Online play is a major component of the HD Remix experience. For those that don’t know, HD Remix’s netcode utilizes the same system that provides the backbone for the GGPO netplay platform. As a result, HD Remix has virtually no lag when playing online. I personally have downloaded both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 verisons of HDR, and I’ve experienced many lag-free matches. My PS3 uses a wireless connection and I’ve had few hiccups. Generally speaking, I’ve seen less dropped games on the 360 version. Now it may be a product of my PS3 being on a wireless connection, but I see more games dropped overall on PS3, and I’m not the only one that feels that way.

You have several options when it comes to finding people to play online. Except for ranked matches, you will have to join a room. The rooms work similarly to Tekken 5 DR’s online mode.  They can contain slots for between 2 and 6 people, and anyone not playing gets to spectate the current match. I wish that there was a way to just spectate matches (have I been spoiled by GGPO?) without having to play; perhaps this will be addressed in a future update. If you do a Quick Match, you join the first available room, but I haven’t had any success using this option on either PSN or XBL. Your best bets are to either search for a room or create one yourself (the creator becomes the host). Ranked Matches have you competing to have your name atop the leaderboards. They are best 3 out of 5 matches, and they are played in either HD Remix or Classic mode. I thought that 3 out of 5 matches was a bit strange, but I assume it is that way to give everyone more of a fighting chance.

There have been some strange glitches that I’ve encountered online. While spectating matches, sometimes the gameplay speeds up 2x and then returns to normal after a few seconds. Not really a deal breaker. The other, more annoying glitch I’ve found is that the life bar, character name, and win icon assets stay on screen after a match ends, persisting into the next match. Most of the time this has happened, I’ve been able to see the red area of the life bar, but I’d be unable to see my win counter. On one rare occasion, the yellow part of my opponent’s lifebar stayed at 3/4 throughout the entire match (but the red part was able to decrease).

I’ll take the time out now to discuss the characters and where I feel they stand. Keep in mind everything here is entirely subjective; please don’t take it as fact or write me angry hate mails because I say that I think your favorite character sucks.

Ryu: Looking over the HD Remix changelog for Ryu, he apparently hasn’t changed, except for the addition of the “fake fireball” to his arsenal. And playing him, I believe it. He’s still really strong; his fireballs are great for lockdown and he still does excellent overall damage. Not much more to say.

Honda: LP Heatbutt. So what if he can’t Oicho loop and store super anymore? He has LP headbutt. (seriously, he’s not afraid of fireball characters anymore).

Guile: Guile is really serious now, since his HK Flash Kick can punish jumping opponents from nearly half a screen away. It also affords him a few more options for combos because of how far it travels. Not to mention he now has a nasty mixup following a LP Sonic Boom: throw/crouching MK/standing HP/ the new f+HK overhead. All of those things make Guile that much scarier.

Boxer: Still up to his old tricks again; he’s still really strong overall but his super does less damage. Play him the way you always did: by rushing that shit down.

Sagat: HDR Sagat is not as dumb as O. Sagat was back in ST, but he’s just rediculous now. TWO jumping HKs can dizzy most characters, and he’s got some new link combos like c.MK->s.HP (on standing opponents), and of course, the now infamous new Tiger Knee that has juggle properties. So Sagat’s a character that’s at home whether he’s far away (Tiger Shots are still fast) or up close (Tiger Knee juggles). I think he’s one of the best characters in the game.

Stay tuned for Part 3, which will wrap things up with the characters and I’ll also express my concerns about the community surrounding the game.

The new characters that were added at the event were Duo Lon, Clark (FINALLY), and Kensou (Psycho Soldier!). This stays true to SNKP’s claim of only having 20 characters. Which, to be quite honest is meager compared to the previous games, but we forgive you SNKP, since you did draw every character in lovely HD. Now get to work on those lifebar and super meter assets!

Next, the Critical Counter system. Scoring a counterhit with a hard punch or kick during an opponent’s special move puts the opponent into a “Critical” state, and the attacker is allowed to chain moves together that were otherwise not normally possible. Furthermore, activating a super while the opponent is in Critical state gives the super new properties.

Sources: Cyberfanatix (Critical system translation), KOF XII Official Site

Here’s a bunch of screens and info from Famitsu.com:

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1220056_1124.html

Dan and Fei’s special, super and ultra moves are shown off.

Fei:

• Still has the Rekka Ken, EX version ignites the opponent
• Flame kick looks the same as it always has been
• No more “chicken wing”? Looks like Fei performs a flying kick into a forward flip kick, hitting the opponent with his heel. Does this serve the same purpose as the old move?
• Looks like Fei gained a command grab similar to the SF3 twins’ (Yun/Yang) hcb+k. Judging by Abel’s open-looking state, it seems likely.
• the super is the Rekka Shin Ken, and the Ultra, like most in the game, looks like a powered up Rekka Shin Ken that ends with a burning flying kick. Badass.

Dan:

• Gadouken distance depends on strength of button pressed
• EX Koryuken has invincibility
• It’s Dan, so expect a variety of taunts. He can taunt during a crouch and while jumping
• the super is the Hissou Burai Ken
• Ultra looks like a better version of the super. Will there be a taunt super as well?

I’ll say this: during the game’s development, many people disliked the direction that the game was taking concerning the spritework.  While lacking the classic appeal of the original sprites (which by the way, you can enable in the options menu), the new HD sprites do a good job of representing the characters. The only really BAD looking sprite is Akuma’s winpose; it looks like he grew some extra mutant muscle below his armpit. Given that the devs only had so many frames of animation to work with, the animation’s not bad, although some frames of certain animations (shoto idle animation in particular) seem to have a strange “pop” to them and consequently, look pretty jerky. The character portraits are spot-on however.

The music, comprised of fan composed tracks are hit or miss, Much of the music is instrumentals based on OverClocked Remix’s ST tribute album, Blood on the Asphalt. Some themes, like the Las Vegas theme or the remix to Ken’s theme work very well within the context of the game. However, the music from the Spain stage lost much of the tempo and urgency of the original, and the England theme has no place in a fighting game.

If you hate the new artwork and the music, you’re in luck: the game has many options, so you can change the music and sprites between their “remixed” versions and the originals through a menu. In addition, the original version of ST is included (branded as “Classic” mode in the menu). The training mode has one of the coolest options in a training mode of any fighting game I’ve played (and I’ve played many); there’s an option to make visible the hitboxes so you can see just how much range is on Honda’s far standing HK and how he can be hit out of it.

Part 2’s going to talk about the characters and online play. Stay tuned.