The King of Fighters XI

The King of Fighters XI
Arcade flyer for The King of Fighters XI
Developer(s)	SNK Playmore, G1M2 (PS2)
Publisher(s)	Sega (AW) / SNK Playmore (PS2)
Producer(s)	Eikichi Kawasaki, Neo Geo Hakase
Artist(s)	Hiroaki Hashimoto Nona
Series	The King of Fighters
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network
Release	Arcade JP: October 26, 2005 NA: December 2005[1] PlayStation 2 JP: June 22, 2006 EU: July 6, 2007 NA: November 13, 2007 PlayStation Network JP: December 17, 2014
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to two players simultaneously
Arcade system	Atomiswave

The King of Fighters XI^[a] (KOF XI) is a 2D fighting game produced by SNK Playmore. It is the eleventh installment in The King of Fighters series following The King of Fighters 2003. It was originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Atomiswave platform in 2005. A home version for the PlayStation 2 was released in Japan in 2006, followed by releases in the PAL region and North America in 2007. It is the second The King of Fighters game to not run on the Neo Geo following its predecessor, The King of Fighters Neowave and also the first major canonical entry to not be named after its year of release.

Set after the events of The King of Fighters 2003, the story focuses on a group known as "Those from the Past", who aim to obtain the power of the ancient demon Orochi. The player can choose from a total of forty characters, including characters from other SNK games; in the PlayStation 2 port, this includes characters from the crossover game NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. The game retains many elements from its predecessor, involving fights between six fighters who can tag during the battle. It also provides new features allowing the player to perform simultaneous multiple special moves.

Critical reception to The King of Fighters XI has been positive. Critics enjoyed the new fighting system, the balance between characters, as well as other elements that managed to improve upon its predecessor. However, the graphics were found to be dated due to the use of 2D pixel graphics. Also, a few journalists found the final bosses too complicated to defeat. Despite skeptical commercial expectations for the game, as it was being released on the PlayStation 2 when that console was being abandoned, it was still noted to sell well in Japan, and was followed by a sequel titled The King of Fighters XII, released in 2009.

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