I am sad to report...this game is average at best

KOF fans will be blown away how un-king of fighters like this is. Plus it looks really bad on my TV in 1080p even with filters turned on.

Options are barebones, gameplay is ok...you can already see how unbalanced it is after an hour of playing it.

I don't recomend buying this at full price. Rent or buy once its 29.99 or lower...

How bad is the balance?

Some moves are rediculously powerful. Joe Higashi's flying kick used to be a dragon punch like move...now it is a across the screen-destroy anything type of attack. Anyone that can do that movie fairly quickly will annihilate the opponent any time they jump forward. Also, some characters have moves removed...Kim doesn't have the low sweep slide, kick form above attack anymore, terry lost the power dunk slam move...etc. These were vital moves fo these characters when it comes to zoning the opponents.

I have yet to try the new characters...

Sounds like they replaced his Tiger Kick with the original Slash Kick.

They did. Slash kick is no longer there... His slide is rediculous too. Like half the screen.

If you are fighting Joe online start the round with duck and block...

I am suddenly feeling less interested in this title...

Feels like a budget title. Animations are nice and zoom effect is appreciated but when up and close, some of the sprites look very bizzare. All the menues have the rectangle feel to them...straight out of 1995.

Some backgrounds are cool, but most don't look very professional. The game won't review well...

The thing is that I could forgive bland menus or boring backgrounds or even somewhat odd-looking characters.  I could easily overlook all of that if it played well.  However if some of my favorite characters are messed up then that's something I can't overlook.  If Mai is DLC, Terry is underpowered, and Joe is unbalanced then I won't enjoy it nearly as much as I would have. 

This generation is frustrating to me as a lot of older Fighter franchises keep disappointing me.

Speaking of unbalance/overpowering characters in KOF XII, I clearly see Raiden(Big Bear back then) is seriously overpowered, it took all 3 fighters to just put him down, check out the latter vids of Youtube's ArcadeInfinity's KOF XII matches.
About the visuals aspects, they are easily forgiven for me. But just like disolitude said about the up-close look on the characters, it's a bit of a let down to see them pixelated, I guess they were trying to bring some nostalgic feeling to it. There I go again making some sort of excuse for them. Oh well, just ignore my last words.
But guys, you have to give them a break, I mean they said it was like rebooting the series and they did just that. Okay, some moves has been changed/cut, the roster is low(Yes, I find them questionable too) I won't argue about the balance issue. But you got to admit, atleast they're going to the right direction (I hope).

Average at best is good enough for me for a fighting game, the only way I will only be pissed is if they marketed this game very badly...

King of Fighters is not fun. What kind of game doesn't give you a combo list.