GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

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Huge cast of characters
+
Fast
+
fun fighting
+
Lots of beatdown for the buck

Cons

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Uneven graphical presentation
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Likely lack of local competition
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Typical KoF final boss from hell

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Dec 4, 2007

King of Fighters XI, like most of its older brothers, was originally a 2D arcade fighting game, and has been faithfully ported to the PS2 - with plenty of extras, to boot. The PS2 exclusive features - new characters and endings developed specifically for the conversion - probably won’t be a selling point unless you’re one of the lucky few who have access to the arcade original, but it’s nice to know they’re in there.

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From the moment you turn the game on, you’re greeted with a rockin’ soundtrack, and the sound effects and character voice-overs pack a similar punch. Graphically, though, things are a bit disappointing. While the backgrounds, menus, character artwork, and various little flourishes look nice, the character sprites themselves - despite having been reworked a bit - still look stuck in the Neo-Geo era. The look of the low-resolution sprites atop higher-resolution backgrounds can actually be so jarring as to be distracting, particularly on nicer displays.