Saiki intends to use the energy expended by the winning team to enable him to cross time. When the winning team reaches the game's end, Saiki, the leader of "Those From The Past" puts his work into motion. The tournament is sponsored by Rose who is being controlled by "Those From The Past", the organization behind the two previous tournaments that has been trying to break Orochi's seal. As his former comrade, Elisabeth Blanctorche, prepares to stop him, fighters receive an invitation to another King of Fighters tournament hosted by a person labelled as "R". The fighter Ash Crimson has absorbed the powers from two of the descendants of the clans who sealed the Orochi away 1,800 years ago, Chizuru Kagura and Iori Yagami, while Kyo Kusanagi is to be his last victim.
The game takes place after The King of Fighters XI and is the last game of the third story arc that started in The King of Fighters 2003. The online gameplay is based on the one included in later versions of The King of Fighters XII, which fixed the issues the initial one had. Other modes shown are Arcade, Practice and Challenge. The mode is presented in visual novel style alongside fights, something considered to be hard to include in the arcade version by the SNK Playmore staff. It also contains a story mode that influenced by the player's actions with various perspectives being available.
The console version is based on the 1.1 update of The King of Fighters XIII arcade which fixed several issues from the original version. These can also be cancelled from standard Desperation Moves, making them similar to the "Dream Cancels" from The King of Fighters XI. In addition to standard and EX Desperation Moves, a new class of Desperation Move entitled "NEO MAX" are included in the game and require that three stocks of gauge be exchanged in order to perform one, making it similar to Hidden Desperation Moves ( The King of Fighters 2002) and Leader Desperation Moves ( The King of Fighters 2003). The game also marks the return of the multi-bar power gauge that was introduced in The King of Fighters '97. Another new addition is the Hyper Drive mode, which gives the player unlimited use of Drive Cancels for a while once the Hyper Drive Gauge has been maxed, and the last new feature confirmed for the game is the Drive Cancel system, which opens up new combo possibilities. In their place, however, there are new systems that have been confirmed to be added the first of the three is the new EX Mode, which convert each character's super moves into more powerful versions that allows one bar from the player's power gauge for EX Special Moves and two bars from the player's power gauge for EX Desperation Moves. The game removes some of the gameplay systems used in the previous game: the Guard Attack system, the Critical Counter system, the Clash System as well as the dynamic, zooming camera. The ports are notable for including more content to the original version such as new characters, stages and game modes It was released for Japanese arcades on July 14, 2010, while ports for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were during late 2011 in Japan and English regions, with Atlus and Rising Star Games being in charge of releasing them in the United States and Europe, respectively. It follows another King of Fighters tournament secretly hosted by Those From the Past, the organization behind the events from the two previous games that are trying to break the seal of the demon Orochi and take its power.
The game is set after the events from The King of Fighters XI and is also the conclusion of Ash Crimson's story arc, which started in The King of Fighters 2003. It also expands the character roster, re-grouping the playable characters into three-member teams as in the previous installments. Released after The King of Fighters XII, this title significantly modifies the gameplay from its prequel, removing modes and adding ones that have been previously used in the series.
The King of Fighters XIII (ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ XIII ?) is the thirteenth installment of The King of Fighters fighting game series developed and published by SNK Playmore.