New King of Fighters Idea - Part 1

I love the versus genre and both Capcom and SNK are two of my all time favorite videogame giants that came up with some of the best versus beat'em up games. Earlier this year Capcom release Street Fighter 4 to rave reviews while SNK release King of Fighters 12 to mix reviews.

So here's an idea I have for a new KoF game that could or possibly would revive KoF to what it really is.

If this idea were to come to fruition, it would need the crew from both camps (Capcom & SNK) to sit down and collaborate on it. I'll explain further on later why it will need involvement from both game giants.

Possible title: The King of Fighters Tournament / King of Fighters: Alpha

Gameplay:
The gameplay will be taken back to its roots with a touch of added flair to make it feel new. The game will retain the 3vs3 & 4 button layout (Light punch, Heavy punch, Light kick, Heavy kick) formula. Each playable character will have 1 - 2 Desperation Moves & 2 - 3 Super Desperation Moves.

Standard features include:
- Forward & Back dash
- High & Low jumps
- The throw command will be perform by executing forward/backward + LP+LK ala SF4
- Knockdown attack by executing HP+HK, can also be perform while jumping
- Side-stepping will make its return from KoF '94. Executed by pressing both LK+HP

A Stun gauge will be included. Guarding an attack will gradually reduce the gauge. The player will go into a guard break animation if the player blocks an attack while his/her Stun gauge is depleted. In the guard break pose, the player will receive 1.25x more damage then usual. The gauge will fill up overtime while not guarding or while beating down your opponent. This is to encourage a more offensive gameplay.

Another feature would be the Guard Counter (GC). While in the guard animation, the guarding player can execute the GC by pressing HP+HK. The GC will consume 1/4 of the super gauge. During the GC, the attacking player will go into a brief stun animation allowing the guarding player to counter attack or escape.

The Super Gauge (SC), will follow the likes of Mark of the Wolves with a small twist. The SC will be a 2 level gauge approach. Each level of the SC will be divided into 2, meaning that there will be a total of 4 bars when the SC is maxed out at level 2. DMs will require 1 level of the SC while SDMs will require 2 levels. SDMs are executed following the motion + 2P/2K while DMs will require only 1P/1K. The SC will fill up when the player attacks or receives damage.

The combo system will be a mix between KoF and SF4. Example; players will be able to chain basic attacks into special moves, and then cancel them into DM or SDM. It's kind of hard to fully explain what I vision the combo system would be but it will definitely be accessible to both old schoolers and new comers.

Characters:
The (Year) indicates a possible version of that character. The movelist is always open to interpretation by the game developers. I'm just stating my 2cents.

Terry Bogard ('95) - Kim Kaphwan ('98) - Joe Higashi ('96)
Kyo Kusanagi ('97) - Benimaru ('97) - Goro Daimon ('98)
Leona ('98) - Ralf ('97) - Clark ('97)
Ryo ('98) - Yuri ('97) - Takuma ('98)
Geese Howard (XI) - Ryuji Yamazaki ('98) - Billy Kane ('97)
Mai Shiranui ('97) - King ('97) - Blue Mary ('97)
K' (2001) - Vanessa (2001) - Lin (2001)
Athena Asamiya - Sie Kensou ('96) - Chin Gentsai ('98)

Mid-boss:
Iori Yagami ('99)

End game boss:
Rugal Bernstein 'Omega' ('98)


To be continued in part 2...