SNK Announces 2009 Release for KOFXII and Samurai Showdown on Home Consoles

The year of the fighting game revival might have been 2008, but it looks to continue in 2009 with 3 releases from SNK Playmore and Ignition Entertainment.

It was recently announced that both King of Fighters XII and Samurai Showdown: Edge of Destiny will be available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles. Both games will have online play available and will be priced at $59.99.

The third title, King of Fighters ‘98:Ultimate Match, will be available for the Playstation 2 console for a price of $19.99. Now, I just looked up “ultimate” on dictionary.com and got this: “last; furthest or farthest; ending a process or series: the ultimate style in hats.“. Despite its seemingly faulty advertising (since XII is obviously coming out soon), ‘98 is one of the best King of Fighters titles, making it fit in more with definition #9: “the best, greatest, or most extreme of its kind.”

That reputation might be short lived with the next installment of King of Fighters right around the corner. If you haven’t seen screens of King of Fighters XII, check ‘em out because they feature the most stunning 2D sprites I’ve ever seen (sorry, Odin Sphere). It looks even better in motion:

Meanwhile, Samurai Showdown: Edge of Destiny goes the more modern 3D route for its feudal-set fighter. It has also been confirmed that the dismemberment finishers of old have returned. They can be seen near the end of this video:

Release dates for the three titles: