The King of Fighters

[Anonymous No.3572951]

Hey /vr/, I'm an amateur fighting game player that mostly plays Capcom games against human opponents. I enjoy SNK games, but I'm not very good at them. If there was one KoF game that would be good for practice/understanding the series more in general, what would that be?

Also, general KoF/SNK fighting thread.

[Anonymous No.3572989]

kof 98 and 2002 are the main retro ones people play. 96,97,and 99 are good too

kof is easy to pickup if you are into capcom fighters i would say. the jumps are pretty complicated though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r75Lz1Drp8g

[Anonymous No.3573282]

I think KOF is more rewarding of aggressive play while SF is more rewarding of defensive

[Anonymous No.3573824]

>>3572989

>all that shorthop and hyperhop shit

I could never get into these games just because of this alone. Are those easier to do on stick? I play pad and it's just not reasonable.

[Anonymous No.3573852]

>>3573824
yeah it is, still alot to get down though

[Anonymous No.3573853]

SNK has cooler characters than Capcom

[Anonymous No.3573858]

>>3573853
Idk about that....I like both equally...and all of the early characters are on par I'd say, but KOF and onward I'd say KOF went in a more "gay" by Western standards and fangirl fanservice by Eastern standards direction, which I wouldn't call "cooler"....just different

[Anonymous No.3573882]

>>3573858
It's true to an extent, but Capcom also got stuck with its old men, karatekas, shallow stereotypes and characters "borrowed" from anima and manga. Both companies weren't perfect, but at least SNK characters weren't as flat and dull, always having lots of personality. Oh, and they weren't fucking ugly too.

SNK just made more relatable and relevant characters most of the time, who actually had some sense of fashion (which can't be said about any Capcom character). Yes, eventually they went more in the "idol" direction (i.e. faggy by western standards as you said), producing some controversial characters along the way. But there's always the old Fatal Fury/Art of Fighting cast for those who dislike the newer, sleazier characters.

[Anonymous No.3573902]

>>3572951
See the video >>3572989 linked.

Also, http://wiki.shoryuken.com/The_King_of_Fighters_'98:_The_Slugfest . This is a hugely useful wiki that will tell you all you need to know about mist characters.

The big difference between SF and KoF is that the latter is more focused on melee. Fei-Long-style characters thrive in KoF, and command grabs are big in it too. Also, KoF has much stronger pressure tools like air CD and mixup tools like hopping. It's all about getting in the face of the opponent and pressuring him.

On the other hand, there's less accent on other stuff. Footsies like in SF don't fly very well in KoF because attack range is usually shorter and characters jump much quicker. Fireballs are usually used not for keeping the opponent away but for pressuring instead.

I'd advice to watch some pro matches online to understand the game better.

[Anonymous No.3573916]

>>3573882

I was always impressed with how expressive SNK's designs where

[Anonymous No.3573918]

>>3573916
boobies

[Anonymous No.3573921]

>>3573918

well yes those too. But in general the characters exude personality

[Anonymous No.3573924]

>>3573921
but sir I don't think you understand
the BOOBIES

[Anonymous No.3573925]

>>3573924

[Anonymous No.3573937]

>>3573853
SNK does have cooler characters, but that's mainly because of Samurai Shodown and not KoF.

[Anonymous No.3573949]

>>3573925
That's a Capcom vs SNK sprite.

[Anonymous No.3574115]

>>3573882
>borrowed from anima and manga
>what is benimaru

[Anonymous No.3574151]

KOF 97 is one of the easiest KOF out there, you should totally play that one. Also gameplay wise is very similar to 98 which is the most popular.

[Anonymous No.3574201]

>>3574115
No denying that, half SNK chars are "borrowed" from anime or elsewhere as well.

The problem is, my favorite Capcom characters for the most part turned out to be ripoffs, like Yun/Yang, Guile, Rose and so on. The rest are pretty bland and uninspiring, at least to me. SNK did copy others, but their original chars still had a lot of personality and cool designs, from Iori and Kyo to Kim and Terry.

But when it comes to shameless copying, SNK knows no rivals. Original Choi, Benimaru, K9999, and now Sylvie Paula Paula who's super cute but couldn't be more obvious in her "inspirations".

Then again, Capcom made Roy Bromwell and Remy. Yes, SNK had Ryo, but given that the game was made by former Capcom employees, it was more or less forgivable… In any case, both companies have done a lot of bad things.

[Anonymous No.3574232]

>>3574151
also has Geese which 98 doesn't

[Anonymous No.3574239]

>>3574232
thinking of 96, woops

[Anonymous No.3574290]

>>3574239
'96 is too flawed/raw compared to the staple of the series, '98.

[Anonymous No.3574297]

>>3572951

'98 is the most beginner-friendly in my experience, and it has arguably the best roster of the original series.

[Anonymous No.3574442]

>>3573916
>>3573925
>pixel titty jiggle
God bless SNK

[Anonymous No.3574557]

95, 97, 98, (original and UM edition), 2000, 2002 UM, XI, XIII and XIV are good KOFs

95 is a good one but outdated compared to the rest.

97 would of been good if they added in music to all the characters instead of ambient sounds.

In terms of gameplay and characters usually the dream matches are the best choice.
I've been playing alot of 98 UM and i've been enjoying it more since it has Geese, Krauser, and Eiji and the tracks form other games like Real Bout, AOF 2, and Fatal Fury 3.

2000 is the only NEST canon game i feel that should be played for the easter eggs and the amazing OST

2K2 UM imo is the best KOF due to the sheer amount of characters (NIGHTMARE GEESE) and major revamping of 2002 vanilla but you miss Krauser, K9999, and the music is a hit or miss.

Thats it in terms of Retro KOFs

[Anonymous No.3574572]

>>3574557
why the hell did you skip 96

[Anonymous No.3574592]

>>3574572
And 2001, he even mentioned K9999.

96 and 2001 are better than 95 and 2000.

[Anonymous No.3574769]

>>3574592
96 is just ok, I used to like it back as a kid but Leona is broken n terms of AI but it has Geese and great soundtrack so its good but not as 97.

>2001 good
yeah, no both the games made by Eolith weren't good.glad SNK revamped 2002 in UM because its just mediocre at best.

[Anonymous No.3574842]

>>3573949
so?
boobies.

[Anonymous No.3574878]

>>3574557
>Goose Howard

ok, I've seen that joke before, still funny tho...

>open image
>Rock Howard

hahaahah

[Anonymous No.3574884]

[Anonymous No.3574934]

Great: 98, 98UM, 2002UM, XI, XIII

Good: 95, 97, 2000

Ok: 96, 99, 2002, 2003

Bad/obsolete: 94, 2001, XII

Haven't played XIV yet but the reception has been pretty positive.

[Anonymous No.3574946]

>>3572951
2003 is pretty much unfinished and it's pretty jank, don't bother
2002 has a lot of issues, but it's fun, probably the second best, 2002UM fixes a ton of shit though, 13 and 14 take more from 2002 mechanically than from prior games
2001 is not a good game at all, but it's fun to fuck around in, and strikers are always retarded
2000 is pretty solid, strikers are still retarded, best OST
ignore anyone who says 99 is a good game, also strikers are retarded
98 is ideal -- balance isn't the greatest (enjoy getting fucked by Iori/Chizuru/Daimon), but most of the cast is actually viable to some extent
97 is very, very similar to 98, but it's a buggier, less-balanced game, also has some really weird move properties
96 is just not finished, but it's the first "modern" KOF with hops and rolling, it's buggy and Leona is retarded, was the one I played the most when I was younger though
never did really like

tl;dr:
play 98, 2002, 2000

not 100% sure if 98UM actually is flat-out better than OG 98, but 2002UM is definitely better than OG 2002
2002 continues to surprise me every single day I play it. There's things about 98 that bug me, but it doesn't make me feel like the game is falling apart at the seams.

[Anonymous No.3574983]

>TFW KOF 2001 was the first KOF game I ever got into because it was one of my first burned Dreamcast games.

I fucking still love KOF 2001. It's so fast-paced compared to most of the other ones.

[Anonymous No.3574991]

>>3573824
I've almost always played on pad and mostly KoF over the year. It's all plenty do-able. In reality, pad, stick and keyboard are all very equal, it all comes down to what you build your muscle memory on. It really is all practice practice practice till your fingers are used to it.

[Anonymous No.3575075]

>>3572951
98 and 02 then see me on fightcade

[Anonymous No.3575406]

>>3574991

Yeah, it's doable, but man, those 2xHCB supers, pretzels, etc are all really hard. I grew up as a capcom babby so the hardest i ever had to do was like, 360P or whatever.

[Anonymous No.3575408]

>>3575075
>98 on Fightcade
I'm afraid of the Koreans.

[Anonymous No.3575550]

>>3575406
Lad, have you ever played SSFIIT?

> 720 motion grab
> Charge D, U, D, U+P

I also have trouble with 2xHCB, but read up on move shortcuts in KoF. It makes those easier.

[Anonymous No.3575553]

98 is the best "serious face" option and a strong pick overall, 02 or 13/14 if you like big combo games, 00 or XI if you want to fuck around a lot, 95 if you want a taste of early SNK

>>3575406
Pretzels are easier if you just do it as 2xHCB then go to down-forward

>>3575408
That's why you have your friends on /vr/ to play with!

[Anonymous No.3575560]

Do all the KOFs have long, "we want the marvel audience" combos the way XIII does? I want to play as Raiden, but he's only in that one and I'm not memorizing 30 pages worth of inputs and training my thumbs to do it.

[Anonymous No.3575563]

>>3574934
>>3574946
>no list ever mentions the KOF that time forgot

[Anonymous No.3575568]

>>3575560
Marvel combos didn't exist in KOF until 02 and even then they were moderated by costing a lot of meter and draining the bar quickly, XIII is when the long combos really came to a head but fortunately XIV reined it in a bit

98's combo system is like ST where a 5 hit combo is normal and 10 hits is long, 99-01 added assists and Armor/Counter modes which make some longer combos possible but it's usually not the most economical use of your meter

[Anonymous No.3575571]

>>3575568

Cheers anon, guess I'll grab 98 UM and give it a whirl.

[Anonymous No.3575585]

>>3575571
98UM combos are a bit longer than in regular 98 if you pick Extra mode due to the addition of Quick Max, Advanced mode is the same between both versions. The difference between Advanced and Extra is basically that Extra plays like 95/96 and Advanced plays like modern KOF:

1) Running for movement in Advanced vs. forward dash in Extra
2) Rolling for evasive action in Advanced vs. cancelable sidestep in Extra. In 98UM they also made it so your walk speed is faster in Extra
3) Conventional "land attacks to build meter" with multiple stocks in Advanced vs. "hold A+B+C to charge your meter" and free use of supers (with a cooldown period between uses) in Extra. 98UM added Quick Max for Extra and generally revamped how the meter works in that mode

Ultimate mode in 98UM simply lets you mix-and-match between the 3 options above

[Anonymous No.3575590]

>>3575585
Forgot to mention the unlimited supers in Extra only kicks in when you get below around 20% HP and 98UM added a cooldown period after you use a free super (doesn't apply if you spent meter to use the super)

[Anonymous No.3575591]

>>3575563
not retro REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Anonymous No.3575607]

>>3575406
>tfw it took me years before I could do 2xHCB consistently
feels kind of bad actually, fuck that input

why couldn't all the 2xHCB inputs be something normal -- even if they didn't want 2xQCF/QCB, they could have done the other usual KOF inputs like HCB,f or QCB,HCF or whatever, things that actually like to come out

[Anonymous No.3575623]

>>3575607
It's a filter of sorts. You need to 1) be Asian and 2) have no life to get enough determination to pull these off.

[Anonymous No.3575632]

>>3574946
>>3574934
Good opinions

>>3574557
Good opinion too, but with too much of "muh Geese"

The only thing I slightly disagree with is people's thoughts on '95. It's not a bad game, but it simply doesn't have most things KoF is known for. It's much closer to ST than '98, KoF drastically changed in '96 and was pretty much a different game from that time onwards. Plus '95 has all that cr.B mashing and not-so-great controls. I'd say you certainly shouldn't play it first. Just go with '98.

[Anonymous No.3575663]

>>3575563

That's because it's kind of shit but not so horrible that it sticks out

[Anonymous No.3576316]

>>3575406
Ohh yeah they're hard to get used to, no question. All I'm saying is they're not really any easier with a stick unless you're already better using one.

[Anonymous No.3576360]

>>3575406
>pretzels
There's literally one (1 (that's one)) pretzel move I remember in KoF. And it's for Geese.

[Anonymous No.3576362]

>>3575563

That's because it's completely forgettable, aside from Young Geese.

[Anonymous No.3576368]

>>3574934

Not retro, but 14 is way better than it has any right to be, especially when you consider it's a new team working mostly from scratch.

[Anonymous No.3576371]

>>3576368
>new team working mostly from scratch.
What.

I read in the interviews they had a lot of the old cast. Plus from everything I've seen, it's '98 all over again (which means you can't fuck it up).

[Anonymous No.3576390]

>>3576371

They brought in some of the old guard (director, voice actors) but a lot of the programmers are new. By "from scratch" I meant the engine, sorry for wording it poorly. And you're absolutely right about '98. Crazy that game is almost 20 years old and is still the high watermark of the series.

[Anonymous No.3576409]

>>3575632
I like Geese, idk he's just a badass and usually things get more interesting when he's around tho I'm really wanting to see Marco/Butt, Rock Howard, Kim's Kids, Hom-Fu, Remy :^), Genjuro, and Hattori Hanzo in canon KOF games

95 is the best ORIGINAL KOF formula based game. 94 is for those that are interested in seeing where the series began. i like the stages and music in 95 but not as much as 2000.

[Anonymous No.3576417]

>>3576409

Geese is awesome because he knows he is. It's not considered being cocky when you can back it up 100%.

[Anonymous No.3576434]

>>3576362
>implying this isn't the most forgettable KOF of all

[Anonymous No.3576437]

>>3576434

You're comparing the first game in the series to a game that came out years into the run. Of course the first game is rough, they're still chiseling away at the block.

Unless you're talking about ReBout. That one wasn't all that great.

[Anonymous No.3576479]

>>3575550
> Charge D, U, D, U+P
doesn't exist

[Anonymous No.3576530]

>>3576417
agreed, Usually when he's present in any game, you know he's gonna fuck shit up I screamed like crazy when he was announced for KOF XIV and he plays amazing in that game
Geese is the strongest weeaboo

[Anonymous No.3577169]

>>3573916

Vanessa is such a great design yet at the same time it's pretty simple.

Proof that you don't need a character to look like a jackass to be good.

[Anonymous No.3577686]

>>3572951
you mean aside from the one that just came out?

they're easy as crap to download and emulate. try em all. ( I like 98 myself)

[Anonymous No.3578738]

>>3573902
Never go to shoryuken for SNK related information. They are biased for Capcom and against SNK, any of the information up there is for Capcom players dabbing in a Neo Geo game as opposed to someone who just played Neo Geo games.
What you really want is Orochinagi or Dreamcancel.

[Anonymous No.3578742]

>>3574557
>95 is a good one but outdated compared to the rest.
This is the statement said by casual players. 94 and 95 are in completely different style and mechanics compared to the rest of the series, the only thing it shares is characters and movelist, and even the moves aren't so much alike. Once you learn 94 and 95, you'll see that those two have just as big depth as newer games like 11 or 13.

[Anonymous No.3578796]

>>3575406
Pretzels are so satisfying though. Few things as orgasmic as pulling off Raising Storm. It's much easier to pull off in the later games, though.

[Anonymous No.3578826]

>>3572951
Don't matter what title, don't matter what game, you'll never compare to the series' fanbase, who has been playing the games for the last dozen years.

So if you don't mind that you'll never EVER win a single battle your entire life, go ahead and play them.

[Anonymous No.3578851]

>>3578742
94 and 95 are bugfests. 94 is plagged by 3 hit dizzys. 95 has tods everywhere ; both have a kinda boring design, especially fireballs.

96 is also bug-ridden, but it introduced a lot very important changes like input standardization, max supers, fireball variety, autoguard... And presentation is absolutely fantasic, ESAKA? became SNK anthem.

[Anonymous No.3579019]

>>3578826

Quit trying to scare new players off, if you pick a team of top tier characters and learn some fundamentals you can at least stand a chance.

[Anonymous No.3579027]

>>3578826
OP here, I played 98 at my game center last night and beat someone. He won two games against me, but still, you're wrong.

[Anonymous No.3579880]

>>3578796
What did they do to make it easier? The motion hasn't changed, has it?

[Anonymous No.3579910]

>>3579880
in KOF XIV (Not retro i know) but its easier to do, its the same pattern as the Kyos Orochinagi.

[Anonymous No.3579912]

>>3579880
>The motion hasn't changed, has it?
No, it's the same, but just executes much more easily.

[Anonymous No.3579920]

>>3579910
That sounds super lame.

>>3579912
That sounds acceptable, so long as it's not too loose. Part of KoF is about the difficult movements, but with that motion only being used for really one move it made learning the memory to do it reliably feel like kind of a waste.

[Anonymous No.3579929]

>>3579920
>Part of KoF is about the difficult movements
lol no, 96 standardized much motions.
unless you somehow consider ranbus and geysers difficult

[Anonymous No.3579939]

>>3579929
I'm comparing it to other series like SF, and like. Part of what gives KoF it's flavor to me is the abundance of orochinagi motions, hcbx2 etc. It's one of the reasons Mark of the Wolves always felt a bit boring.

[Anonymous No.3580178]

>>3579920
Yeah it was dissapointing but hearing GEESE say RAGING STORM is always satisfying and doing the pretzel movement. Always loved his thunder blade too. But it was easier to do it with Rocks its just Quarter Circle X 2 and a punch.