The 13th game in the fighting series, The King of Fighters XIII, is based on version 1.1 of the arcade version with some bug fixes. It has 31 characters, including two never seen in the arcade version, Billy Kane and Saiki, and three downloadable characters, Mr. Karate, Iori with fire powers, and Kyo with a KOF ’99 skin. It also includes new stages and game types not found in the arcade version.
The gameplay consists of EX moves requiring one gauge and Drive Cancel, which can cancel unique and super special activities using the “HyperDrive gauge.” It helps enter Hyper Drive mode to execute big combos, Max Cancel, which balances a DM in a NEO MAX move using HyperDrive, and NEO MAX, similar to the Max2 from KOF 2002 but more powerful. When the latter technique is performed, the background becomes black, and the camera zooms in, making the attack more stunning.
