While some might argue that fighting games' true monarch has already been crowned, those that explore the genre further often have good things to say about the series soon to be represented by its latest entry, King of Fighters XII.

Twelve instalments in, does the franchise still have anything left to say? Apparently so; this will be the first title of the HD generation, and the beautiful, entirely hand-drawn graphics appear to easily hold their own against competitors, be they two- or three-dimensional.


More screenshots (and even some wallpapers!) can be found on the mirror.
What makes the KOF series notable is its three-on-three tag-team style play. Although the arcade outing only saw an airing of twenty characters, the smallest number of playables in the series, one can't really complain when they're as meticulously crafted as these are, or when the delay prior to the console release is rumoured to have resulted in additional brawlers appearing.

While old favourites are of course retained, the entirely new sprites breathe new life into dating designs, suiting the combatants to the lush background art - also created the hard way, with ink, paper, and sweat! The visual approach is an integral selling point for the game, according to SNK's Masaaki Kukino.

"Our development slogan for KOFXII is “KOF Re-Birth” and we’ve aimed to create an entirely new King of Fighters game. To make this a truly unique fighting game, we’ve revolutionised the graphics by creating state of the art visuals - and made no compromises in that process whatsoever.”

Coinciding with the series' 15th anniversary, King of Fighters XII should release on PS3 and Xbox 360 this June. SNK are being remarkably tight with their marketing, but hopefully we should see a flow of new screens, trailers and information over the next few months.