The King of Fighters XV review: The king still rules

The King of Fighters XV is a traditional 2D fighting game that truly feels like it’s returning to form and broadening its horizons in a world where its peers have devolved in hopes of bringing in new players. This new entry in the KOF series takes that flawed philosophy and throws it to the side, challenging new and old players alike to come and master all of its mechanics.

Like previous entries, this is a team-based 3v3 fighting game (though it features a 1v1 mode as well) and it separates itself from the competition with a unique system. Your three characters have different life bars, but all share a super meter. When one is knocked out, the next takes over and is granted an extra bar, which can go up to five stocks. Upon beating an opposing character, your current character’s life bar will refill a small amount. This system — along with the classic KOF movement options like runs, short hops, and hyper hops — are all intact for this installation.

Despite sticking to its guns, KOF XV feels like a breath of fresh air. It doesn’t water anything down to open doors to players that won’t know the difference between every specific mechanic. This makes it a very welcome title to longtime lovers of the series and newcomers alike, and it’s something fighting game players have been begging developers to realize for years now.

Of course, that’s not to say this old dog doesn’t have any new tricks. KOF XV’s combat feels better than ever. Upon starting the game, I went to my favorite character from the series, Shermie, and immediately felt at home. Everything I learned with her in past games still applied, down to the combos and knockdown options. But then came the new tweaks, which made playing even the oldest characters feel even more fun.

Despite sticking to its guns, KOF XV feels like a breath of fresh air.

Mainstay mechanics such as MAX Mode (which allows EX specials to be performed freely) have been further expanded with two different variations. Raw MAX mode increases the damage and guard bar damage done by activated characters and Quick MAX can be canceled into it from a connecting normal attack, making for a good combo tool despite its shorter duration.

Along with those mechanics come classics like rolls, short hops, hyper hops, and guard cancels. The newcomer, Shatter Strike, is a big game changer. For one super meter, players can use an armored blowback attack that crumples grounded opponents and wall bounces aerial ones, making it a great guard cancel and combo tool.

What you may notice from that mechanical breakdown is that a lot of these mechanics have multiple applications. There are tons of unique approaches players can take and they’ll all be necessary if they want to really master the game. Want to go for max damage combo using all your resources? Well, you can do a MAX Mode combo that is longer and builds more meter, or you can keep it simple and cancel a super from a special into a Climax super cancel that does more damage but leaves your meter empty. Players also have a good variety of defensive options on top of reversals to keep opponents on their toes, even when they’re on the offensive.

While my experience with the actual fights in The King of Fighters XV has been amazing, I can’t say the same for the entire package. The game is severely lacking in single-player content, which doesn’t give much to the crowd that isn’t in it to go online and challenge the world.

The game is severely lacking in single-player content …

KOF XV comes stocked with a standard arcade mode (called Story Mode), a bare-bones tutorial that commits the sin of only teaching basic attacks, a standard mission mode, training, and various online and offline versus modes. While this is the standard for fighting games, it really shouldn’t be what we’re stuck with.

Where’s survival mode, an expansive tutorial like that of Guilty Gear Xrd or Skullgirls, or even Street Fighter Alpha 3’s World Tour mode? Yes, the core fighting game experience is facing another player, but as the world evolves, so should these titles in every area. Even the training mode isn’t really up to par, lacking real frame data beyond letting you know if you’re plus or minus, hit/hurtbox viewing, and other advanced options.

If my reaction to exploring the main menu is, “OK, where’s the rest of it?” then something is seriously wrong.