If you are a modern day SNK fan like me, you know the company has done absolutely squat to promote its games. The only one of recent memory to get a serious push was the original Maximum Impact, which featured a collectors edition, classy packaging, and ads during sporting events. Everything else, including MI’s far superior sequel, has had anywhere near the publicity. Every game has been a near silent release, to the point where people aren’t even sure of a solid release date. I have heard the faintest of buzz about Neo Geo Battle Colliseum, but this is completely the doing of fans and curious people who have been wondering why it has taken years for a port of it to show up.
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Because of all this, Videolamer will be one of the first US gaming sites to review the American release of King of Fighters XI on PS2. A month after its release no less! Don’t believe me? Take a look at the metacritic page. The only review on there that is not for last year’s UK release of the game is Games Radar. Every big name site has yet to even glance at it. They manage to take a stab at the Fatal Fury Battle Archive and the Art of Fighting Anthology, yet when we finally get SNK’s most recent 2d outing (even if this is a relative term), they have nothing?
Listen, I don’t expect the entire gaming world to care about a niche release in a holiday of blockbusters. But this doesn’t match up with most site’s review history with SNK, which makes me wonder what the hell happened. Maybe SNK didn’t send out review copies, but as annoying as that may be, I have heard of sites going out and buying their own copies in the past.
Perhaps after the holiday rush we might see a trickle of attention. Until then, I’ve got my copy (pictured here), and you can have one too, either from Amazon or your local EB/Gamestop. Look for the review sometime in the near future!