The King of Fighters 15 marks the return of the long-running fighting game franchise, six years after the release of The King of Fighters 14, and much has changed within the fighting game genre. Netherrealm Studios has solidified its position as the most popular fighting game creator on the market with its Mortal Kombat and Injustice titles. Arc System Works has become one of the most sought after developers on the scene with its Guilty Gear series, as well as its super successful Dragon Ball FighterZ title. Capcom’s fall from grace has been punctuated with the lukewarm initial response to Street Fighter 5 and the failure of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite.
Capcom initially developed Street Fighter 5 to be more acceptable to a casual audience, and it did this by widening combo timing and simplifying game mechanics. However, this also resulted in a lot of restrictions, mostly as a response to the competitive scene. Ultimately, the game had a rocky start, being released as an incomplete package at launch that it never recovered from. However, many games since Street Fighter 5 have built upon the initially restrictive design and made enjoyable fighting games out of that design philosophy. After The King of Fighters 15 was announced, some wondered if the series would follow suit.
Newer Fighting Games Follow The KISS Principle
After Street Fighter 5, fighting game mechanics in games became more simplified, timings became less strict, and move commands were made easier. Where a super move before used to require a complicated motion on the d-pad or arcade stick that's different for each character, it now can be done with just a couple of button pushes that is the same for all characters.
For instance, Samurai Shodown used to have a rage move that required activating a rage state (Rage Explosion) and then inputting a command that was specific to that character in order to do. Now pressing all three slash buttons (or map a shortcut to one button) to enter the rage state, and pressing the same three buttons again will execute that rage move, now called Lightning Blade. The former more complicated command special can still be done also, but it no longer requires being in a rage state.
That's much more simple than it used to be. Mechanics may have had just a quick flash or color change to indicate activation before, but now have a very noticeable graphical flair, or a slowdown/freeze in time just to make sure the player sees that they did the right input.
However, developers also started to run with the concept of simplification equaling subtraction. Mechanics started disappearing from games, such as the Instant Kills in the Guilty Gear franchise. Games started to slow down. Compare Mortal Kombat X to Mortal Kombat 11 and the difference in speed is stark and actually affects the brutality of the combat. Rosters also started to get smaller. Street Fighter 4 had 25 characters at launch, whereas Street Fighter 5 had 16.
Most apparent of all, however, was the polish of recent games. Gameplay is tighter than it's ever been. It’s to the point where matches solely revolve around a streamlined version of rock-paper-scissors. Players' options suddenly become entirely llinear instead of free-flowing, nothing else. The lack of looseness robs these games of player expression because the best players will generally lean towards the optimal play style.
This is not to say that this is an inherently bad way of developing games. Many great games in the fighting game genre are designed this way. Speed aside, Mortal Kombat 11 is a great fighting game. Dragon Ball FighterZ feels like where the Marvel vs. Capcom series should have gone. And although it has its problems, SoulCalibur 6 is the best title the series has had in over a decade. A series like the Super Smash Bros. franchise has shown that this more simplified approach to mechanics in a fighting game can still result in a competitive and deep, rewarding fighting game. It’s ultimately not about how moves and mechanics are executed, but when and how they're used to the player's advantage, or to the opponent’s disadvantage.
However, there’s a lot of contention among fans in the fighting game community with new fighting games that have removed commands for special moves altogether. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid has a Special Move button so fireballs, dragon punches, and hurricane kicks can be done with a simple button push and a direction on the joystick. The upcoming DNF Duel has a super move button as well as a special button, leaving only two buttons to do normal attacks. The upcoming League of Legends fighting game is using this technique as well. It’s going to be the new way fighting games are designed; no more complicated command motions, just buttons.
The King of Fighters 15: Old Dog, New Tricks
This is where The King of Fighters 15 enters the ring. It may be a team fighter, but KOF 15 still has 39 characters at launch, with six DLC characters already revealed and another six in the works. The King of Fighters 14 added EX special moves that could be used when in MAX mode, which is just a reconfiguration of a feature that’s been in the series since The King of Fighters ‘97. The King of Fighters 15 adds the ability to use EX special moves outside of MAX mode, adding a new list of command moves to player's arsenals. Not every normal move combos into each other, but players can cancel lower tier attacks into the next tier attack above them, such as a normal attack into a special, a special attack into a super, or a super attack into a dream.
All of this is to say that not only is The King of Fighters 15 not simplifying its mechanics, shrinking its roster, or removing command motions, it’s adding more. The argument could be made that there were more complicated titles in the franchise, but there’s nothing about this game that's simplified. The King of Fighters 15 seems to be reveling in its old-school approach, while also simultaneously not resting on its laurels and still striving to include new mechanics and evolve the gameplay.
This actually shows that there’s still new tricks to learn with the more traditional way of designing fighting games. There’s still very much an audience for this kind of fighting game in 2022, and not all fighting games should be adapted to a more simplistic design. The popularity and anticipation of a game like The King of Fighters 15 should show that these different types of design philosophies can coexist and result in more diverse titles within the genre.
The King of Fighters 15 releases on February 17, 2022, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
