King of Fighters appreciation thread

[Anonymous No.4245840]

A real shame King of Fighters never caught on north of the Mexican border.

I was one of three kids to own an NGPC, which forged my undying infatuation with the KOF series, eclipsing even my love for Street Fighter. An arcade I'd hit up had KOF99 on the NeoGeo cabinet, so I'd spend gobs of tokens playing through it several times over.

Anyone else into KOF or other SNK fighting games?

Favorites, including the non-retro titles: 98 UM > 02 UM > XIII > 99 > R-2 > 97 = 95 > R-1 > 96 > 00 > 94 > 01 > XII

Haven't played 2003, XI, Maximum Impact or Neowave, so I can't judge.

Favorite characters: Heidern, Leona, Kyo, K', Vanessa, Iori, Yamazaki, Mature, Maxima, Ralf, Terry, Takuma, Robert, Ryo, Kim, Heavy D!, Brian, Choi, Joe, Benimaru, Krizalid, Rugal

Sexiest characters: Vanessa, Blue Mary, Mature, Shermie, King, Vice, Leona, Mai

Cute ones: Yuri, Whip, Kula, Chris, Athena

Least favorites: Ramon, Eiji, Orochi, Goenitz, Kasumi, Chizuru, Chang, Bao

[Anonymous No.4245842]

>>4245840
>Kasumi

Fuck you. Kasumi is great.

[Anonymous No.4245843]

>>4245840
The Orochi Saga

KOF94: Humble beginnings. Introduced identifiable characters we know and love, but the limited gameplay, lack of customizable teams and dull soundtrack kill any replay value. At best, it's an artifact for curious players.

KOF95: A marked improvement on its predecessor. Kyo's rival Iori was introduced as well as some other characters from SNK fighting games. Soundtrack is far superior with several memorable songs, including the fearsome Desert Requiem. A good fighter, but you will be left yearning for more. In spite of the customizable teams, gameplay still leaves a little to be desired.

KOF96: Oh, boy. A missed opportunity. Introduced even more cool characters, including Leona, Vice and Mature. The improved gameplay, slick sprites and rockin' soundtrack almost outdoes the predecessor. Unfortunately, the multiplayer wasn't improved, and the distinct lack of extras was sorely disappointing.

KOF97: The end of the Orochi saga. The New Face/Orochi Team is introduced, including the suave bruiser Yashiro and sexy Shermie. Despite the greatly limited soundtrack, the few tracks are quite rockin'. A step up from 96 and on par with 95.

KOF98: Everyone's favorite. An all-star cast including every playable character from 94-97. The remade American Sports Team fits into the game neatly. The soundtrack compiles the best songs from 94-98, including a remade Esaka. Customizable gameplay, a plus. Ultimate Match somehow makes this even cooler.

[Anonymous No.4245845]

The NESTS Saga

KOF99: A favorite in part due to personal nostalgia and the soundtrack, which outshines all the others. Slick and stylish graphics and cool character introductions, including, combo king K' and ultra chic final boss Krizalid.

KOF2000: Enter Vanessa, sexiest boxer ever. 99 without the cool soundtrack, but that's hardly an issue.

KOF2001: What a mess! Aside from the inexcusably lame new characters, the gameplay is generic and the soundtrack is shit. Wasted opportunity and a disappointing end to the NESTS saga.

KOF2002: KOF98, NESTS style! No complaints here, although the soundtrack does leave a little to be desired. A pleasant surprise considering the shit predecessor. Ultimate Match vastly improves all the flaws here and introduces a neat new soundtrack.

[Anonymous No.4245848]

>>4245840

[Anonymous No.4245851]

>>4245848

[Anonymous No.4245856]

>>4245842
Better in AoF3

[Anonymous No.4245859]

>>4245856

I really liked AoF3

[Anonymous No.4245949]

>>4245840

Man, I waspassing this thread on the catalog, I saw the thumbnail of your image and for a half a second it looked like a kid sliding down off of a horse, OP, and I wanted you to know that.

Shrink the image down and squint a little.

[Anonymous No.4245967]

>Favorite games: 98(UM) > 2002UM > 97 > Vanilla 2002 > XIII > 99 = 2000 > 95 > 96 > 2003 > 94 > 2001
>Never played: XI, XII, XIV, R1, R2, the MI games, Neowave
>Favorite characters: Terry, Shermie, Takuma, Ryo, Yashiro, Billy, Geese, Kasumi, Mature, Mary, Kim, Ralf, K', Yamazaki, Shen, Saisyu, Rugal, Original Zero, Krizalid
>Least Favorites: Iori, Chris, Xiangfei, Chin, Athena, Ash, Clone Zero, Igniz, Saiki, Lin,
>Best Fapbait: Mai, Angel, Shermie, Vanessa, Mature, Vice

[Anonymous No.4245972]

>>4245840
Why is this even more popular in my country?
I liked metal slug more, or even the racing games
than this, 98 was the best

[Anonymous No.4246227]

>>4245840
>A real shame King of Fighters never caught on north of the Mexican border.

Funny, I live way north of it any kany people play.

I can't believe you put XIII and 99 in your top 5. That's surreal to me. Enjoy your thread lol

[Anonymous No.4246395]

>>4245840
>Sexiest characters: Vanessa, Blue Mary, Mature, Shermie, King, Vice, Leona, Mai

Impeccable taste :3

Add Chizuru to it and it'd be perfect.

[Anonymous No.4246773]

>>4245972
Where are you from?

[Anonymous No.4246797]

Discovered KOF with '96 and kept playing the versions up until '99, then you couldn't find them in the arcades in my city anymore. 98 was the pinnacle IMO. But I kinda have a soft spot for 94 as well.

Really everything after the Orochi saga and SNK being sold and bought and re-sold felt like it sucked out the soul of the franchise. And I don't mean to rag on fucking Falcoon like every other SNK weeb, but once he was allowed to go full retard that was really the nail in the coffin for me.

Usually played some combination of Terry, Iori, Kyo, Kim, Joe, Blue Mary and King.

[Anonymous No.4246901]

>>4245840

highlight of my teen years was finding some bros on gameFAQs (shame, shame I know) that got me into MAME. The hours I spent playing the same four or five guys in Garou, '98, 2000, bit of Last Blade 2. Love the series.

Probs gotta hand it to '98 for being the most hours sunk in. Love playing Clark (SNK has such nice grapple and rekka mechanics) or Yamazaki, or my main fucking man Lucky Glober. Shermie had nice mechanics, Robert was always a good time, Benimaru made me question a lot of things..

years past now, haven't spoken to them in years. I like where the series went, I even like Ash, Elizabeth, etc. Always liked Eiji too, purple Gi or something. Glad it still gets some love.

'96 had the best OST, but some of the NESTs stuff was catchy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA7NkmbvV_E

[Anonymous No.4246980]

>>4245843
>>4245845
dunno what the hell this list is (99 ain't good, and it's missing the important bits)

here's an actual list
>94
it's okay, super obsolete
no team edit really, really sucks
>95
94 but better
also Iori
backgrounds become less interesting for a while after this point
>96
first modern KOF game with hops and the lot
it's busted as heck
also Leona (is busted as heck)
extremely, ridiculously good music here
>97
cool presentation, less busted than 96 (still busted, lol Terry)
lol no music half the time (cool atmosphere though)
obsoleted by 98, which plays extremely similarly to 97
>98
damn near perfect (play OG 98 over 98UM just because of fightcade)
has clear tiers and the lot, but the whole cast except the absolute worst of the lot at least approaches viable
okay music
best KOF mechanically
no story though
>99
10/10 backgrounds
also K'
game sucks though
also lol they screwed up backrolling
strikers suck as a mechanic
music's solid
>2000
okay mechanics, coooool music (dat piano), cool graphics
also Kula
strikers still suck
probably the third best /vr/ KOF
>2001
relatively ugly kusoge with mostly awful music
play it for shits and giggles, it's still fun in that regard
strikers suck (extra hard here)
also lol poorly implemented ratio system (2v2 is a fun format though, but 1v4 is retarded and 4v4 is also awful)
>2002
it's a fucking buggy mess (I've spent fucking years being continually surprised by this game), but it's still a fairly good game
heck, it's the second best /vr/ KOF in terms of mechanics (discounting 97 since 2002 plays far more differently compared to 98)
but play 02UM instead (fightcade community is kind of lame for this game, unlike with OG 98)
music kind of sucks (UM's music is ace)
backgrounds are meh
also no story here
>2003
very literally unfinished
also Ash
tries to be like Marvel with live switching but not really and fucks it up

[Anonymous No.4246995]

>>4245840
>favorite characters
Kyo, Iori, Athena, K', Kula, Yuri, Bao (mostly because of 2002UM)

>sexiest
Angel, Mai, Athena, Mature, Leona, Blue Mary, Bao

>cutest
Chris, Momoko, Kula, Bao, Yuri, Xiangfei

>least favorites
Chris, Choi, Chang

>>4245856
I constantly wish AOF3 was less... off putting? It feels wrong.
game's ridiculously good looking, even if some of the smooooooth) animations are a bit stilted
Really, all of the AOF games feel a bit wrong, but they look great.

[Anonymous No.4247032]

There's only three women that can be the sexiest
Blue Mary, Vice, King

[Anonymous No.4247085]

>>4247032
>Vanessa
>not sexy

I think you might be gay, brah.

[Anonymous No.4247105]

>>4245840
KOF 97 was the first game I fell in love with
Love KOF

[Anonymous No.4247572]

>>4246980
>heck instead of hell
>inconsistent opinions

What are you twelve?

[Anonymous No.4247637]

>>4247572
>implying a grown man can't say heck whenever the fuck he wants
also,
>inconsistent opinions
explain?

[Anonymous No.4247643]

>>4245840
Jesus, this art style is fucking terrible. Why do they all look like AJ Soprano? Is everyone in this world born with a chin implant?

[Anonymous No.4247668]

>>4247643
Still way better than generic anime shit.

[Anonymous No.4247681]

I like Kula and think she's cute.

[Anonymous No.4247689]

>>4247668
Agreed, but only because modern anime is absolute cancer and the old-school pastel aesthetic is charming. The actual character faces look mega retarded though.

[Anonymous No.4247701]

>>4245840
You wanna know the reason why this series only caught on with beaners?

Because the fucking games haven't changed since 1996 until 2004, and even then all they did was switch to the Atomiswave and add an awful bi-linear blur filter to the sprites which were still using the dated as fuck sprite style from 1996, its a budget game series with an anual entry.

I never liked KoF, i actually always loved SF.

[Anonymous No.4247725]

>>4247701
Overtime, I came to like the other Capcom fighting games better than Street Fighter. Rival Schools, Darkstalkers and Tech Romancer were all ace in my book.

[Anonymous No.4247753]

Anybody else play this?

[Anonymous No.4247765]

>>4247701

Besides Third Strike, most Capcom fighters feel lackluster and a bit lame to me. I like the variance in their games (Rival School, Alpha Series, Star Gladiator, -vC, Power Stones especially) and the character design of Vampire Savior but I never seek them out as a fighter.

not to argue SNK held down more amazing games in terms of quality or quantity, but I personally get more joy playing Garou or '98 than a Capcom counterpart. Bit faster, better thought out rekka and SC system, better music. Can't argue on recycled assets, but then Capcom reused sprites for a literal decade.

Own CvS2 on ps2 but have no one to play against. Wish there were some peeps around for it.

[Anonymous No.4247773]

>>4247753
>Who played Son Goku in Rie Miyazawa's Journey to the West
Outdated 90s trivia.

[Anonymous No.4247776]

>>4247753
>Who played the main character Son Goku in Rie Miyazawa's Journey to the West
It's outdated 90s trivia.

[Anonymous No.4247794]

>>4247776
Nothing is outdated for /vr/. Trivia is by definition useless anyway.

[Anonymous No.4247974]

>>4247085
I said sexiest, she's nice but those 3 are the best

[Anonymous No.4247994]

Said it before and i say it again KOF94 is really underrated. Its probably the most polished of them all, since they spend longer than just 12 months on this. The music rocks too.

The reason with KOF, why it never caught on in the USA is because 94 didnt get enough magazine coverage there. Sure it was EGM's fighter of the year. Sure Gamefan loved it too, but they did nothing to actively promote it. SFII overshadowed it all during those days. Rightfully so even.

[Anonymous No.4248002]

Said it before and i say it again KOF94 is really underrated. Its probably the most polished of them all, since they spent longer than just 12 months on this. The music rocks too. It's easy to trash a game in retrospective, but back then 94 was truly ORIGINAL and groundbreaking. Also without KOF94 there would have been no sequels obviously.

The reason with KOF, why it never caught on in the USA is because 94 didnt get enough magazine coverage there. Sure it was EGM's fighter of the year. Sure Gamefan loved it too, but they did nothing to actively promote it. SFII overshadowed it all during those days. Rightfully so even.

[Anonymous No.4248008]

>>4245840
>Least favorites: Ramon, Eiji, Orochi, Goenitz, Kasumi, Chizuru, Chang, Bao

Eiji, Ramon and goenitz fucking suck, like worst character design evah

chang is pretty cool and chizuru is alright imo

[Anonymous No.4248230]

>>4245840
>A real shame King of Fighters never caught on north of the Mexican border.
Funny, I thought mexicans LOVED it.

In my country it's still pretty popular, too bad it's often related to some of the shadier parts of my cities (like, it's the favorite game of thugs and thiefs) and such.

My favorite games are 98 and XIII, I'm not too good at combos, I'm more of a reaction kind of guy but I love playing with Athena, Terry, Ralf and Elisabeth.

[Anonymous No.4248234]

>>4247643
Oh no you just didn't SHIT on Shikiro's art.

[Anonymous No.4248237]

>>4248230
>Funny, I thought mexicans LOVED it.
Reading comprehension, dude.

I said it didn't catch on NORTH of the Mexican border. That means it caught on SOUTH of the border, which includes Mexico.

[Anonymous No.4248273]

>>4247701
There's clear "eras" of KOF where the actual gameplay changes dramatically. 94->95 is like a revision, and then 96 changes fucking tons.
97->98 feels like a revision. 99 changes tons and 2000 changes a fair bit, probably half-way between a revision and an a sequel.
and SNK kept redrawing sprites
hell, 98->99->2000 had some major redraws across the board

and if you're thinking SNK everything looked and played the same, they had Art of Fighting with its HUGE sprites (drawn in high-res because the Neo Geo can't upscale sprites, only shrink them), Fatal Fury kept trying to do weird shit mechanically and the Real Bout series looked way different to KOF, they had Samurai Shodown, etc
AOF3 and Garou MOTW were SNK's big, high-budget games with assloads of animation.

SNK going under hurt shit though. By 2001, they really needed to shake the look up, but they were too busy being bankrupt. Hence, KOF2001 fucking sucked because it was made by literally who devs, and it wasn't for ages that SNK recovered, releasing a bunch of shit just to get money coming in (KOF2003, KOFXI, SvC Chaos, etc)
SNK finally got some money from that shit and made KOF13 (well, they pushed 12 out the door first just to get some revenue coming in during that expensive process), and it turns out that making shit look good is expensive.
shit, that sort of thing affected Capcom after SF3, they stopped making backgrounds look as good, they started recycling sprites like crazy, they didn't even care about making sprite styles look consistent anymore
all of the older arcade companies kind of were getting fucked right about then

I'll totally admit that KOF was kind of SNK's lower budget series (Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury got bigger and/or more animated sprites), but KOF made up in spades with the huge roster.

[Anonymous No.4248461]

>>4245840
KoF R2 and '99 are my favourites, the former is just such a fun game to play on the go

[Anonymous No.4248818]

>>4248237
>comprehension

Yeah not on /vr/ mate.

[Anonymous No.4248824]

>>4248461
loved R2 too! such a fun little game

[Anonymous No.4249560]

>>4245840
No XIV?

[Anonymous No.4249567]

>>4245845
>99 without the cool soundtrack
99 has a few very good tracks, but it also has a bunch of duds. 00 is more melodic and consistent.

[Anonymous No.4249574]

Mai is trash.
Classic Leona is best girl.

[Anonymous No.4249613]

>>4249567
>99 has a few very good tracks
This is bullshit and you know it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU8oVZpWk-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNK9MA7NUiM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PddekUUb00g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVyj3xDWMXA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVuon4OLtpE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXPcDwqTtlM

[Anonymous No.4250327]

>>4249574
No argument here

[Anonymous No.4250524]

>>4245843
>>4246980
Is there a reason why KOF97 doesn't have a complete soundtrack?

[Anonymous No.4250531]

>>4249560
Haven't played XIV yet, so I can't comment. The graphics looked heinous and even the patch hardly looks better; like polishing a turd.

On another note, is there a reason why XII exists? It plays like a demo disc.

[Anonymous No.4251493]

>>4248234
It's the cheapest form of rhetorical signaling around here to diss Shinkiro. Remember those retards who think they're so witty going "SAME FACE"?

[Anonymous No.4251563]

>>4245840
The perfect analogies for the female roster of two major franchises.

Street Fighter = Ass
King of Fighters = Tits

All the Capcom gals have shapely buttocks whereas the SNK gals have tits that can deflect projectiles.

[Anonymous No.4251619]

WE AH
JUSTAH
PIECES AHV ZA ARTHS
AWRIGHT?

https://youtu.be/9zZSg6EKgD0

[Anonymous No.4251621]

>>4251563

[Anonymous No.4251660]

>>4250531
XIV looks pretty bad still but I think it's at least a little better than XII and XIII were with that god awful moe Korean cartoon look they gave everyone. XIV has a shittacular cast though.

2002 was the last really good year and probably always will be which sucks

[Anonymous No.4251662]

>>4251660

KoF 14's cast is fine, IMO. They put in way more veterans than they had to, and did a mostly solid job making them work, although if you can even find an online match, everyone always picks the same handful of characters.

Still bummed about no Shingo, but whatever.

[Anonymous No.4251683]

>>4251660
XIII isn't that bad, although yeah, the artwork for that blows. And holy shit, who the fuck thought it keen to make Ralf and Clark steroidal? That was the worst art choice ever.

>>4251621
What? Yeah, she's got a nice ass, but really, it's all about the tits for the rest of the roster: Mai (duh), Mary, King, Vanessa, Shermie, Leona.

Only Athena, Whip and Chizuru have their lower portions sexualized. Mai, too, but really, tits.

About the only non-sexualized character I can think of is Kasumi.

I still can't get over the fact that Yuri has no nipples.

[Anonymous No.4252164]

>>4251619
Dafuq?

[Anonymous No.4252175]

>>4250531
I know it's not retro but... XIV is actually pretty good and even looks decent and plays better.

[Anonymous No.4252182]

>>4252175
I don't know why people get so worked up on the non-retro qualities of the latest installment in a franchise dating back to the '90s or earlier. Who cares if the latest game is retro or not when the franchise itself is being discussed? We can debate how the game fits in to the series.

One thing we can agree is XIII's artwork is terrible.

[Anonymous No.4252186]

>>4252182
You mean the illustrations or spritework?
I think they're both fine but hey, subjective shit.

[Anonymous No.4252246]

>>4252186
Not him but I thibk both are hideous. More so they don't feel anything like King of Fighters.

XIV looks bad but feels like it's going in the right direction. A better cast, more refinement on the models and some subtle cel shading could make XV look like a moving Shinkiro painting and then I'd be in heaven.

[Anonymous No.4252256]

>>4252246
Case in point: the steroidal Ralf and Clark

[Anonymous No.4252258]

>>4252256
Yeah, that's the only thing I can't defend. Other than that, I like everything.

[Anonymous No.4252304]

>>4252256
I hate the way Yuri looks in it so fucking much

[Anonymous No.4252372]

>>4252164

Back on the late 90's, SNK had its voice actors cut an album and go on tour to promote it. The guy singing in the video did the voice of Kyo (and several others). You can get the whole thing here. Be warned, one of the songs features Terry Bogard rapping in Engrish.

https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/neo-geo-guys-song-collection

[Anonymous No.4252375]

>>4252372
>Be warned, one of the songs features Terry Bogard rapping in Engrish.
You say that as if that's a bad thing.

[Anonymous No.4252376]

>>4252375

Not at all. I'd just suggest being safely seated and not drinking anything at the time. The spit-take could be fatal.

[Anonymous No.4252680]

>>4249574
True god-tier team waifu: Whip, Leona, Angel.

[Anonymous No.4252707]

>>4250524
it's for the atmosphere
instead of music (except when they'd play specific character themes for like Terry and Athena and the lot), you'd hear the ringside noise and that sort of thing for all of the themed stages.
It's really cool, but it kind of sucked coming off of KOF 96's 10/10 soundtrack.

[Anonymous No.4252752]

>>4252680
>god-tier
>no Athena

C'mon! Athena, Yuri, Shermie

[Anonymous No.4252819]

>>4252752
More like team chestlet. They'd quickly be BTFO by any team including Mai.

[Anonymous No.4253145]

>>4252819
Shermie is tied with Angel for having the biggest bust in the series. Both outclass Mai, she just lets it all hang out.

[Anonymous No.4254001]

>>4253145
>>4252752
Kind of hard to tell she's busty underneath all those floppy clothes.

[Anonymous No.4254038]

>>4245840
Man, that drawing is so BOSS. The way the characters dress and interact with each other, so much personality in it.
That same artist has some other cool drawings like that, there's one of Kyo's team on a couch, smiling to the camera. Other of, I believe, Kim's team cramped in a car, and so on.

The whole diversity of characters, the fact that they had surnames, their oulandish and creative moves, the interactions they had ingame, all factors that made SNK's fighters much better than Capcom's for me.

[Anonymous No.4254081]

>>4254038
Shinkiro's art is fucking amazing which is why KoF going cartoony was such a travesty.

[Anonymous No.4254193]

>>4254001
>floppy clothes?

[Anonymous No.4254276]

>>4254081
>>4254038
Pretty much this. There's visible chemistry between all the characters. You could believe there's a spirit of genuine camaraderie at this cocktail party. About the only stern expressions come from Iori and Heidern, but they're pushed off to the periphery, so it doesn't hinder the spirit. Even Choi is enjoying himself finding a spectacular use for his claws and shrimp cocktail.

Fighting game stories are typically terrible, and while KOF's is convoluted, the characters all have so many enduring qualities that distinguish each of them throughout the series. About the only character I can think of that's way too bland is Brian Battler, and he was done away with after '98.

>>4247643
Okay, some of them are a little too big, especially Terry's, but everyone else has chins that fit their physique. Makes sense for Heavy D! and Ralf to have good-size chins.

[Anonymous No.4254282]

>>4245949
I can't believe I can see it.

[Anonymous No.4254336]

>>4245843
>>4245845

Agreed, overall.

96 is my KOF nostalgia boat, though. And Super Macho Man might dispute your bestowal of the sexiest boxer title.

[Anonymous No.4254358]

>>4248002
Aye, it was really groundbreaking at the time.

I remember by 13 year old mind being fucking blown when I first saw it. I laid eyes on it part way through the intro.

>"Okay!"
Oh nice a new Fatal Fury game, I wonder what-
>"Ora, ora!"
Holyshitwtfthat'swhat'shisnamefromaofbuwaaagh!!

And henceforth crossovers were a thing.

[Anonymous No.4254360]

>>4248273
>Neo Geo can't upscale sprites, only shrink them

Fascinating. That explains some of the quirks, in retrospect.

[Anonymous No.4255064]

>>4245840
Most underrated character ever.

He's fun to play as in KOF '98.

[Anonymous No.4255505]

>>4254038
>>4254081
>>4254276
Shinkiro channels some pathos in all his illustrations, especially the cast of KOF. His style's reminiscent of Norman Rockwell.

The pictures speak for themselves, so I'll start posting.

[Anonymous No.4255510]

[Anonymous No.4255514]

[Anonymous No.4255516]

[Anonymous No.4255518]

[Anonymous No.4255520]

[Anonymous No.4255524]

[Anonymous No.4255526]

[Anonymous No.4255528]

[Anonymous No.4255531]

[Anonymous No.4255534]

>>4255531

[Anonymous No.4255537]

[Anonymous No.4255538]

[Anonymous No.4255539]

[Anonymous No.4255541]

[Anonymous No.4255545]

[Anonymous No.4255548]

[Anonymous No.4255550]

[Anonymous No.4255552]

[Anonymous No.4255557]

[Anonymous No.4255727]

I bought the Steam version of KOF2002 last week. It's pretty neat, even has in-game move lists.

I'm not very good but anyone want to play some online?

[Anonymous No.4255832]

>>4255727
guess not

[Anonymous No.4255881]

>>4245840
man, king of fighters couldn't be dragged down more by boring characters...

[Anonymous No.4255959]

>>4255881
You think the characters are boring?

[Anonymous No.4256017]

>>4255959
Yeah, funny thing is, the combo system, where the ults do auto combos like 99hits or something baffled me the same way. So boring and stupid. What were they thinking? Those japanese action movies that always have big monsters, because big monsters is the only way in japan to make something impressive and scary... thing is, asian people from my observation are much more immune to repetition and uncreativity, I assume it is because they have less variation in features by nature, like haircolors and they also have less good eyesight, but that is just by my unprofessional common observation, not a study.

[Anonymous No.4256019]

>>4256017
Lol

[Anonymous No.4256198]

King of Fighters thread!? Glad I didn't miss it! Anyone taking about me?

[Anonymous No.4256256]

>>4255881
>>4256017
Since we're discussing the fighting franchise heavyweights of the '90s, let's critically examine Street Fighter's roster over the years. They had interesting character up until Alpha 3, and even then, the new characters there weren't too fascinating except R. Mika. Juni and Juli were fucking Cammy clones and Karin was just a rich brat who acted as Sakura's foil. Wow, how riveting.

And then, there's Street Fighter III. With the exceptions of Dudley and Elena, all the new characters were absolutely banal. Even the concepts were recycled. Necro is just a lame fusion of Blanka and Dhalsim. Sean is just Dan except even shittier. Yun and Yang are thoroughly unremarkable one way or the other. Makoto is just the female Retsu. Remy is just Guile as a gay goth. Despite all that, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike featured the GOAT soundtrack and incredible gameplay which worked well to make it deservedly titled the best thing Capcom did since Street Fighter II. Still doesn't change the fact the characters aren't too interesting.

If you ask me, Capcom's most interesting fighting game characters were introduced OUTSIDE the Street Fighter franchise. They struck gold with Rival Schools, Darkstalkers and Tech Romancer before croaking unceremoniously.

[Anonymous No.4256339]

>>4256256
Funny, I like 3's additions far more than Alpha's. I do agree on their best characters coming from games other than SF though. That series has never been great for interesting characters, part of why I prefer KoF so much more.

[Anonymous No.4256890]

>>4248002
by design 95 is better than 94 in every bit. If you want to argue balance, that's another story. 95 and 94 uses the same system and everything you can do in 94 you also can in 95, but they added edit team feature as well. That's why small minority still plays 95, but hardly anyone does 94.

[Anonymous No.4257002]

>>4256890
The lack of flexibility in not being able to choose teams basically defeats the point of having teams in the first place. It's effectively the same as choosing one character.

94 has some cool atmosphere, but it's really hard to play. 96, though, is probably the best pre-striker game overall. Those backgrounds.

[P No.4257004]

>tfw get my ass kicked by BRs in fightcade

Anyone play online? how do I get gud?

[Anonymous No.4257410]

>>4257004
Keep playing them. Watch what they do to kick your ass, try to stay alive and get some hits in. You'll get good a heck of a lot faster playing good people than playing slightly better shitters, and you won't develop as many bad habits.

[Anonymous No.4258117]

>>4257410
This.

[Anonymous No.4258231]

Man, I really want to love KOF but I just can't get into fighting games these days. I'm somewhat familiar with Street Fighter games, but that familiarity doesn't translate to KOF as well. It doesn't help that I never played a single SNK fighter growing up and only discovered them recently in my 30s. It's a shame because I love the character designs and animation detail in them, but I can't figure out how to play. I guess my attention span to learn fighters is a fraction of what it was as a kid. When I picked up a Neo Geo MVS for my supergun the seller threw in a copy of KOF 99 for free, but playing it demoralizes me, even on the easiest setting.

[Anonymous No.4258276]

>>4258231
That's just fighting games for you. They're an amazing genre but it's a lot of work to get into them and if you don't like the process of losing a lot while learning it will be a tough road.

[Anonymous No.4258315]

>>4255538
Holy shit, Shermie's chin is bigger than Yashiro's.

[Anonymous No.4258334]

Who here fapped to Saigado's KOF doujins?

[Anonymous No.4258340]

>>4258334
how many breads have you eaten in your life?

[Anonymous No.4258343]

>>4258340
Touche.

I lost count, too.

I think Leona might've been my earliest fap, but I don't quite remember.

[Anonymous No.4259536]

>>4258315
Yeah, that's one thing about Shinkiro's style. His chins are sometimes overly large.

[Anonymous No.4259579]

>>4258231
try kof 2003 its mechanics are pretty close to a capcom game, also last blade 1 does that

[Anonymous No.4259589]

>>4256890
>by design 95 is better than 94 in every bit.

Bullshit. The backgrounds in 94 are much better, with so much more time invested into their creation. The music is much better too.
Not even close. The whole presentation is better in 94, from intro, to select screen, to the staff roll. Kof 94 is a polished game.

The only thing that 95 clearly does better than 94 is post victory character portraits.

Kof95 is a rushed little turd. They should have taken their time with it.

No one needs a retarded team edit feature. Since kof was designed around a team balance system. You take that away you undermine the whole concept.

[Anonymous No.4259591]

>>4255545
trying the kinu nishimura thing, hard

[Anonymous No.4259621]

>>4252246
>More so they don't feel anything like King of Fighters.
Yeah, KOF became too animu, and KOF and animu don't mesh well.
I do like the new Ralf and Clark designs, though.

>some subtle cel shading
To look more like Shinkiro art KOF should be realistic, no cel shadind at all.

[Anonymous No.4259705]

>>4259621
Realistic yes, he works from photos (like Rockwell for the guy who mentioned the similarity) but look at all his arwork here, most of it has bold outlines. You couldn't make it look like his style without some form of cel shading.

[Anonymous No.4259749]

>>4259589
>The music is much better too.
This is a blatant lie. You have no taste whatsoever.

KOF94's OST is mediocre, and its AST is somehow worse. About the only song goods on '94 was "Esaka" and the arranged version of "Psycho Soldier":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcFH2ZjoP90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=che7BNTqBnE

"Ne!" is thoroughly unremarkable, but admittedly better than "Bass Crawling on the Ground":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q37wLpy2sJM

"Slum No. 5" is just okay. A competent instrumental that fits the urban vibe of The American Sports Team's stage and nothing more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiDFOG9Fp6M

All the other songs are weak sauce.

"Napolitan Blues" is lame. Compare that to "Club M" from KOF95 and tell me with a straight face that it's better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wLOMaimPNo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGXrEdsEw4c

The AOF Team's 94 theme doesn't suit them at all. Just compare it to the 95 team:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKtq9YF70Bc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzLQQ_UdMv0

Not only is "Jungle Bouncer" a shameless rip off of "Surprise! You're Dead" by Faith No More, the AST's riffs sound even weaker than the OST. "Desert Requiem" delivers where "Jungle Bouncer" falls short:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ240pW7iHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BGrFku2itk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPaFutxe4BM

The most egregious offender here is the 94 AST's "Kettou R&D" Seriously, who the fuck thought adding loud and out-of-place samples was a good idea? They sound atrocious, and the AST's fucking blow. Now compare that to "Guitar to Omega". Holy mother of God, that's awesome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP3yLHrSZxM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzNVjKPVU4M

But most importantly, KOF94 is missing "Stormy MOTHERFUCKING Saxophone":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNRi1BMhSoQ

No KOF game is complete with Iori's signature Jazz, and the arranged version shits on KOF94's entire soundtrack.

[Anonymous No.4259814]

>>4259749

.

[Anonymous No.4259831]

>>4259589
Are you fucking with me? 95's backgrounds are just nicer looking, although there's a couple I really like from 94, like the Team Japan stage. But hot damn, 95's have a much better use of light and color, drastically better animation, and they look less grainy. 94's backgrounds are detailed, but the palette is really flat and they look a lot rougher.
95's music is a bit better overall too, with a "fuller" sound to it. 94's music is a bit "empty" sounding, with more hollow sounding samples and an overall less layered composition.
Also, no team edit is fucking retarded, and it hasn't undermined jack shit in the decades after its introduction, the idea that you'd consider it retarded is baffling beyond belief to the point where it's like you're just trying to defend KOF94 at 95's expense for some misguided reason despite 95 being a straight upgrade.

95's character select has to account for the larger character roster, but I'll freely admit it's loads worse than 94's stylistically.
and ultimately, if any KOF was rushed as fuck, it's '96

>>4259749
>The most egregious offender here is the 94 AST's "Kettou R&D"
Come on now, OST Kettou R&D is a pumping track that really feels like shit's going down (the AST version sucks ass though). Guitar, Omega, and Rugal is much weaker, OST in particular (which you didn't even bother posting), and the AST of it is still somewhat weak. Not a bad track, but not nearly as cool either, probably one of the weakest '95 tunes to be honest. Doesn't really sound like a final boss track.

[Anonymous No.4259835]

>>4259749
>>4259749

Mellow, ethnicky jazzy,piss poor dribbling, thanks for the remainder of how much the 95 ost actually sucks.

[Anonymous No.4259843]

With the exception of the italy stage, which is brilliant, kof 95 BG's look bland, boring and downright rushed. The fucking green one with one stupid tree and a tent? The fuck were they thinking.

[Anonymous No.4259883]

>>4259835
>those shitty memes
>>>/reddit/

>>4259831
>Come on now, OST Kettou R&D is a pumping track that really feels like shit's going down

The version that made '98 is much better than the '94 original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os9ykVvYpZ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR78hDcp7aE

The composition itself isn't bad, but KOF94's instrumentation lacked the requisite heaviness.

[Anonymous No.4259907]

>>4259883
thats the only thing where we possibly agree, kof 98 had the best music, well maybe we dont, but i think so. Lol reddit, not just once. I'm not generation snowflake.

[Anonymous No.4260907]

>>4259843

I like the stage that starts off on the elevator. Great music too.

[Anonymous No.4260910]

>>4255514

Mai... H-have you been drinking?

[Anonymous No.4260912]

QUICK! post the best track
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXPcDwqTtlM

[Anonymous No.4260930]

KOF 96 has the best soundtrack IMO.
There are stellar songs in the other entries, but 96 has the most of them.

Rumbling in the City
Kamikirimushi
Road to fucking Seoul
Geese ni katakori (although it's a remix)
Fairy

Do yourselves a favor and get the arranged versions, if you haven't already.

[Anonymous No.4261085]

>>4260930
KOF96 has the best arranged tracks of all the KOFs. Got my favorite boss theme, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN8sL3Gx25U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MkPA1lRWyg

Of the other arranged KOF soundtracks, I rank the following in order of preference: KOF96, KOF99, KOF95, KOF98, KOF2002 UM, KOF97, KOF2000, KOF94, KOF2002, KOF2001

KOF97's AST is decent, but disappointing. So many good tracks on the OST sound so underpowered and weak on the AST. The riffs on "Rhythmic Hallucination" could have so much more wattage just as the drums could be more propulsive. Alas, we're treated to this underwhelming arrangement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS7EPzE-R8s

The keys on "Esaka Forever" sound horrendous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6jNyqffUok

At least "Cool Jam" sounds slicker than the OST:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn22dxKCoI4

And "Bloody" sounds just as I'd imagine it to be, although the heavier version that made 2002UM sounds much better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrjondjCLEc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtQEpwm8QF0

"Still Green" is okay, but damn it, that harmonica hits the notes a little too high (for some reason, the arranged version hits a B note instead of a G note as in the OST):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKIeTY-S9eA#t=20s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8WvhXbNizk#t=14s

[Anonymous No.4261147]

>>4245840
>>4245843
>>4246797
>>4246980
>>4248002
>>4255064
>>4256890
>>4257002
>>4259589
About the best thing to come out of King of Fighters '94.

A real shame they won't be introduced anytime soon. I hope they at least bring Lucky and Heavy D! back. If it were up to me, I'd replace Brian Battler with Johnny Maximum.

[Anonymous No.4261274]

Not a question, brother.Simply put the best piece of music video games have produced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VWV3AF857o

I <3 NeoGeo Battle Coliseum

[Anonymous No.4261469]

>>4261147
I'm still mad as fuck they haven't shown up beyond 94/98.
like, they were shit in 98, but you could still do some fucking retarded things with 'em (especially Brian, nothing like hitting with an 80% meterless combo off of a helicopter tackle crossup -- but it's also the only fucking thing he has because all his other move properties are garbage)
also, Lucky got stupid good in 98UMFE

they're cool characters with mostly neat movesets (or they would be if they had slightly better properties/damage)

[Anonymous No.4261796]

>>4261147

But they deliberately put this team in, so the game would be popular with the amerifats. Why would you even lik... WAIT A SECOND!!!

[Anonymous No.4261967]

>>4249613
>176th Street
Would've picked KD-0079 instead. The rest would be my picks though. But really, listening to '99 ost makes me want to press the skip button on some tracks, while I wouldn't mind listening to '00's from the beginning to the end.

>>4250531
It plays way better than it looks. It also sounds much better too.

>KOFXII
It was a big deal back then. People were hungry for a 7th gen KOF and SNK came up with a new artstyle while staying with sprites. We didn't know how it would turn out.

[Anonymous No.4261978]

>>4252707
But the few actual musical tracks for '97 are 10/10 though.

[Anonymous No.4261987]

>>4261978
Yes/No.

The OSTs are good. The ASTs are a mixed bag.
>>4261085

[Anonymous No.4263740]

Who here's secretly just loved Kyo-1 and wished he became the true Kyo?

[Anonymous No.4264434]

>>4263740
The clones plot from the NESTS saga turned me off entirely. 99, 2000 and 2002UM are good games, but the story was decidedly worse than the Orochi saga.

The Ash saga is okay, but more or less a rehash of the Orochi saga.

[Anonymous No.4264461]

>>4264434
When I found out Ash was a dude I only jerked off two more times to him and moved on.

[Anonymous No.4264474]

>>4264434
Who plays a fighter for it's story??

[Anonymous No.4264480]

>>4264474
Yeah those Mortal Kombat 9/X and Injustice movie playthroughs don't have ten million views on youtube or anything.

[Anonymous No.4264493]

>>4264480
Those have real story modes at least. Do what you want it's just funny

[Anonymous No.4264690]

>>4264434

but K' is undeniably a worthy "successor" to Kyo while being a clone storywise and little gameplaywise. I could see hating Kula for being unoriginal, and K9999 is a can of worms in himself, Krizalid is a clone as well right? Its a mixed bag if all I'm saying, I'm glad they salvaged K'.

[Anonymous No.4264936]

>>4256198
nameless is so boring compared to him. i understand why he had to go but they shouldn't have bothered replacing him.

[Anonymous No.4265568]

>>4264690
Oh, K' is cool, no doubt. Just the whole story just made me roll my eyes.

>>4264474
>>4264480
Just because fighting games have abysmal stories doesn't mean we mindlessly accept whatever plot the game hurls our way.

[Anonymous No.4265598]

>>4265568
You can care about it if you want, but it's practically the last thing fir me. A crappy fighting fame with an amazing story is still a crappy fighter. And an amazing fighting game with a shit story is still amazing.
You can think the opposite and that's cool too.

[Anonymous No.4266149]

Why is there virtually zero hype videos posted in these threads? Where's the excitement?

[Anonymous No.4266329]

>>4266149
>hype videos

What do you mean?

[Anonymous No.4266528]

>>4266329
Just, whenever I go in these threads, nobody's talking much about gameplay and there's no footage posted. I know it's cliched, but there's no equivalent to "le daigo parry" for kof. And whenever I google for matches, I never find anything super exciting, just Iori vs. Iori 24/7.

[Anonymous No.4266536]

>>4266528
/vr doesn't play fighters outside of single player. They just like to talk about who they find most fuckable and which games have the best story and music. I'm not even joking.

[Anonymous No.4266607]

>>4266536
When everyone talks about how big Mai's boobs are it's normal and cool but whenever I say I want Geese to step on my face I'm "weird and gay."

[Anonymous No.4266787]

>>4266607
Mai's boobs aren't even that she's just slutty