Video Game: Xuan Dou Zhi Wang

Xuan Dou Zhi Wang (loosely, The King of Dazzling Fights) is a 2D fighting game from Tencent Games and Jade Studios. It is currently available only in China as a free-to-play title similar to MMORPGs.

The game (commonly abbreviated as XD) features combat that is closely related to The King of Fighters.

One difference between XD and KOF is the inclusion of two button throws, which is commonly seen as a staple of the Street Fighter series ever since Street Fighter Alpha 3. To perform a throw in XD, the player presses LP+HP simultaneously, or Back+LP+HP to perform a back throw, throwing his enemy behind him.

XD also bears a different visual style than KOF. Whereas the latter opts for hand-drawn sprites, XD instead uses 3D models that are captured and converted into sprite animations, similar to how games like Killer Instinct or Donkey Kong Country were made. One advantage of this method is it allows for the inclusion of alternate costumes, which is something not often seen in 2D fighting games.

Xuan Dou Zhi Wang features an RPG-style leveling system that is mostly used for matchmaking. The more games you play, the higher your level is; even when you lose, you still gain experience. The game uses this to help match you with players of similar skill levels. The online component is also one of the most important features of the game, as the main design of the game is the MMO component.

Recent news confirms that Terry Bogard and Benimaru Nikaido will be added to the roster in a future update, making the aforementioned KOF comparisons come full circle.

If you want to visit the main site, hit up this link. Be warned, though: the game is currently in a closed beta phase and securing access keys is at best a chore. You can view the entire cast here (at the moment it's still growing so there will be new characters popping up from time to time).

Xuan Dou Zhi Wang provides examples of:

• An Ice Person: Claire Fox. Her moveset uses a lot of Kula Diamond's attacks.
  • Seal also dabbles in this, plus a little bit of The Power of Rock.
• Bruce Lee Clone: Long, although he does a few things that are somewhat original for his character archetype; as far as fighters are concerned, Bruce Lee Clones using nunchaku^note You often see Bruce Lee homage characters flinging them around for display but not nearly as often actually making use of them as a weapon. and Counter Attacks^note Fei Long in Super Street Fighter IV has a counter Ultra move but Long has access to one as a simple special move. is still a bit uncommon.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: True to form, it's his super.
• Casting a Shadow: Seems to be Brazel's gimmick, although what his power is exactly is unclear.
• Combat Pragmatist: Cloud, who fights with things like a Desert Eagle and Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun. He also uses a tactical knife and can call in an airstrike on his opponent.
  • More Dakka: Cloud whips out a minigun for one of his supers.
  • Short-Range Shotgun: His shotgun attack only covers the space in front of him and is technically a physical attack (Long can use his counter move against it and it won't negate projectiles like his pistol).
  • Throw Down the Bomblet: Included in his arsenal's long list are grenades.
• Cyborg: Xeno may be. Depends if his mechanical gauntlets are actually cybernetic prosthetics or simply that (just a gadget he wears over his arms).
• Expy: Quite a few.
  • Tsukikage Arashi —> Freeman from Garou: Mark of the Wolves
  • Kuraki Kaoru —> Athena Asamiya from The King of Fighters
  • Sheva —> Benimaru Nikaido from KOF (this guy/girl(?) is basically move-for-move Beni; weird since Benimaru was one of the chosen Guest Fighters)
  • Ray —> Clark Still, Ralf Jones, or Maxima from KOF (unclear, since he seems to have traits from all of them; definitely The Big Guy of the roster, though)
  • Prayuth —> Joe Higashi from Fatal Fury
  • Panda —> Po from Kung Fu Panda
  • Legend —> Takuma Sakazaki/Mr. Karate from Art of Fighting (alternatively, he's Ryo Sakazaki as Mr. Karate II, as seen in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and KOF: Maximum Impact 2)
  • Cloud arguably comes across as RE5 and beyond-era Chris Redfield, particularly for anyone who's played Marvel vs. Capcom 3. He also carries shades of Kevin Rian from Garou: MotW.
  • King —> Ryu from Street Fighter (not so much in visual appearance but absolutely in his attacks)^note It's weird because the game already had a "Shoto"-type character in the form of Lynn.
  • Ciel —> Momoko wearing Jolyne's costume while taking a profession in rollerskating, and she has Slayer's moves and pink aura.
• Extremity Extremist: Andrei only uses punching moves in his attacks, like any fighting game boxer of note.
• Follow the Leader: To say the least XD uses a lot of animations cribbed from The King of Fighters. Some characters (like Kuraki Kaoru or Sheva) are pretty much duplicates. Still, in spite of it, the people making the game are actually pretty good at it so many people let this slide.
• Guest Fighter: Despite being so heavily influenced by The King of Fighters to the point that it's probably stepping on some legal toes, Tencent and SNK came to an agreement over the game; not only does SNK approve of it, but they're letting Terry Bogard and Benimaru Nikaido join the roster.
  • Panda is actually Po.
• Handwraps of Awesome: As to be expected of a nak muay, Prayuth has both his hands/forearms and feet/lower legs wrapped in hemp cloth.
• Kick Chick: Lee Won Hee. She's essentially something in-between Fatal Fury/The King of Fighters mainstay Kim Kaphwan, his pupil May Lee from KOF 2001 and 2002(UM), and his other pupil from the Maximum Impact sub-series Chae Lim.
• Kid-Appeal Character: At 11 years old, this seems to be CoolB's niche. He fights with a strange, futuristic Mickey Mouse-like object that can seemingly generate energy.
• Playing with Fire: Yan, who's basically a Kyo Kusanagi Expy.
• Razor Wind: Shirley.
• Shock and Awe: Ell Blue.
• Shotoclone: King.
• Sincerest Form of Flattery: At best XD is an homage to KOF and uses some very... "direct" tributes. At worst it's The Mockbuster. Though, again, due to the game's competent gameplay this is forgiven by most people who have seen it. The collaboration to include KOF characters also helps to reassure people that there is some degree of goodwill between the two.
• SNK Boss: Black Brazel.
• Token Mini-Moe: Lynn.

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