With KOF XIV, we’re also getting a new story about interdimensional travel and even some old friends like Orochi making a comeback. It then caps off with a French guy named Ash Crimson stealing flames and sacred treasures from past characters with an agenda of his own. Then it takes a 180-degree turn with the sci-fi N.E.S.T story, where secret organizations are creating their own brand of flame-throwing Kyos with one of them rebelling against his masters and “siblingsâ€. Major key players change up their fighting styles based on the story, and characters get ousted because they end up dead at the end of each KOF entry. What started out as a simple fighting tournament run by a rich and ripped German criminal escalated into a conspiracy revolving around an ancient ritual of reviving a demon god loosely based on the Yamato no Orochi folklore from Japan. The only caveat is that you have to do a lot of digging from outside sources unless you can read SNK’s brand of Japanese-translated English because it’s a whole new level of its own. Speaking of story, the King of Fighters series span a huge epic of a tale unheard of in fighting games. If you want the ultimate in fighting game rosters, KOF can’t be beat. We get to see Taekwondo expert Kim Kaphwan’s teacher and his nubile wife, as well as guest stars like Nakoruru from Samurai Shodown and Mui Mui from that one SNK pachinko game. Players and newbies will be spoiled for choice over what their favourite team combinations are, let alone who their favourite character is.Īnd with KOF XIV already out, the roster now spans over 40 characters of varying styles and looks. This is very noticeable in the dream match King of Fighters titles like KOF ‘98 and KOF 2002, where they disregard story canon to bring in all the characters they can cram in for one fighting game fiesta. Athena and Kensou from arcade shooter Psycho Soldiers are your modified “shoto” fireball-tossing uppercutting teenage combatants with slight variations. Ikari Warriors Ralf and Clarke appear in KOF as full-fledged grappler & bruiser archetypes. SNK also dug up their old games for alternate characters. Need someone more advanced? Try out the white-haired well-endowed brawler Angel who plays sort of like a 3D fighting game character. Fancy a beginner type character? You have human flamethrower Kyo, purple flamethrower nemesis Iori, and American cap bearer Terry Bogard. To say that the selection of fighters in the KOF series is huge is an understatement. To further celebrate SNK’s 40th anniversary, let’s look back at the series and find out why it’s still a favourite among old-school and new-school fighting game fans. Still, it wasn’t all bad as the company came back again as SNK Playmore, which then became just SNK again in April 2016. Then again, the series also had its tragic moments as well, with the company’s bankruptcy back in 2001 it had to sell off its properties to South Korean companies like Eolith whose take on the KOF series did not do them justice. From its 1994 debut, it became so popular, going so far as to be a perennial favourite against the likes of Capcom’s Street Fighter series. The Top 15 SNK Games You Must Play Before You Dieīack on August 25, 1994, a company called Shin Nihon Kikaku (aka SNK) thought it was a good idea to combine characters from their Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games, along with those from outside of their fighting games titles, into one mix-mash fighting game.Īnd thus, the King of Fighters series was born, with top fighting game directors and producers like Takashi Nishiyama (a former Street Fighter developer), Eikichi Kawasaki, and Masanori Kuwasashi at the helm.We can’t have a continuous SNK retrospective leading up to Retro DNA’s showcase this October without doing a King of Fighters article now, can we? Ask and you shall receive.Â
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