bosses were, even by KOF standards (read: they are cheap as fuck.)

This new game though seems to be very different, starting from its name. For the first time since 1995, a KOF game won't be named after the year it is released, instead it will be called King of Fighters XII. I'm not familiar with the details over this decision, but it's hardly that important at the end of the day.

What is important is how damn good this game looks. While remaining 2D (wasn't there a god-awful 3D KOF game released a few years back? I think I've suppressed that memory), KOF XII seems like it will have the best-looking 2D graphics in any fighting game, ever. Yes, even better than Street Fighter III. About time, don't you think?

Lots of people have been suggesting, and not always in a civil manner, that this is how Street Fighter IV should look like. Highly-detailed 2D graphics instead of the 3D graphics stuck in a 2D plane approach that SFIV is going for.

They do have a point. Before KOF XII's unveiling, I was definite that SFIV going 3D was the right decision. Get along with the times and all. Even if some of the characters look rather goofy. And what's up with Chun Li's thighs? You do not mess around with some things, people! Naw, I was more worried about the lack of parries than the graphics, really. But after this, I can't really say anymore. I'll have to sleep on it. A few times.

In the meantime, take a look at KOF XII and make up your minds for yourselves: