Just over two years ago, The King of Fighters XII released with a great fighting system, a hopelessly broken online experience, and an almost complete lack of single player modes. Today, the latest entry in the series releases with the intent to right the missteps of its predecessor.

The expanded roster of The King of Fighters XIII doesn’t have much new for the series, but it brings back a lot of the fighters missing from XII including Team Women Fighters members Mai, King, and my personal favorite, Yuri. With over 30 fighters available, the amount of choices are once again approaching the levels of its decade-old asset ripping, last generation entries.

(more…)

Have you been scared off by the complex nature of the fighting game genre, but intrigued by its resurgence in recent years? Atlus is planning on replacing that fear with knowledge by dishing out a new series of tutorial videos leading up to the release of The King of Fighters XIII.

This first video featuring Dream Cancel community member, Metaphysics, starts with the basics. And I mean the very basics. While the first half is more of an introductory course on fighting games in general, things get a little more interesting when character archetypes and play styles enter the discussion. (more…)

Skullgirls has apparently been a thing in the works for quite a while now, but I’d never even heard of this fighting game until spotting it at E3. Two things about it really stood out to me. The immediate thing was its unique visual style and character design. The other, more gradual thing was that, for a game that seemed to me to be an unknown, there were always people teaming around it. Filled with intrigue, I eventually conceded and waited in line to give it a try.

(more…)

I never thought a portable game system would be a good home for fighters, but here we are. It’s only been about two months since the release of Nintendo’s new handheld and we already have three high profile fighting franchises to choose from: Street Fighter, BlazBlue, and Dead or Alive.

Dead or Alive Dimensions is a sort of collection in a way. It covers the story of all four of the previous games and the 25 character roster boasts the largest in the series, while at the same time not adding any new characters (completely missing the opportunity for a playable Samus). You could call it the definitive Dead or Alive experience, yet the single player modes are unfortunately littered with problems.

(more…)

Before the release of the Nintendo 3DS, I had already essentially purchased Street Fighter IV twice. The first time I picked up the special edition of its original release, while the second time I grabbed the vastly improved second iteration.

I didn’t really feel like I “needed” to buy a third version, but as an early adopter of the new system, I wanted a good showpiece for the more powerful handheld. Since the graphics of Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition are arguably the best looking of all the 3DS launch titles, it seemed like a natural choice. But as I got it home and spent the better portion of a week playing it, my feelings gravitated from buying it for lack of other games to falling in love with it all over again.

(more…)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to combine a fighting game with a SHMUP? Thanks to Japanese indie game publisher, Rockin’ Android, you can find out for yourself. After bringing us the Gundemonium Collection, Crescent Pale Mist, and Qlione, the doujin publisher returns with Acceleration of SUGURI X-Edition on the PlayStation Network.

The competitive shooter let’s you choose one of seven characters as you battle one-on-one with the computer or a friend through 11 environments and 6 modes of play. Acceleration of SUGURI X-Edition is available now on the PlayStation Network for $5.99. (more…)

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

Gundam Battle Assault 2 is a one-on-one 2-D fighting game where giant mechs punch and shoot each other in the face. The game lets you experience several Gundam universes. The story loosely follows the events of the One Year War, the 13th Gundam Fight, and the Endless Waltz OVA.

Which I take to mean, “giant mechs punching and shooting each other in the face”.

(more…)

"Fan of Naruto or not, this is a fun and very accessible fighter."

There are a lot of ways to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. You could try to balance the most spoons on your face, eat a 12″ pizza the fastest, or type the most books backwards. CyberConnect2 tried to get in the spotlight by having the world’s longest game title, Shonen Jump Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja: Storm 2.

As if the title wasn’t confusing enough, there are two more unrelated Naruto games coming out in a week. But before you assume this is another slapped together licensed game, I’m here to tell you that, not only is Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 fun, it also has some insanely high production values.

(more…)

I have played a lot of fighting games over the years. I am by no means an expert, but I feel I have played enough to have a fairly broad view of the genre.

In every single fighting game I have ever played, I have yet to encounter a satisfying final boss fight. I am either completely underwhelmed or left completely pissed off. Why does the final boss fight have to suck?

You would think after all these years somebody would figure out how to make the last boss exciting without turning them into ridiculously cheap and unfair monsters.

(more…)

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

The Nintendo 64 was not known for the quality of its fighting games and War Gods certainly doesn’t help. This is one of those games that seems like the developers were trying to copy what their eight-year-old nephew told them Mortal Kombat was like, only the eight-year-old speaks a language no one understands and the uncle has a degenerative brain disease.

Sadly, some poor kid got this game for Christmas and now he hates war; all because of this game.

(more…)