King of Fighters XIV ver. 2 has been released today. It’s an update that includes 4 characters (3 returning characters and 1 debuting character) and 2 new stages: a remake of Monaco from KOF 97 and a remake of Terry Bogard’s iconic Fatal Fury train stage. The new stages, along with the balance updates are available free on Playstation Network Store, and the characters can be bought for $5.99 each or in a 4 pack for $19.99. Check out the new character trailers after the jump.
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I’m sure many of us remember those Saturday Afternoon Kung-fu flicks. It’s difficult to look at films like Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon, Dance of the Drunk Mantis, and Five FIngers of Death and not see the inspiration for modern day fighters such as Tekken and Mortal Kombat. Hell, look at Fei Long and all the other Bruce Lee look-alikes you see in various fighters. Kings of Kung Fu and Shaolin vs Wu-Tang is a pair of fighters from jae Lee productions that pay tribute to these old movies. For a pair of independently developed fighting games, these aren’t half bad.
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The following image this past weekend appeared at NEOGaf Forums:

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Dead or Alive 5 is 4 years old, yet it’s still recieving content. At last week’s Dead or Alive festival, Tecmo/Koei revealed that Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury/King of Fighters will be joining the game as paid DLC, at least in Japan. Given Mai’s ‘proportions’, she fits quite well with the ladies of DOA. She joins a cast that includes Virtual Fighter’s Akira, Samurai Warrior’s Naotora Ii, and Momji from Ninja Gaiden. Check out the trailer above, and check out more surprises below.
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While we’re still waiting on news for Namco’s long awated Tekken X Street Fighter, Japanese arcade gamers will get a taste of it early next year as Street Fighter’s Akuma will be part of Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, an expansion/update for the arcade version of Tekken 7. Unlike most guest-style characters, Akuma will actually have a place in teh game’s storyline. Although this is Japan-only, there is no doubt that it will be released in the U.S in some form. Currently, the vanilla version of Tekken 7 is slated to be released on Xbox One and PS4 early next year.Visual Cage

Karate Champ is a different kind of fighting game. A spiritual successor of sorts to old school karate games like Karate Champ, Battle K-Road, and Best of the Best Championship Karate, Karate Master 2: Knockdown Blow puts emphasis on realism rather than fantasy bullshit like fireballs, high jumps, and spinning kicks. Unlike those old school games, this game actually looks and plays well. The game’s graphics area throw back to SNES and Neo-Geo fighters, and the controls are responsive. You are in control of a young martial artist who has a dream of opening his own dojo. You have to master several different styles of combat, increase your fame by competing in tournaments, and earn money by working the forklift. The game tends to get repetitive, but you’ll get into grinding, training, and enhancing your skills. There are several training exercises to unlock, one of them even involves a bull for those of you who played Karate Champ back in the days. The matches themselves utilize real life karate rulesets, and they get brutal. You and your opponents can suffer torn muscles, concussions, broken bones, and other gruesome injuries. While the game could benefit from some customization options, a multiplayer mode, and a bit more variety, the game is still fun, and if you are a martial arts aficionado, you’ll be into its realism. Oh, and it’s on sale for $5.99 on Steam until next Monday.

Sure sign of trouble: The intro features a generic martial arts guy who isn’t in the game. It’s not too late to turn back now.

I think I may have very well found the worst fighting game ever. This isn’t an exaggeration folks. Unlike other shitty fighting games such as Karate Champ (which gets a pass as it was among the first of its kind and for that awesome bullfighting bonus stage), Survival Arts (with it’s goofy character designs), Time Splitters (with its creative use of gore), and Rise of the Robots (that at least had nice graphics), there was no redeeming value for Best of Best. No, I take it back. There is some unintentional comedy in some of the poses, backgrounds, and animations. By the way, Best of Best should not be confused with Best of the Best: Championship Karate, Electro Brain’s 1992 fighting game nor should it be confused with the movie of the same name that the previously mentioned Karate Game ISN’T based upon.
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As I type this, it’s a few days removed from America’s birthday. Which means leftover fireworks, leftover hot dogs, and public pools. More importantly, it’s the middle of summer. Which means the temperature is getting higher, and with those temperatures, tensions are getting higher. Eventually, with those high tensions, this will happen:

But why get into a real life brawl and risk ending up on worldstarhiphop.com when you can engage in some digital fisticuffs instead? This special edition of $20GOTW/Maximum Letdown takes a look at some of the best and worst fighting games of the recent and distant past, so click below and check it out.
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