Review: Street Fighter IV vs. King of Fighters XII

Vs.





A lot of people wonder which game deserves the title of best next gen fighting game. The two games that mostly come to mind are Street Fighter IV and King Of Fighters XII. Well wait no longer because we decided to give you an in-depth review of both games and how they stack up against each other. Each game will be reviewed in an unbiased manner. Also both games will receive a complete rundown of all concrete details just to show you exactly what we mean.


Story:
In the Street Fighter Series there has always been a key villain trying to make some world dominating plan to either enslave humanity or destroy the human populace. Such examples are M. Bison, Gill and in this case Seth. The downfall with street fighter has always been their shaky storylines. So much of the stories are non existent and a majority of the rest has nothing to do with the main storyline. Mostly the only characters that matter are Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Gouken, M. Bison and whoever the final boss is. The Street Fighter Series lacks continuity with their very lax storylines and because of this the game suffers.


The King of Fighters series, however, has never had this problem. Each character or team (ex: Fatal Fury Team, Ikari Team, Korea Team, etc.) has a very well drawn out storyline and each storyline intertwines with the others. You had storylines involving Ash Crimson, the mysterious NESTS organization and Orochi, the demon with a large human flowing. The King of Fighters series has never dropped the ball when it came to the basic storyline and each character plays a part.


The Verdict:


Even though both games share some minor points the Street Fighter series has not evolved the characters and the storyline enough to make a decent impact. The characters stay the same and they never seem to ever experience personal growth of any kind. Whereas the King of Fighter series keeps interesting plot turns and twists happening to keep you buying those new games.


Street Fighter IV: 0    King Of Fighters XII: 1


Presentation:


The Pros:
Both games have some a long way from their predecessors. King of Fighters XII made a quantum leap with their new innovative design. Instead of the computer generated pixilated character they gave us strictly drawn characters. Not only did the characters have a fresh new look which made us do a double take but the backgrounds and the way the specials were drawn was incredible. The Backgrounds were very bright and innovative and it really got you into the game.





Street Fighter IV has also made an incredible impact on the fighting game world with this latest installment of the Street Fighter series. Capcom made a game with 3-D graphics on a 2-D plane. Not only did they do that but they changed the style of drawing so it has more of a calligraphy feel to it. Each stage also has a lot of background participation like when you hit something or fall on the ground various objects will fall or people will be shaken up. It is an incredible piece of gaming art.



The Cons:
Both games share similar problems but in a different light. King Of Fighters XII went too far with the graphics. The backgrounds aren’t bad but they are too good. The fact that the background is more distracting to the gamer than the move list is a very big problem. Street Fighter IV, however, made a slightly different error. They didn’t go far enough when it was needed. The calligraphy look is great from afar. However, when moves are being done up-close and you see everything it starts to appear ugly and deformed.


The Verdict:
After long hours of gameplay we have to pass the torch to Street Fighter IV. The main reason why is because they gave us a 3-D style game but without the 3-D fighting plane. The graphics are superb compared to King of Fighters XII and when Ryu charges up his Shinku Hadoken Capcom really shows us how good graphics can be in a fighting game.
Street Fighter IV: 1    King Of Fighters XII: 1


Gameplay:
Gameplay will make or break a game and no game title is exempt from this test. Street Fighter IV changed the way the Street Fighter series was played. The moves are a lot easier to apply compared to the older titles. Not only is it easier for a common gamer they added new features which include the focus attack, the ultra meter and improving the tech and parry system. They brought new characters like Crimson Viper, Abel, Rufus and El Fuerte and brought back some favorites like Gen, Rose, Dan and Sakura. The game is very innovative but it suffers from some flaws. Besides the fact that gameplay is slow Capcom has always had a problem with prioritizing moves in a very annoying way. Certain moves like Rose’s Super/Ultra will not miss unless you are on the other side of the screen but then again who would activate the move so far away. Also certain moves will just be overwhelmed by others. Blanka’s Roll Attack can be obliterated by Ken’s Shoriyuken. This is an annoyance for most gamers who use a move and get beat by one move because of priority settings.



King of Fighters XII has made new innovations for the King of Fighters series. They added the new critical counter mode which in a nutshell allows you to counter large combos which gives this game an added dimension in gameplay. As is a real fight a split second can turn the tides for any match. This game embodies that theory and shows that a split second can and will change everything. This game puts the phrase, “Never Say Die,” into action. The King of Fighters series has always had balanced gameplay and XII is no exception. You still keep the great balance of defensive and offensive maneuvers and the excellent finishers. However, each game comes with its share of bugs otherwise you would never buy another game. King of Fighters XII eliminated the tactical shift system which allowed you to shift team members without leaving yourself vulnerable just like Marvel vs. Capcom. Besides that they also removed more than half of the cast of characters and eliminated all teams which is painful for most gamers. So say a final goodbye to all the teams and many of your favorite characters.



The Verdict:
This is a very hard call to make especially since both games are very good but we believe that King of Fighters XII deserves this spot. Not just because they made a great formula but they kept a lot of things that were great in the games. Street Fighter IV has bugs that have been there since the beginning and it’s hard to see why they haven’t been fixed or changed whatsoever. It’s nice to see new characters but certain that annoy fans should be taken into consideration.


Street Fighter IV: 1    King Of Fighters XII: 2


Now we are not saying you should dismiss the latter of the two games both games are fun to play and are worth the buy. Capcom and SNK Playmore have really outdone themselves with these two titles and they are really fun if you own a PS3 or an XBOX 360 buy both games they will not disappoint you.
Street Fighter IV: 9.4    King Of Fighters XII: 9.5