The rites of succession are arcane and many, so Atlus needs a little longer before it can reveal The King of Fighters XIII to the world. The publisher announced yesterday that SNK Playmore's sprite-tastic fighter has been delayed from October to November 22.

"The additional time will ensure that the game delivers on its promise of becoming the finest entry in the series' 15+ year history," Atlus VP of sales and marketing Tim Pivnicny said in the announcement.

"KoF fans have tremendous expectations for this title, as do we. Our commitment is to nothing less than the very best The King of Fighters game ever, and all of our efforts and resources are dedicated to assisting developer SNK Playmore to that end."

XIII boasts optimised netcode, new super moves, faster gameplay, over 30 characters, and other things conductive to punching faces in spectacular ways.

The King of Fighters XIII is headed to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, priced at $50. Pre-ordering from certain retailers will net you a four-disc soundtrack compilation with tunes from across the long-running series.