King of Fighters XI for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

King of Fighters is SNK's long running premier 2D fighting game series. The story is that the top fighters from all of SNK's various fighting series are doing battle in a tournament to determine the world's top fighter. The big change to the series in this version is the emphasis on team play, made famous in Capcom's Vs fighting game series. If you have been a fan of the great 2d fighting games of the past, then I wholeheartedly reccomend KOF XI. I'm sure if you're that big of a fighting game fan though, you most likely own this game. This review is for the uninitiated masses who are curious about this game, but are unsure if this game is worth their time and/or rental slot:

Let's just get this topic out of the way. The graphics and sound are very archaic. They could probably squeeze this baby on the Sega Saturn with these ancient sprites. Don't expect Guilty Gear or Third Strike, think more along the lines of X-men Vs Street Fighter. In spite of this, the animations are fairly fluid. The transitions from move to move are seemless. Character designs, from an artistic standpoint, are well done. The cast of characters offers plenty of diversity due to the nature of the game.

This game has all the drama, intruige, and fluid controls that go along with most great fighters. On the flip side, the difficulty of the final boss is a sharp contrast to the difficulty of every other character in the game and will most likely make you want to break your own furniture. On top of that, the game mechanics may seem overly complicated in certain instances. There are a lot of offensive and defensive manuevers to learn and it may be a bit overwhelming to the average gamer to learn to use on a regular basis. These moves aren't necessary to enjoy the game, but must be used to pass certain challenges.
If you're curious about buying this game, it's a cheap $15-$20. As a rental, I would only reccomend it if you're a big fan of fighters due to it's unforgiving learning curve