The King of Fighters XIII/Game Elements/Rounds

Conditions for Victory

There are two ways to win a round in KOF and in most fighting games.

• The most common method is to deplete the opponent's lifebar for a KO.
• The lesser obvious method is to have more life than the opponent as the timer runs out.

Round Settings

Round 1

The first round in a standard KOF match begins with:

• 60 seconds on the timer.
• Both characters at full health and no Super or Drive Meter.

The first round is the only time where both players start off with equal life and (zero) meter which can be taken into account for strategic team order selection.

Rounds 2-5

At the end of each round both players' meter transfers over directly and the losing player can store one additional Super Meter stock. The winning player's current character health carries over to the next round after receiving a variable health bonus.

• The winning player may immediately be at a life and meter disadvantage in the following round. The previously losing player can control the flow of the round with the lifelead and thus force the other player to get in.

Life Bonus

The amount of health that the winning player receives is based on how much time remained on the clock at the end of the round. A faster victory yields a heftier life boost while a timeout results in no health being awarded. This can create a risk/reward situation where the advantageous player may wish to try to end the round with a KO for the extra life bonus instead of option for the safer timeout.