Game Review: King of Fighters XII

Sacramento, Calif., Bee

One-on-one fighting games such as "Street Fighter IV" have always been the main focus of the genre, but tag teams can be fun, too. "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" and "The King of Fighters" series have three-on-three matches a central feature, each in their own way.

"Marvel vs. Capcom 2," which has been around in various incarnations since 2000, is now nice and cheap on the Xbox 360 and PS3's download services. Players can select any of the game's 56 characters from the start earlier versions required some of the fighter roster to be unlocked through play, a feature that's not missed this time around. Online play has been introduced in these new versions, a first for the series.

The fighters are culled from numerous Capcom properties - popular ones like "Street Fighter" and "Mega Man" and more obscure series such as "Darkstalkers" and "Captain Commando." The Marvel half of the lineup includes a broad selection of heroes and villains - Spider-Man, Iron Man, Dr. Doom, Venom, Wolverine, Magneto, the Hulk and many more.

Players control one fighter at a time from their chosen team of three, and with the touch of a few buttons a player can call backup fighters in to take over or to assist with an attack.

The fighting is flashy and chaotic, and often hard to follow, but the controls and special attack motions are pretty much burned into the brains of fighting-game fans by this point. The game is simpler and less balanced than "Street Fighter IV" - some characters are way better than others - but there's still room for strategy.

"King of Fighters XII" also has players choose a team of three, but they can't be tagged in and out of the fight at will. Instead, players choose the order they'll fight in - if one is defeated, another will fight in the next round.

The action is more measured and deliberate than that of "Marvel vs. Capcom 2." The game has its own feel, with an emphasis on trying to put the enemy off-balance for a string of attacks, and neat features such as equal simultaneous attacks canceling each other out, but the basic mechanics are similar.

The cast is drawn from several previous installments in the series, and range from the familiar Ryo Sakazaki and the Bogard brothers, Terry and Andy, to newer fighters such as "The King of Fighters XI's" Elisabeth Branctorche.

Copyright 2009 by Sacramento, Calif., Bee