Vermillion Cinders

Vermillion Cinders is a new game by SNK, it's a spinoff of the King of Fighters franchise, focusing on Ash Crimson. It can be considered a prequel to The King of Fighters 2003.

Gameplay
Vermillion Cinders plays like a mix between a 2D fighting game and an arena fighter, similar to Smash Bros. The series features 3D modelled characters and entirely destructible backgrounds but the gameplay is in 2D.

Life bar
Characters have a lifebar. When it's completely depleted, the player loses the match.

Super gauge
Builds when receiving damage or performing special moves. Holds up 3 super stocks at the time.

Special moves
Every character has special moves of a certain element: Earth, Water, Fire and Air. Each element has special advantages or weaknesses against the others, but it also depends on each character in some special cases. Every character has around 3 special moves and around 2 physical moves not tied to any element.

Supermoves
Every character has 2 supermoves, one of them is physical and the second one is physical and elemental at once.

Ibura
Each character has a special move called "Ibura" that's activated by pressing R1 plus a direction in the D-Pad. It's usually used to counter projectiles. Depending on the element of the character and the opponent, the projectile might be blocked, nullified, reflected or deflected. Special projectiles can also disintegrate, change its properties or blow into fragments that also might alter the stage.

Stages
There are seven stages: Each stage is destructible and modifiable by the element attacks of the characters. For example, water powers will be boosted in the beach stage, and in the waterfall stage fire attacks might be extinguished by water jet.
 * Jungle
 * Desert/Beach
 * Waterfall
 * Volcano
 * Prairie
 * City
 * Final Stage

Some supermoves can alter elements of the stage, for example Eliza's Fire Beam super can turn sand into a mirror in the Desert stage, Hiruk can use his Long Cannonball super to excavate an oasis.

Some changes in the stage are permanent (until next fight) but some others are reversible.

Stages are large and feature many obstacles, so there's an automatic zoom-in and zoom-out camera features.

Playable characters
The game plays in tag team form, the player picks 2 characters and they can change character in every round.

Fire

 * Ash Crimson. An eccentric French young man from the KOF series. He's partners with Camil.
 * Camil. A Western-styled womanizer with the power of creating forms made of fire. He's partners with Ash.
 * Eliza. A determined Latin American girl that can direct heat to create beams. She's partners with Banjud.

Water

 * Tennosuke. An odd-looking member of a mob that fights with the aid of an extendable hook. He's partners with Hiruk.
 * Yumi. A frail Japanese girl that creates ice flowers. He's partners with Tsubasa.
 * Banjud. A thailandese old man with a crocodile partner that can create and hide in muddy water. He's partners with Eliza.

Air

 * Tsubasa. A serious man that's captain of an airship. He's able to move gracefully creating air currents. He's partners with Yumi.
 * Shane. A proud Irish boxer that can attack by creating great pressure with his fists. He's partners with Lia.
 * Stratos. A fat Greek man that can engulf anything and create clouds. He's partners with Kanon.

Earth

 * Lia. A wealthy English woman that can create minerals and crystal gems to different purposes. She's partners with Shane.


 * Hiruk. A hulking member of the Chinese military that fights with Sambo techniques. He's partners with Tennosuke.
 * Kanon. A mysterious kid from a tribe that attacks using sand. He's partners with Stratos.

Bosses

 * Grimes. Grimes is an old elemental master, secretely an avatar of an old race and he can commands all four elements. He wants the clockwork to destroy it and be the only one in command of the Earth's natures. He appears as a sub-boss of the game. He's unlocked after defeating him, but he fights alone.
 * Storm. When Grimes attempts to destroy the clockwork, an elemental being called Storm is unleashed. This creature has the power to the weather around at its will and his mission is to bring destruction to those who tried to break the Earth's balance. He's the final boss of the game.

Storyline
A man called Grimes has summoned all elemental fighters in the world to a quest to find the legendary Elemental Clockwork, a mythological treasure that is said to be placed in the center of the world and can grant anyone mastery with the forces of nature. All elemental fighters embark in an adventure around the world to bring the 4 pieces of the treasure into the volcano to create the Clockwork.

Ash and Camil
Ash was comissioned by his clan to investigate the clockwork and if probable, to add it to the treasure room of the Blanctorches. He hears of a skilled fighter named Camil in America that wants to go into the quest and promises him to give him everything he needs if he accompanies him.

Eliza and Banjud
Eliza has travelled to deep Asia to keep on with her training where she meets Banjud. The weird old man begs her to accompany him to retreive the Clockwork so it won't fall in wrong hands, because it could cause a natural catastrophe.

Kanon and Stratos
Kanon is from an old Japanese clan that roamed through arabia for a century, since he was born he was given to Stratos for him to teach him to control his powers. Stratos receives a letter that states they should go retreive the Clockwork because it belongs to Kanon's family.

Tennosuke and Hiruk
Hiruk is sent by the Chinese government to recover the Clockwork, that will bring an advantage to his nation above the others. He hires pirate Tennosuke to use his ship and go find the pieces.

Lia and Shane
Lia hears the Clockwork is the rarest of the gems and she wants it to top his large collection of precious stones. She spends a fortune hiring world's boxing champion Shane to aid her in the tournament.

Tsubasa and Yumi
Yumi is a survivor of an attack that killed her entire family for an unclear reason, or so she believes. But she has heard the Clockwork has the power to unlock memories and see back in time so she could know what really happened to her family. Tsubasa is an old acquitance of her parents that will help her to get the Clockwork.

Sequels
The game spawned two sequels: Vermillion Cinders: Climax and Vermillion Cinders: Phoenix.