SNK’s Busy with Brawling

Kyo and Ash are set for a rematch in KOF XII.

Even with all the big-name fighters from Capcom, Sega and Namco, another fighting game stalwart is hard at work in their workshop churning out their next beat ‘em ups and slash ‘em ups. SNK-Playmore has at least 3 titles coming out to arcades in the near future.

Samurai Spirits Sen, the latest entry in the classic weapons fighter, will be in full 3-D with all-new characters challenging the veterans, in a roster of at least 20 blades-wielding warriors. To be honest, this really doesn’t look all that hot, though I love the death animations when fighters lose… pretty dramatic.

King of Fighters XII garnered quite a bit of good will after a single teaser trailer showing very nicely-animated new 2D sprites against 3D backgrounds and retaining the established 2-D gameplay. The game will continue the story that’s been running through the KOF games of late, with hero Kyo Kusanagi spoiling for revenge against the duplicitous Ash Crimson.

As if one new KOF wasn’t enough, SNK is also coming out soon with King of Fighters ‘98 Dream Match. A sequel of sorts to the classic KOF ‘98, this will feature 59 fighters (eat your hearts out, Namco!) and blend new stuff (new teams, stages) with the old (classic KOF mechanics).

Not much word on the next 3-D King of Fighters Maximum Impact title, which is supposed to be in development for the next-gen consoles. Seeing how Samurai Spirits Sen is turning out, I’m not expecting a VF5 or Tekken 6-calibur game from SNK… but it should be cool in any case. More on these titles as they happen. Sadly, I don’t expect any of these games to arrive here in Manila, but hopefully one or more will make it home. More on these games as we get the news.