Retro|Spective 078: The King of Fighters

[Neon Ignition]

Sod it we're going early as this one is a monster if a list, time to discuss who is...




Mainline Entry 01 - The King of Fighters 94
Formats: Various
Born from a vision to bring players of several series together, the plan worked with SNK launching KOF94. Based on teams, the gameplay was designed to tap into the companies popular series gameplay but at the same time offer something unique. Fight systems offered the usual mix of power bars and weak/hard moves whilst the visual style went for a very detailed but also consistent and grounded approach that better suited having the mix of character styles interact together.



Mainline Entry 02 - The King of Fighters 95
Formats: Various
Mainline Entry 03 - The King of Fighters 96
Formats: Various
Mainline Entry 04 - The King of Fighters 97
Formats: Various
The next few entries took the usual approach of expanding the game systems and adding in new moves and fighters, each new entry arriving a year after the previous one. In wider terms these mark the most beloved era of the franchise where the quality escalated building up to the basis of one of its most beloved entries.



Spin Off Entry 01 - The King of Fighters R-1
Formats: Neo Geo Pocket
Spin Off Entry 02 - The King of Fighters: Kyo
Formats: Various
Mainline Entry 05 - The King of Fighters 98: Dream Match Never Ends
Formats: Various
Following the franchises first branches of spin-offs with an ill-fated RPG and a well received portable incarnation, the series returned with its latest entry that was considered to be an event title. 98 brought back previous entries fighters and compiled them in a massive roster that culminated them from across the series up till this point.



Spin Off Entry 03 - The King of Fighters R-2
Formats: Neo Geo Pocket
Mainline Entry 06 - The King of Fighters 99: Millennium Battle
Formats: Various
With this sixth entry the series moved on to a new narrative era in its canon and also introduced several new features such as the Striker assist system. The Dreamcast Evolution iteration replaced the backgrounds with 3D incarnations.



Spin Off Entry 04 - SNK vs Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
Formats: Neo Geo Pocket
Possibly one of the first times a heavily cut down experience of a 2D fighter on a limited handheld has been widely well received to such an extent. This followed the same model as the CvS games that saw characters from both sides face off but featured an impressive roster of 26 fighters modelled off the art style deployed in the KOFR titles.



Spin Off Entry 05 - SNK Gals Fighters
Formats: Neo Geo Pocket
Mainline Entry 07 - The King of Fighters 2000
Formats: Various
Though 2000 was broadly a typical follow up, the game was notable for its history as it was in development when SNK went bankrupt. As a result it was flawed and featured bugs that impacted on the gameplay experience. Though reviewers still enjoyed the gameplay there were issues raised with how compromised the music and graphics felt, especially given how dated the visuals were already starting to draw criticism for before the budget issues hit.



Mainline Entry 08 - The King of Fighters 2001
Formats: Various
Mainline Entry 09 - The King of Fighters 2002
Formats: Various
Doggedly the series continued on via a licensing agreement and its new developers worked hard not to rock the boat. After the fairly conventional 2001, they returned with another Dream Match based title that was again well received but by this point things were beginning to look troubled as sales declined and the series looked ever closer to its end.



Spin Off Entry 06 - SNK vs Capcom: Chaos
Formats: Various
Capcom had had their turn so SNK did what Namco seems incapable of doing and made their own console version of the franchise clashes. This title redrew the Capcom characters into the time honoured SNK KOF visual style and made their moves adapt to that play style too. It used the typical fight set up but because of the SNK led push it made less impact and had a much more lukewarm reaction than Capcom's effort meaning it remained a one off effort.



Mainline Entry 10 - The King of Fighters 2003
Formats: Various
Tenth time out and the series legacy on Neo Geo hardware finally came to an end. The game played around with its fight system a little with a quick shift system for changing fighters mid-fight more tactically as well as a leader system that granted that fighter an extra move but it was one for the fans as the series looked to ways to find a stay of execution in a 3D age that had left it behind.



Spin Off Entry 07 - The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact
Formats: Various
Spin Off Entry 08 - The King of Fighters 94 Re-Bout
Formats: Playstation 2
Spin Off Entry 09 - The King of Fighters: Neowave
Formats: Various
The series pushed hard for its presence next time out the gate with a trio of spin-offs. Maximum Impact took the series into the 3D space, intended to win over a wider audience. Featuring around 20 fighters, the game was fairly well received though it still looked dated against competition. As a niche fan pleasing effort a remake of 94 was issued to celebrate a decade for the franchise. Finally, Neowave dabbled with the series future by moving the 2D fighters over to 3D backgrounds (not for the first time) as well as a Heat mode activated by a fifth button now that the base experience was no longer built around the Neo Geo's four button design. The game was intended to test out new hardware for the series but it failed to make much impact as it still ultimately looked too dated and despite being based on 2002 was sometimes deemed to be a step back.



Spin Off Entry 10 - Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
Formats: Various
The Capcom versus angle may not have had a future but SNK thought they'd try their hand again by escalating the same plan that had first birthed the KOF franchise, a 2D fighter that merged characters from across wider SNK series. This time they took a two on two approach and retained the classic SNK 2D visual style, a move that once again saw the game receive a battering for being too dated.



Mainline Entry 11 - The King of Fighters XI
Formats: Various
And so the year tag was finally abandoned as the company could no longer maintain its annual increment approach. Building on their tech experience making Neowave, XI brought several technical changes to how players could approach fights and a more realistic tone to its backgrounds was intended. Though not a huge hit, the game performed more solidly than the last few main entries as retro interest began to rise with newer generations of hardware inbound.



Spin Off Entry 11 - The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2
Formats:Playstation 2
Spin Off Entry 12 - The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation-A
Formats:Arcade and Playstation 2
Following the success of the previous game SNK made this sequel that upped the fighter count to 38 whilst a later revision was release in arcades that remade the game adding three on three fighting and new fighters but also removed some and some fighters from MI2.



Spin Off Entry 13 - The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match
Formats: Various
Like Re-Bout, this new iteration of 98 was made ten years after the base versions debut. The game expanded the content and revised the fighting, it proved to be a critical hit and is much loved.



Mainline Entry 12 - The King of Fighters XII
Formats: Various
The series returned and took a bold step towards capturing wider gamers minds but not by following its rivals. Instead the game aimed to advance the 2D visuals in a detailed and bold way beyond the normal limits most 2D games hold at. Expensive to make, SNK struggled to keep its head above water with the project and it was much more time consuming to make content for the game. As a result it featured a low stage count and the franchises lowest character count leading to some wondering if it was effectively an incomplete project launched to help keep SNK afloat. Never the less, 2D fighter fans liked what they saw.



Spin Off Entry 14 - The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
Formats: Various
Quick on XII's heels came another fan pleaser but this time oddly out of time with how these titles normally arrived. Expanding 2002 with fighters from 99 onwards the game arrived on shelves with 66 fighters and has been well received but struggled to sell well compared to previous efforts.



Spin Off Entry 15 - The King of Fighters: Sky Stage
Formats: Various
Mainline Entry 13 - The King of Fighters XIII
Formats: Various
Whilst the shooter spin-off failed to make an impact, the thirteenth mainline entry largely confirmed that XII had been a test bed. The game corrected concerns of the last title and expanded the content considerably. The result was an entry that was considered to be one of the best in the series and a 2D visual benchmark though it wasn't to last as the visuals still limited the series wider appeal and were too costly to produce.



Spin Off Entry 16 - The Rhythm of Fighters
Formats:Mobile
Mainline Entry 13 - The King of Fighters XIV
Formats: Various
Time came for the series to step officially into the 3D age and SNK brought in more staff to make an entry that would have the appeal of 98 and 2002. With large roster of 58 fighters, the game aimed to deliver a classic KOF experience that wouldn't be off putting to new comers. SNK also took steps to provide solid post-release for the game with DLC additions and a patch that improved the games visuals also arriving.



Spin Off Entry 17 - SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy
Formats: Various
Released as a simplified approach to the gameplay set up, the female only fighter indulged heavily in indulging on its characters appeal to male gamers (if less so than DOA) but wasn't well received critically. A lower budgeted effort that would help tide them over really, keeping money flowing whilst development of the new Samurai Shodown was underway and work on the new Unreal Engine 4 powered King of Fighters XV began.



Share your thoughts and memories of which truly is the King of Fighters?

[Asura]

This is a series I would've loved to get more out of... But I've never met anyone else in real life who either professes to be good at it, or really cares about playing it. Samurai Shodown and The Last Blade 2 seem far more widespread, though maybe that's just the individual people I've ran into over the years.

As a result of it being quite technical, I've never really found the time for it. Consequently the one I've played the most is King of Fighters R-2 for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, which was fantastic, but a spin-off at the end of the day.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm the opposite Never really met anyone in real life who has the first idea what Last Blade is

[Asura]

I'm the opposite Never really met anyone in real life who has the first idea what Last Blade is

Interesting It is weird. I've encountered a surprising number of people who liked it over the years; mainly people who had copied versions of it on the Dreamcast. I think it's because it has this reputation as being SNK's magnum opus, in a similar manner to how Mark of the Wolves does.

[Dogg Thang]

I was playing Garou last night after going through some SF games, following you blowing my mind with the special movies in SF2 working on release and Garou is still brilliant.

There are many KoF games I haven't played but I played all of the mainline games up to maybe 2003 or so. I find the early games very difficult. Not just against the AI but I struggle playing other people too. Something clicked in 98 for me and I'm not sure how much of it was real improvements in the game or just that the AI started to get easier so I could practice better. Either way, that's when KoF started to be a contender for me and I have enjoyed the series ever since.

I love the characters and I love the look and the backgrounds in particular have been a highlight. The pixel art is gorgeous.

But I never got great at the game and I must admit I always found myself going back to the Capcom fighters, which I find just flow a little better. But yeah, I enjoy the series. I even enjoy some of the post-SNK ones although they get hugely inconsistent even in the same game. I will struggle to remember exactly which ones but maybe it's around 2001 or 2002 that there are some newer characters that play well and some that are animated well and others that look and play terribly and don't even feel like they are part of the same game.

The NGPC games? Those are pure gold. I feel there is a lesson in those games for all game devs: work within your means and you can produce something magic. Those games were made taking every limitation of the system into account and they made the best possible game using what the system could do while not trying to do anything it couldn't do. And the results are brilliant.

[Asura]

But I never got great at the game and I must admit I always found myself going back to the Capcom fighters...

To use 3D fighting games as a comparison, I've always felt that KoF is more like Virtua Fighter, while something like Street Fighter is more like Soul Calibur.

If a beginner picks up Soul Calibur, they can mash the buttons and do awesome-looking moves.
If an intermediate player picks up Soul Calibur, they can learn the moveset and improve at the game's fundamentals, which are largely presented as part and parcel with the gameplay.
An expert can master Soul Calibur.

And generally speaking, in Soul Calibur, the better player will always win, because the game has enough depth to support that.

Street Fighter is like this. It's fun for everyone, but the game does have depth and can be mastered. Admittedly, in SF, going from "intermediate" to "expert" can be difficult, but going from "beginner" to "intermediate" is much more straightforward with continued play.

Virtua Fighter is abrasive for beginners. Flail around on the stick and hammer the buttons, and your character will move in a (forgive the distasteful comparison, but it really is the best way to describe it) seizure-like manner. Plus, going from beginner to intermediate, or any degree of mastery, is like trying to climb a ladder with no rungs. There are training modes which were added to some of the later games, but the fact of the matter is that those are necessary because VF's design can't communicate how to improve within the context of the game.

When mastered, VF is a sublime game. It's just amazing fun, but it requires an investment of time and genuine "work" in order to get to that point.

Ultimately this is why Tekken, Soul Calibur and Dead or Alive are still going and Virtua Fighter isn't.

I believe KoF is similar, in that to westerners who aren't au fait with SNK - and I'm going to rile people here - King of Fighters just looks like a Street Fighter clone, fought by a ragtag bunch of characters wearing 80s-esque clothes. That additional depth is not evident.

[J0e Musashi]

Those spin-off games aren’t anything to do with KOF. What am I missing?

[Nu-Eclipse]

Those spin-off games aren’t anything to do with KOF. What am I missing?

This.

Some of the games listed are a REAL stretch and that's putting it mildly.

SVC Chaos clearly isn't a KOF game by any measure, nor is Battle Coliseum, SNK Heroines and many, many others there.

Just listing the main series from '94 to whatever it is now would've sufficed.

[wakka]

Yeah, Superman Falls, can you stop creating rich, detailed content for us all to read and to spark discussions? It's a right pain in the arse.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Lol. Clearly not the point made, but okay.

Supes' posts are obviously top-draw, but y'know...some of those games listed aren't canon.

[wakka]

Hehe. That's my sense of humour. I just get irked when I see OPs with loads of effort that then get nitpicks instead of praise. Really like how SF and Leon's posts in here get the forum talking.

My on topic contribution:

KOF is a series that I've always admired from afar but, aside from some fairly heavy play of R2 on the Pocket Color, I've really not touched at all. It feels like a difficult series to tackle, which is part of the problem. I mean, look at the list. Non-canon and spinoff stuff aside, that's still a ****load of games.

Where should a total noob at KOF begin?

[Dogg Thang]

Well I’m far from an expert so not sure I’m the best person to advise but I’d recommend going with ‘98 or ‘99 or around there and starting with Kyo, Terry and maybe Ryo, who are pretty good Ryu/Kens of the series and are all pretty easy to pick up. They’re a good starting point, I reckon. Some of the kicky characters like Joe are pretty easy to start with too. Basically, if their moves looks Street Fightery, they’re probably easier to get to grips with.

[J0e Musashi]

‘98/UM and ‘02/UM pretty much cover anything put out by SNK proper. The moves are refined, and they are relatively easy to pick up. Neowave is pretty solid; almost a rehash of ‘02, but is enjoyable as it retains the correct feel.

94-‘97 are too dated now. ‘99-‘01 and ‘03 are just rubbish, though I personally like ‘01. Joe Higashi is particularly great in this version.

All of the newer efforts from XI onwards are neither here nor there for me. None of them are particularly amazing in any way.

[Neon Ignition]

The side games are a definite stretch but I typically try to group franchises which is why the Sonic thread avoided non-platformers. With this, the spin-offs don't align yet largely exist on the basis that King of Fighters does even if they share little DNA in the final product. They otherwise likely wouldn't fit another thread as well so mixed them in here, plus they add some spice as the mainline KOF's are largely so similar.

Due to preferring how Street Fighter plays I was slow to take to King of Fighters. 94 and 95 are key ones that probably saw the most play but I always held a softer spot for 96 and 97 which were conventional iterations but had a certain appeal about them. 98 was good and sums up the series till that point but tbh never rocked my boat that hugely. After that things remain solid but the soul seemed to get progressively stripped from the series. 2002 Unlimited was the next one to really win me over but my main shout out has to go to KOF XIII, it's just sublime.

KOF XIV is decent as well, there's an air about it that they may need another entry or two to refine the experience again but it's a shocking decent base to work from.

[Team Andromeda]

I like them all tbh. KOF 96 will also be my fav though... I loved that intro and it was also the time when I was young, in work and single, most of my mates were either in collage, work, or Uni. So there was always a day, weekend, when we would all get together and plays games in a gang regularly. We used to team up in 2 groups and when one of the fightings was killed in your group, you'll have to had over the joypad, so your mate could take over. So we used to have ace competitions and such fun.

Bloody hate getting old