King of Fighters takes to skies for XBLA shooter

Apparently not content with lordship over a single genre, the King of Fighters is looking to become the King of Shooters as well. Famitsu reports that SNK Playmore is working on The King of Fighters: Skystage (working title) for Japanese release on Xbox Live Arcade.

Skystage will be a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up featuring a variety of characters from the King of Fighters franchise, including series mainstay Kyo. The Famitsu article describes it as a fairly orthodox take on the genre, with each character having standard attacks and a handful of special attacks to hold in reserve. The game will also feature two-player cooperative action and high-score leaderboards.

This is not the first time that SNK's brawlers have set aside the fisticuffs. The company released the aptly titled Quiz King of Fighters for the NeoGeo in 1995. Much like Capcom's Quiz and Dragons before it, that title put traditional game trappings (in this case, the roster of characters from SNK's fighting games) around an assortment of multiple-choice trivia questions. Other nonfighters tied to the series include King of Fighters Volleyball for mobile phones in 2006, and two card-based SNK vs. Capcom games for the NeoGeo Pocket Color, which were later adapted for the Nintendo DS.

No release date or price have yet been announced for King of Fighters: Skystage.