King of Fighters XI (PS2)

There’s a great game lurking beneath King of Fighters XI’s antiquated façade; it just depends on how hard you’re willing to work to find it, and whether you’re happy to overlook some rather sloppy design errors. It’s a massively comprehensive and complete-feeling 2D beat ‘em up, with a near-unrivalled roster of fighters, game modes and unlockable goodies. Content is only half the story however, as a mixture of technical troubles and an unusually (in this era) poor European port halt its march to greatness. Despite the relatively modest score, KoFXI is, on measure, the series best entry to date ... more