The King of Fighters All Star has been available in Japan since July of 2018, and today Netmarble has officially announced that the action-RPG is finally coming to the West. It will be released in North America, Europe, and Latin America sometime later this year on the Google Play Store.

Trailer for the Japanese version

Since The King of Fighters All Star has been out in Japan for the last eight months, it's not all that difficult to track down gameplay videos to get an idea of how the title plays. As I already mentioned, it's mainly an action RPG, though the majority of gameplay resembles that of a side-scrolling brawler. But what would a mobile ARPG be without gacha mechanics? It would appear that every character in the franchise will be included in this upcoming release (that's over 50 fighters to collect and upgrade), and by battling wave after wave of enemies, giant bosses, and rival teams, you'll earn your chance to build out the best team of fighters possible.

So far there has been no mention of how the Western release of this title will be monetized, but if the Japanese version is anything to go by, then in-app purchases that range up to .99 should be expected.

It isn't much of a surprise to hear that The King of Fighters All Star is going to finally receive a global release, though I can't say I feel very enthused to play yet another free-to-play ARPG that contains a heavy dose of gacha mechanics. I suppose it might be nice to collect the many characters of the franchise, especially as a long-time fan of the series, but after playing so many similar collection-based mobile titles, the joy of exploring such a game has definitely lost its luster.

PRESS RELEASE

UPDATE: 2019/10/01 10:34am PDT BY MATTHEW SHOLTZ

King of Fighters All Star is officially available for pre-registration

In March we learned that Netmarble's gacha brawler King of Fighters All Star would be coming to Android before the end of the year. Today the game has finally arrived on the Play Store as a pre-registration listing, which means we must be nearing the official release date. Luckily the Play Store description states that this release will take place on October 22nd, so it looks like there are only three more weeks to wait. You can pre-register today if you'd like to receive a few Option Cards themed around the legendary fighters Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, and of course, you'll receive a notification once the game is released. Further premium rewards and special characters will be shared upon reaching certain pre-registration milestones, so for the full list, read the text below.

  • 50,000 Total Pre-registrations reached: 1x Baseball Yuri Character
  • 150,000 Total Pre-registrations reached: 100 Rubies and 10 Rare EXP Capsules
  • 400,000 Total Pre-registrations reached: 1x Baseball Yuri Card
  • 700,000 Total Pre-registrations reached: 400 Rubies and 10 Plus Capsule Boxes
  • 1,000,000 Total Pre-registrations reached: 1x 5★ Fighter Selector
The King of Fighters ALLSTAR Developer: Netmarble
Price: Free
4.1
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UPDATE: 2019/10/22 6:43am PDT BY MATTHEW SHOLTZ

King of Fighters All Star is officially available on the Play Store

At the beginning of this month King of Fighters All Star arrived on the Plays Store as a pre-registration listing, and as you can see, the developer has stayed true to its word since the game is officially available on the Play Store starting today. Players have been able to pre-load the title since this past weekend, though you could only play through a short tutorial. As of this morning, the game's servers are live, which means those that live in the West are now free to take the title for a spin. 

King of Fighters All Star is a free-to-play release, and is clearly a gacha game, and so there's plenty of in-app purchases included, which happen to range up to $99.99 per item. The core gameplay revolves around brawling through one stage after another, with a few boss fights in the mix to keep things interesting. There's also an arena-based PvP mode as well as a co-op mode, so there's a good mix of content no matter what types of gameplay you enjoy. The graphics are indeed superb, though server connections are still unstable, so it may be best to wait a few days for things to settle before you jump in.