The King of Fighters XIII

「THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII」

KOF XIII marks the conclusion of the "Ash Saga", the third story arc of KOF centered around the characteristically ambiguous Ash Crimson. Mechanically, XIII returns to an established system that resembles KOF 2002 Unlimited Match more-so than the questionable KOF XII. The Critical Counter, Deadlock (clash), and Guard Attack mechanics of XII were abandoned for the new Hyper Drive System, plus the addition of EX specials and Desperation Moves, including "level 3" Neo Max DMs. Character Teams have been brought back into the game's story, while XIII features a larger character roster of high resolution sprites. Unlike most other KOF games, the console release of XIII features not only more characters and stages, but a complete character and system rebalance.

This guide is currently in the process of being updated for the console release. Keep an eye out for changes and check back in over time.

Understanding Fundamentals

To get you off to a running start, we've prepared a video overview of the mechanics in The King of Fighters XIII. This video will quickly show you how KOF XIII is different from previous iterations in the series.

• Video Introduction to The King of Fighters XIII
  
  

A quick textual overview of XIII can be read below:

• System 101
  
  

For those new to the KOF series and wanting to better understand how the game varies from Street Fighter, check out the Beginner's Incomplete Guide to KOF below and brush up on the fundamentals of the game. In spite of its name, you'll see some advanced tactics.

• Video Introduction to The King of Fighters Series
  

Characters

Japan Team	Fatal Fury Team	Single Entry	DLC	Art of Fighting Team	Yagami Team	Boss
Kyo Kusanagi Benimaru Nikaido Goro Daimon	Terry Bogard Andy Bogard Joe Higashi	Billy Kane Ash Crimson Saiki	EX Iori EX Kyo Mr. Karate	Ryo Sakazaki Robert Garcia Takuma Sakazaki	Iori Yagami Mature Vice	Saiki (Boss) Dark Ash
Elisabeth Team	Kim Team	Women Fighters Team	K' Team	Psycho Soldier Team	Ikari Warriors Team
Elisabeth Duo Lon Shen Woo	Kim Kaphwan Hwa Jai Raiden	Mai Shiranui King Yuri Sakazaki	K' Kula Diamond Maxima	Athena Asamiya Sie Kensou Chin Gentsai	Ralf Jones Clark Still Leona Heidern

Terminology

Throughout the guide there will be a lot of jargon thrown around and, unless you know what these terms are referring to, it might be difficult to understand some of the more complex lingo and slang used. For example, what is an Anywhere Juggle? What do we mean when we use the word "frames?" So before we begin, please take some time to look over the glossary to familiarize yourself with some of these terms so the rest of the guide will make more sense.

• Glossary and Jargon

Game Elements

In every Fighting Game, there are the basic, common factors that exist. Life Meters exist in just about every Fighting Game, as do Timers, for example. This section discusses these standard rules that affect the outcome of the battle.

• Character Select Screen
• Team Order
• Rounds and Match Conditions
• Life Meter
• Guard Meter
• Stun
• Super Meter
• Hyper Drive Meter
• The Timer
• Button Notation

Game Systems Details

This section of the Hyper Guide goes in-depth into the system mechanics of The King of Fighters XIII. Visit the Table of Contents below to read about the game's System Info to get a better grasp of the technical side of The King Of Fighters XIII. All the intricacies of the game are digested into basic explanations while the more intimate "Strategy Corners" go in full coverage of advanced specifics.

• Game System Details - Table of Contents

Strategy & Tactics

• A Visual Guide to KOF
• Console Ver. System Tricks - This short guide answers mechanical questions such as how to unlock Billy and Saiki, or program in training mode.

Combo Guide

This section of the guide will discuss the whys and whens and whats and hows of combos. If you are looking for some combos for your characters, check the individual character pages for good combos for your character. However, if you are looking for how to create combos, build combos, and techniques into how to perform combos, this is the section for you. You'll learn why things work sometimes and then don't work other times. You'll learn some interesting techniques and shortcuts to performing combos. So click on the links below to learn all you can about combos.

• Basic Combo Flow
• Combo System Explanation
• Damage Scaling
• Meter Management
• Punishing the Opponent

Fun Stuff

• Character Palettes

Game Revisions

• Game Revisions

External Links

• Official King of Fighters XIII Website
• Official Japanese King of Fighters XIII Website
• Shoryuken.com's King of Fighters XIII Thread
• Shoryuken.com's KOFXIII Hyper Guide Thread
• Dune's KCE Match Videos
• #SNKPlaymore @ irc.efnet.net - The place to discuss KOF and SNK games.

Additional Fighting Game Resources

• David Sirlin's SSFII:T Tutorial
  • Sirlin focuses on Super Turbo to cover elementary basics of fighting games, but he also demonstrates the geometric warfare of hitboxes and advanced concepts such as 「pressing the advantage」.
• Maj's Footsies Handbook
  • The essential reference for understanding how fighting games are played when both players stop haphazardously jumping in and focus on the intense grounded battle. This, too, is Street Fighter-centric although most of the concepts are applicable to KOF and 2D fighters.
• Domination 101
  • Ponder and Seth Killian's quintessential articles for separating the scrub from the grandmaster:
    • There are two ways to walk away from a match as the loser. You can just lose, or you can be beaten.
• David Sirlin's Playing to Win
  • The notorious book that shattered many beginners' incorrect beliefs:
    • The game knows no rules of “honor” or of “cheapness.” The game only knows winning and losing.
• iPlaywinner's Ultimate List of Youtube Fighting Game Channels
  • Used to find match videos for nearly any fighting game.
• Fighting Game Terminology Glossary (Secondary Link)
  • A dictonary for learning fighting game vernacular.