I'm a fan of KOF but didn't play this game on its release
date since I was having issues with the control mechanics of KOF as a whole.
Thankfully this was all put to rest when I finally tried my hands on the game a
few weeks later. Anyways enough about that and lets all just dive into this review.
The King of Fighters All Stars is a retelling of SNK's The
King of Fighters games with the player being able to create his own team
as they battle across multiple annual tournaments. Yet unlike a fighting game
KOF All Stars is generally a side scroll beat em up akin to games like Burn
Knuckle and Final Fight games. The difference is you can switch between three
fighters and you can call forth strikers person that can attack and buff your
character.
Aside from the option of choosing from three character classes like
Defense, Attack or Balance classes the game uses a sort of color system where
certain color have advantages against certain color. Also certain character when put
together as a team has certain buff like having an all female or male team,
etc. Taking advantage of these game mechanics makes finishing certain level,
quest and missions a lot easier. there are also special cards that unlock special moves and gives additional power and stat.
Characters rendering are well detailed and has that nice 3d cel shaded
look to it that reminds me of a toned down version of KOFXIV game. Character variety
is also handled on which version of said character you are using. For example with King from
kof94 and King from kof97 having somewhat minor attack pattern differences and
stats. The character also looked the way they are in their respective game
version like how Athena has different outfits in almost every new KOF game.
The gold and the purple bordered rare characters having the
highest stats so far. Thankfully the control isn't as taxing as the arcade
games as this one having a one button special moves. There's also theme characters for Halloween and Christmas events and
crossover characters from other games and franchises under SNK banner and
otherwise. Thankfully the game isn't as punishing to players as other Android game
out there but luck does play a big part on you getting a head start since getting gold and purple characters does require a lot of luck.
The stages are also ripped from the games themselves. From
the NEO GEO Land stage of the Japan team right to the Rugal's aircraft carrier Black
Noah a lot of the stages are reminiscent of almost every stage in KOF long
history of video game stages. If you ever played or watched a good chunk of kof
matches you will definitely recognize a lot of these stages as your character
fight their way through each and every one of them.
Being a rather new Android game it isn't without its bad sides.
The game does crashes from time to time and there are certain bugs that have
yet to have been resolved. Also the game does require you to have a fairly new
Android phone to play as the game does lag a lot due to the amount of pixel
and dynamic lighting they use in the game. Also having a strong internet
signal is required specially during the PVP matches. Generally the game isn't the
most Android phone friendly game out there.
The game does have balance issues as some characters are
overly powered and can mow down your character about 90% of the time unless you
are really good at reading your opponent which will fail most of the time. Rolling
out of trouble is your best friend and yet even with that you still have a high
chance of being defeated. Then again KOF was never a fair game in the arcade
anyways. So its rather annoying being defeated cause your opponent has a character that has a move that hits you half the screen away.
Yet despite its somewhat numerous issues the game is very enjoyable and
the one button special control mechanics is easy to use even if you never
played a fighting game before. New players can get through most of the early stages
of the game with just mashing buttons and leveling up the character and
stringing special attacks together. This game does focus on character
collection and if your not a fan of KOF you will probably won't enjoy it as
much as it takes patience to level up your favorites alone.
Overall King of Fighters All Star is a fun game to play if
your into KOF games in general. This is a character collecting games, beat em
up and fighting game rolled into one so it does take a lot of work to get use to but I think
the rewards are worth it specially if you're a fan of the franchise. If you are
not into KOF or these type of genre then this game is not something you will
probably enjoy. For none fan of these type of game genre and none KOF fans I do suggest trying the game once just for the experience if you have the time.
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