Index

Page 1 - Characters
Page 2 - KoF 94/Rebout, 95, 96
Page 3 - KoF 97, 98, 99
Page 4 - KoF 00, 01, 02
Page 5 - 03, Neowave, XI, XII
Page 6 - Portable Versions
Page 7 - Maximum Impact
Page 8 - Spinoffs / Media

Nettou King of Fighters 95 - Gameboy (1996)

Nettou King of Fighters 95

Nettou King of Fighters 95

Nettou King of Fighters 95

Now, honestly, the 16-bit systems weren't powerful enough to handle the King of Fighters games, so what chance would the wimpy Gameboy have? As expected, not much, although developer Takara sure tried. Nettou King of Fighters 95 (also released in the USA as plain ol "King of Fighters 95") manages to squeeze sixteen playable fighters, but they're all about a centimeter high and almost impossible to distinguish from one other. All of the characters are presented in a cute super deformed art-style, but none of this shows up in the actual game. Not only is the fighting clumsy, but the fights tend to last forever, since your attacks do practically no damage. Nakoruru from Samurai Shodown shows up as a hidden character, but otherwise this one has absolutely nothing going for it.

Nettou King of Fighters 95

Nettou King of Fighters 96 - Gameboy (1997)

Nettou King of Fighters 95

Nettou King of Fighters 95

Nettou King of Fighters 95

This is pretty much the same as the earlier Gameboy title, except with a new roster to match KoF 96. Mr. Karate shows up as a hidden character, but otherwise, it's once again entirely unremarkable. There's also a ROM floating out there called "King of Fighters 97", which is just a pirate hack, combining characters from 95 and 96 into one game.

Nettou King of Fighters 95

The King of Fighters R-1 - Neo Geo Pocket (1998)

Japanese Cover

King of Fighters R-1

King of Fighters R-1

After seeing how well King of Fighters worked on the Gameboy (which is to say, it didn't), SNK took an entirely different approach to handheld fighting games for their own Neo Geo Pocket. Instead of trying to replicate the characters of the original versions, they took a look at the super deformed artwork from the Gameboy versions and applied the style to the fighting. Everyone has drastically out-of-proportion heads and limbs, but it actually makes it possible to see what you're doing, because the characters are pretty large (this holds true for every Neo Geo Pocket fighting game, of which there are many, and all of them are pretty good.) There are only two face buttons on the system, so the type of attack you execute is determined by how long you hold down the button. This may seem awkward, but it works out pretty well, and the gameplay flows together nicely. King of Fighters R-1 is more or less a translation of King of Fighters 97, although it only features 14 characters. Still, most of the more popular characters made it, and there's even a lot of music from older titles, replicated in the NGP sound chip, which sounds significantly better than the Gameboy songs. There aren't any voices, but each character announces their taunts before battle with a text window on the bottom of the screen. Although the game was only released in Japan, it will set itself to English if you're playing on an American system, so you can finally get some in-game translations of what your favorite characters are saying without looking at a FAQ. A fine effort overall, if only outclassed because its sequel, King of Fighters R-2, is actually in color.

King of Fighters R-1 King of Fighters R-1

The King of Fighters R-2 - Neo Geo Pocket Color (1999)

American Cover

King of Fighters R-1

King of Fighters R-1

The King of Fighters R-2 is the Neo Geo Pocket Color version of KoF 98. The biggest advancement over its predecessor are the color graphics, although like many NGPC games, the coloring in the sprites is a bit sparse. The character roster is almost exactly the same, with fourteen selectable characters, although they've dropped Kim and Chizuru in favor of Saisyu and Kasumi. However, there's a brand new "Making" mode, which allows you to pick one of your favorite characters and upgrade them with various skills by playing through a story mode. There's a whole ton of them to find, which run the gamut from power-ups to weapons like guns. Too bad none of the other KoF's implemented such a solid single player game, although you can link up to the Dreamcast version of KoF 98 to unlock more stuff. Once again, it's just as solid as R-1, although it has the benefit of receiving an official American release.

King of Fighters R-2

The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood - Gameboy Advance (2002)

American Cover

King of Fighters EX

King of Fighters EX

The first Gameboy Advance King of Fighters is a translation of KoF 99, with music from KoF 00. You'd barely notice it though - all of the music seems like very poor replications using the original Gameboy synth. The rest of the sound effects don't fare any better - any of the samplers that haven't been taken out entirely sound awful. A crappy aural presentation is to be expected from a portable game, but the rest of the title doesn't hold up particularly well either. The animation is pretty awful, and the hit detection is pretty off. The AI is also pretty dimwitted. If you've never played a King of Fighters game before, you might not notice some of these issues, but they're pretty apparent to vets. The roster is limited to sixteen characters, along with four Striker-only characters. Iori is the sub-boss and Geese is the new main boss, which is pretty atypical for a King of Fighters game. There's also a whole new character, a schoolgirl named Moe Habana, to play as. KoF EX was ported by Artoon, whose accomplishments include...well...Blinx the Cat - they're not a terrible studio, but they aren't exactly known for their 2D fighters. In spite of its numerous flaws, KoF EX isn't a total waste, and while it's a pain to use the shoulder buttons to attack, it's still a bit easier to play than a six-button Capcom game like Street Fighter Alpha. It was also released in the US for a budget price of $15, which isn't a bad deal.

King of Fighters EX King of Fighters EX

The King of Fighters EX 2: Howling Blood / The King of Fighters Extreme - Gameboy Advance / N-Gage (2003)

American Cover

King of Fighters EX 2

King of Fighters EX 2

King of Fighters EX2 is a massive improvement of the original GBA title. The animation is smoother, the gameplay feels less broken, and the roster is quite a bit larger. New characters include karate expert Reiji, goth schoolgirl Miu, and crazy pink-haired Jun, along with a crazy little kid named Sinobu who appears as the final boss. All of the artwork is done by Hiroaki, and it helps create a unique identity for a game that would otherwise be seen as just another portable translation. Still, a majority of the game is based off of KoF 2000, including the backgrounds and the music. The sound quality is still pretty off compared to the Neo Geo versions, but again, it's a big step up from the older games. Though it still feels a bit too scaled down (and I still wish they'd just resurrect the super deformed gameplay of the Neo Geo Pocket Color games, because they just felt better) KoF EX2 is probably the best handheld fighter on the system, and is definitely worth checking out. The GBA version was published in America by Atlus (Acclaim was going to handle it until they went under), and was later ported to the N-Gage under the title "King of Fighters: Extreme". Naturally, playing a fighting game with those unresponsive buttons isn't a great experience, and the vertically oriented screen just makes matters worse.

King of Fighters EX 2 King of Fighters EX 2

Mobile Games

SNK Playmore has been pretty prolific with their mobile titles, especially in Japan. Naturally, try as they may, fighting games just are just terrible on cell phones. The first release, The King of Fighters Mobile, is just a scaled back version of the Neo Geo Pocket Color games. Another one of them, The King of Fighters M-2, uses every key on the keypad to jump, block, attack, and use special moves. A few others, another one called The King of Fighters Mobile, and The King of Fighters M2, are a bit better graphically, but are still ultimately worthless. That doesn't mean that SNK hasn't exploited the King of Fighters property anyway. You'll find games like The King of Fighters Mahjong, The King of Reversi, and The King of Millionaire, a card game. There are also two volleyball games - The King of Fighters Volleyball, which includes six different characters, and SNK Beach Volley - GAL's ATTACK, which naturally focuses on the ladies. There's also SNK Gal's Open - Cutey Shot, which is a golf game. But perhaps the most interesting is the Days of Memories series, which a dating simulation that consists of numerous episodes. Each brings together girls from several SNK games, including titles like Samurai Shodown and The Last Blade, and lets you try to woo them. One of them even puts you in the shoes of a girl as they attempt to woo the male characters. All of them are awful, of course, but some of the artwork is decent, and the concept in and of itself is hilarious. Some of the episodes have also been compiled and published on the DS.

The King of Fighters Volleyball The King of Fighters M-2