The King of Fighters XIII is the thirteenth installment of The King of Fighters fighting game series developed and published by SNK Playmore. The game is set after the events from The King of Fighters XI and is also the conclusion of Ash Crimson’s story arc, which started in The King of Fighters 2003. It follows another King of Fighters tournament secretly hosted by Those From the Past, the organization behind the events from the two previous games that are trying to break the seal from the demon Orochi and take its power.
It was released for Japanese arcades on July 14, 2010, while ports for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were during late 2011 in Japan and English regions, with Atlus and Rising Star Games being in charge of releasing them in the United States and Europe, respectively. The ports are notable for including more content to the original version such as new characters, stages and game modes. An iOS version of the game, titled The King of Fighters-i, was released in July 2011. The game was directed by Kei Yamamoto who wanted to bring elements from previous The King of Fighters titles and fix issues from the previous game.
The game removes some of the gameplay systems used in the previous game: the Guard Attack system, the Critical Counter system, the Clash System as well as the dynamic, zooming camera. In their place, however, there are new systems that have been confirmed to be added; the first of the three is the new EX Mode, which convert each character’s super moves into more powerful versions that allows one bar from the player’s power gauge for EX Special Moves and two bars from the player’s power gauge for EX Desperation Moves. Another new addition is the Hyper Drive mode, which gives the player unlimited use of Drive Cancels for a while once the Hyper Drive Gauge has been maxed, and the last new feature confirmed for the game is the Drive Cancel system, which opens up new combo possibilities. The game also marks the return of the multi-bar power gauge that was introduced in The King of Fighters ’97. In addition to standard and EX Desperation Moves, a new class of Desperation Move entitled “NEO MAX” are included in the game and require that three stocks of gauge be exchanged in order to perform one, making it similar to Hidden Desperation Moves (The King of Fighters 2002) and Leader Desperation Moves (The King of Fighters 2003). These can also be cancelled from standard Desperation Moves, making them similar to the “Dream Cancels” from The King of Fighters XI.
