Talk to me about The King of Fighters...

[Colin]

Well, when it comes to it, there are other Neo fighters I'd choose over any of the KOF games.

[teddymeow]

Ignore all the 2D rubbish and get the 3D PS2 ones - they're aces!!*

*May not be true in the slightest.

[Escape-To-88]

Well, when it comes to it, there are other Neo fighters I'd choose over any of the KOF games.

This tends to be what I've done, but wasn't sure if I was missing a trick by not giving KOF the time it might deserve!

[Samuray]

I feel the most simple answer is the best in this case: Start at the beginning, i.e. KOF94.

The cast of characters is still manageable, you get a nice introduction to them and the series in general, and most of all you can't pick your team manually....you have only eight options, i.e. the eight teams. That makes a huge difference in keeping things simple (aside from the fact that I like proper teams better than mixed ones, from an aesthical point of view ).

KOF94 is stunningly beautiful and does a great job to get you hooked, IMHO.

[Baseley09]

96 is the don for music and backdrops.

94 is a Nostalgic classic too.

[_SD_]

This tends to be what I've done, but wasn't sure if I was missing a trick by not giving KOF the time it might deserve!

Give one or two a try to see if you like the series and the characters... but [MENTION=9865]Colin[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9465]Brad[/MENTION] are correct, you’d probably be better trying either of the Last Blades or the legendary Garou: MotW.

[Neon Ignition]

Depends what you want from your fighters, I can see why people choose '98 but I like the music, backgrounds etc and that entry never clicked with me the same as '95-97. I like the PS2 soundtracked version of 2002 Unlimited too.

[buster_broon]

I feel the most simple answer is the best in this case: Start at the beginning, i.e. KOF94.

The cast of characters is still manageable, you get a nice introduction to them and the series in general, and most of all you can't pick your team manually....you have only eight options, i.e. the eight teams. That makes a huge difference in keeping things simple (aside from the fact that I like proper teams better than mixed ones, from an aesthical point of view ).

KOF94 is stunningly beautiful and does a great job to get you hooked, IMHO.

I agree but the only flaw is that you are stuck with teams you might not want, I love to mix the art of fighting team with the fatal fury team, so Terry, Robert and maybe takuma

Was never really a fan of the ikari warriors team, but they are pretty powerful

[Dogg Thang]

I'd be inclined to avoid the early ones and jump straight to the later ones. Yes, the ones that people say are poorer fighters. The reason is that, poorer fighters they may be once you really get to know them well, I find they feel more accessible and are generally easier. You can get started without knowing a huge amount. That's kind of true for the early ones too but they can be really punishing unless you really get to know a character.

So I'd actually be inclined to recommend starting with a later one (a 2000ish one) and working backwards.

I was always a Street Fighter guy and, while I played some SNK fighters in the arcades, it wasn't really until I got KoF 98 on the Dreamcast (which if I remember correctly was called KoF 99 on that...) that I got into it a bit more. It can be a little daunting but a bunch of the characters slot into the Ryu/Ken type default fighter that can be learned pretty easily. Like Terry Bogard, for example. You can get pretty comfortable quite quickly knowing just a few moves and can branch out from there. And, like I said, I found the later ones got even more accessible even though I wouldn't remotely make a case for them being better games to someone who knows fighting games well. They're still a lot of fun though.

One of the things I love about the whole KoF series is the artwork. It has some absolutely stunning artwork. Gorgeous backgrounds and some lovely character design.

[Atticus]

I've never been a fan of mega-mix style fighting games and KoF is no exception. The ones I tried felt like rough cut n paste jobs, prioritising quantity over quality and focus. Maybe I just never played the right one ... I guess they're not as popular as they are for nothing. But for me, and like one or two others have said, there are other Neo fighters I'd go for before any of these.

[speedlolita]

Well, I heard it all began in 94...

[Dogg Thang]

I've never been a fan of mega-mix style fighting games and KoF is no exception. The ones I tried felt like rough cut n paste jobs, prioritising quantity over quality and focus.

I wouldn't agree with this precisely because they haven't been cut and paste jobs. There is no SNK equivalent of Morrigan here. They have all been pulled together into a unifying game and, the more they went on, the more they very much became their own thing. For me, KoF eclipsed every series it pulled a character from until Garou MotW.

[BigDeadFreak]

It depends on your budget but, if you have the money, I'd say start at the beginning and work your way through the series. Each game is unique and I'm sure you'll have a favorite. As everyone knows, '98 is the 'correct' answer when asked which is the best. Personally, I think it's great but I also like '94 and '96.

Really, you can't just rely on someone on an internet forum to tell you which one to like. Try them all and see for yourself.

[Team Andromeda]

I liked 96 the best; That game also features one of the best intros to any game ever (Neo CD and Saturn versions)

[Asura]

I think there is a severe lack of mention of the upcoming Switch SNK Heroines game here.

->Open Spoiler<-