:: orochinagi

So, I'm a long-time SF player, and I really wanna get into KOF, and have no idea where to start. I was thinking maybe KOF 11? I played KOF '99 on PS1 back in the day when I was a kid, but that hardly counts. My question for you guys is, is the difference between the different games like SF where SF1, SF2, SFA, SF3, and SF4 were so big that the community are essentially divided between them (IE: SFA's ISMs, SF3's parrying system, SF4's focus attack, etc.) or are they more or less the same with tiny changes? If it's the latter, should I just start off and wait for KOF 13 or should I check out the others first? Which would you recommend? What are the differences? Thanks.

Also, what about the feel of the game? Is it also like SF where Alpha is more juggle-ie, SF2 and 4 are lower and SF3 is more fast-paced, or do they all feel about the same?

Everyone has their own opinion but imo, practically any KOF after 96 will prepare you for XIII.
Even though 99-XI have strikers and additional things, the basic system is the same.
Saying that, KOF99-2000 created a big split because of the addition of striker attacks, and with 2001-XI, where they had tag-in combos, much of the community refused to play.

The best game for starting with KOF is KOF 98 and closest to the XIII system is 2002/2002UM.

You have around a month to go, so if you want a head start, you can get these really cheap (apart from 2002um).

Hope that helps!

Thanks, that helps a lot. But what about the feel of the game? Do they all feel about the same or are there some that are slower or faster than others?

The speed/feel of the game does vary a bit from game to game, but mostly only when they're rewriting the engine to add new features. In my experience I'd say that 2003 and XII feel the most 'weird' when compared to the rest of the series. Generally if you want a relatively recent game to learn the basics before XIII arrives (and that's out on consoles now) I'd pick '98UM (available on PS2 and XBLA) or 2002UM (available on XBLA, and on PS2 via import).