Round one: the first night
King of Fighters is a three-on-three game: you pick a team, choose the order, and fight until one side has nobody left. That structure makes every match a small story, with comebacks built in. Rush, a beginner tool on light punch, gives anyone a full combo with repeated presses, which helps a lot while you learn the rest.
The tutorial covers the basics, and Mission mode has combo trials for every fighter. It is not as patient a teacher as Street Fighter 6, and the speed of the game takes some getting used to: short hops and running are the normal way to move.
Picking a team of three, and the order they fight in, is half the match before a punch is thrown.
Round two: online
It runs on rollback netcode, and crossplay across PlayStation, Xbox and PC arrived in an update in June 2023. Matches are smooth, and the queues are steady if smaller than the big two. Room matches with friends work well.
Because the cast is finished, the balance is settled too. What you learn now will not be undone by next season's patch.
Round three: depth
Sixty-one fighters, three per side, and a meter that carries between rounds: the number of team combinations is enormous. Shatter Strike and Max Mode give each round a moment where the momentum can swing. Players argue for hours about team order, and they are right to.
The DJ Station deserves a word: hundreds of tracks from across SNK's history, so you can choose the music your fights are played to. It is a lovely touch for a site named after battle themes.
Round four: the bill
The base game is £24.99, and the entire paid cast costs about £47 more on Steam UK through two Team Passes, the Fighter Pass and the Mature and Vice pack. For 22 extra fighters that is fair, and nothing new is coming to add to it.
The base roster of 39 is already large enough that many players never buy a pass at all.
| Steam UK | Usual | Today |
|---|---|---|
| The King of Fighters XV, base game | £24.99 | £24.99 |
| Team Pass 1 | £12.99 | £12.99 |
| Team Pass 2 | £12.99 | £12.99 |
| Fighter Pass | £12.99 | £12.99 |
| Mature and Vice | £7.99 | £7.99 |
| Full cast | £71.95 | £71.95 |
The cast is complete: SNK's last fighters, Mature and Vice, arrived in December 2024. On Steam the four DLC teams come in two Team Passes, six solo fighters in the Fighter Pass, and Mature and Vice as their own pack. Every team and fighter is also sold alone.
Who to pick first
Kyo Kusanagi
The series hero: fireball, uppercut, straightforward combos. A good anchor for your first team.
Terry Bogard
Hard-hitting and simple, with a rushing Burn Knuckle that teaches you when to commit.
Before your first ranked match
- Put your strongest fighter last. The third member of a team can store the most meter.
- Learn the hop. Short jumps over low pokes are how this game is played, not a trick.
- Use Rush combos while you learn, then swap in a real combo one fighter at a time.
Is it for you?
Buy it if
- You want a huge cast without paying for it
- You love classic 2D sprite-era fighters
- You like building a team
Skip it if
- You want a gentle learning curve
- You want a rich single-player story
The verdict
A finished, generous and fast team fighter. It asks for some homework at the start, but the base game alone gives you 39 fighters and a cast that will never be rebalanced out from under you.
Sources
Played on PC by the Battle Themes team. Facts and prices checked 4 November 2026.