Problem with KOF12 is so many characters are un-finished, they are missing moves and lacking in options, and relevant gameplay elements to KOF are absent entirely. Let's take a look at what is not in KOF12 -
- Multi-Level Super Gauge
- Guard Cancel Attacks
- Guard Cancel Rolls
- Guard Gauge
- Dizzies
- Tech Throws
- Super Cancels
^^ KOF13 has all of these things, and more.
The only thing in 12 I liked was being able to combo into a CD attack because it gave characters without a command normal something to combo into.
All fans of KOF 2k2 are loving XIII because it has a lot of the things they're used to. But anyway, lemme touch on a few of your "points" without resorting to name calling or baseless insults as you have done in an effort to mask whatever insecurities you have about your knowledge of XII.
Multi-Level Super Gauge - KOF 94/95 was the series' beginning...neither of these games had more
than one super guage and had only one super move. 94 was good while 95 was GREAT with that foundation 94 had built which was really closer to Fatal Fury Special.
Guard Cancel Attacks - Are present (in essence) in XII but work differently than what you and fans of 2k2 prefer. In XII I'd say this works similar to the way the reversals work in Tekken or VF;
+
vs an incoming attack and can be done an unlimited number of times but does NOT mean it can be abused or that it's SAFE in anyway.
Guard Cancel Rolls - Not present in 94 or 95. With unlimited Guard Attakcs this would have been OVERKILL against the aggressor in a match. Instead of placing yourself at risk of being baited into a GA which should be done on REACTION and not prediction in the first place, a player would just opt to make sure contact is made and then go into the GCR. That would have promoted turtling.
Guard Gauge - This was not present in 94 or 95, the series' humble beginnings. Woulda been nice but since this is a REBOOT, a return to the roots [94/95], it wasn't necessary. (I LOVE Guard Crush too btw).
Dizzies - Come on, really? As easy as it is to pull off combos in XII coupled with the fact that damage reduction was almost a NON-FACTOR...stack on the presence of CC's in the game and you would have cried FOUL the first time you were victim to a 55% or more CC combo and ended up dizzy with less than 10% left afterward. Standing
for the finish! lol I don't recall 2k2 havin dizzies...it's been a while. XIII doesn't seem to have them either so I think there may be some misinformation in your statement. Oh well...on to the next one!
Tech Throws - were not present in 94/95, the series' humble beginnings. Throws took on the VF rule of thumb...striking beats throws->throws beat guarding (and evasion rolls)->guarding beats strikes. If you're afraid of being thrown, toss a few LP's out there to keep em honest! Ask Goro, Clark and Raiden about that.
Super Cancels - Not present in 94/95. Would have been nice to look at if EVERYONE had them and not just Shen Woo! There is ONE Super Cancel in XII and it's exclusive to "not Kyo/Robert/Terry/Joe/Andy" but Shen Woo! lol Seriously though, this would have been OVERKILL on the ease of combo-ability (for lack of a better word) AND the fact that they didn't do much damage reduction in the first place (94/95 had NO DMG redux in combos).
There ya have it. It seems you're misunderstanding what they were tryin to do in regards to REBOOTING the series. As far as SNKPs "mistakes" are concerned in regards to KOF...their BIGGEST mistake of all was NOT REBOOTING after the NESTS Saga was completed!
As far as character having few moves or moves taken away from them or altered in some way...if you were a true fan of the entire KOF series and not just a fan of 98/02, you know that this was, in fact, NORMAL throughout the series and was not a flaw or a mistake. That's part of what kept KOF fresh for so many years!
That's it for tonight's KOF 110 lecture. For your homework assignment, you should go back and actually PLAY through all the KOF games (Max Impact and 2006 too!) and not just the ones you're good at (***cough*** 98/2k2) and study the progression of not only the characters and how they've changed in each game but also the core gameplay mechanics and features...you might be surprised as to which KOF had Guard Cancels FIRST!
Due at the end of the month...