King of Fighters XII for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

First: King of the Fighters is one of my favorite fighting game franchises. They have cool character designs, attractive moves, and a unique style of play. I've spent many many quarters on KoF 95 and 98.

But...They have consistently terrible ports to console. The last port I played before this one was destroyed by abysmal load times and lackluster presentation. This one isn't much better.

The load times at least have improved. They aren't snappy, but they don't require one to shave in between rounds either. However, they are ugly. They didn't spring for a pretty loading graphic, just a black screen with a crude gray box in the corner with 'Loading' written in it.

The rest is a mess. The primary arcade mode is a set of five matches as a time trial ending in a leaderboard of best times. This is followed by credits and a Congratulations! screen. There isn't even a pretense of a storyline. There is also no real sense of 'winning'.