The King of Fighters XI

SNK's flagship 2D series is still going strong.

	Version PS2	Developer SNK	Publisher SNK Playmore / Ignition / Atari	Genre Fighting

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This retro vibe epitomizes everything about KOF XI, with it being reminiscent of the original Street Fighter II and of course its own 10 predecessors. Whilst this is its greatest strength, it's also its main weakness. Some will undoubtedly love it but others - once those rose-tinted spectacles have come off - will find that the low-res, aliased and jaggy characters begin to grate.

Although appearances can be deceiving, not much has changed since 1999s Dream Match on the Dreamcast - but hey, some people will always want to party like it's 1999.

P L E A S E   V I S I T   O U R   S P O N S O R :

Whilst the backgrounds are 2D, they have been significantly updated and are excellent examples of animé-styled pixel art. Unfortunately though the same problem that plagues Maximum Impact 2 also hinders XI - the script translation from Japan to English. With a little bit of common sense it is possible to work out was was actually meant to be said, but presentation such as this exudes a sense of sloppiness that doesn't bode well for overall impressions. This permeates other areas too, like with the 60Hz mode which suffers from interlace problems, and the 50Hz mode that suffers from a permanent blue bar on the bottom of the screen.

Unless you're a hard-core, die-hard KOF fan, you probably want to give this a miss and take a look at Maximum Impact for a more enjoyable gaming experience. But if you are KOF through-and-through, you can mark this game up by a point or two as you'll no doubt enjoy what it has to offer - but then, you already knew that, didn't you?

Graphics Sound Gameplay Depth Presentation OVERALL 6.0 6.0 7.0 6.5 6.0 6.5

THE VERDICT: It's KOF - and XI at that! If you have the other 10 then why stop now? If you don't though, think about whether this is your type of game. Whilst retro is cool these days, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

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