I want to get into the King of Fighters series, what game should I play? The only other fighting games I've really played are Street Fighter 4/5/6 but I don't mind old games or new stuff
I want to get into the King of Fighters series, what game should I play?
Download fightcade.com
I already have it installed but there are many KoF games that are often played
Me and my friends got it to play UMK3 and holy shit do people like KoF. UMK3 has like 10 people actively playing at most while KoF has 4 different games with 100+ people playing at all times.
Pick whichever one appeals to you the most between 98UM, 2k2UM or XV.
my question really is why 98 and 2002? I acknowledge they're the most played ones but what's so special about those two games that ALL the others don't have?
98 and 2002 are basically the "Smash Ultimate" versions of those respective sagas, they contain all characters up till then as some years cut/move around the roster
2002 doesn't replace 98 though because 2002 vets play differently from 98
98 was the right balance of simple but engaging mechanical depth with a pretty large roster due to being the 5th annual KOF game. 02UM has a massive roster and even more going on mechanically. Because KOF was annualized for around decade there's games that are experimental or transitional and most people agree that 98 & 02 are the best shots at it. 2000 has a Striker system where you pick an assist with limited uses like in Marvel vs Capcom 1, but what your assist is is limited by your playable characters, for example. XIII has a meter that lets you cancel specials into specials or when full activate an install that lets you cancel them into each other several times for really long combos by KOF standards.
KoF is like an anime where there's story arcs. The first arc is between 94-97 which is the Orochi arc. 98 is a dream match game with no story where they refine a lot of the gameplay through out the arc and add some of the most popular characters regardless if they're canon dead or alive. 99-01 is the NESTS arc with 02 being the dream match game
94,95,96,97 feel too old and lack characters but i'm sure yo can find 97 and 95 games with fightcade
99/2000/2001 had horrendous music and a striker mechanic that a lot of people don't like.
>99/2000/2001 had horrendous music
Those are fighting words for 99 and 00, 01 is definitely shit but 99 and 00 have amazing music
>99 and 2000
>horrendous music
you're moronic, those games have OSTs that's among the best, if not the best, in the entire series. meanwhile, OG 2002 has MIDIs that sound just as awful as anything in 2001, not to mention that it's visual eye-cancer with its desaturated single color backgrounds
97, 98, 98UM, 2000, 2002UM, XI, XIII and XV are all the 'viable' options when it comes to the pressntation, gameplay and having dedicated playerbases.
the beauty of KOF as a series is the amount of variety and experimentation when it comes to its games. there's no definitive KOF which is better than all the others, so you might as well as give a bunch of them a shot and see what you like best. hell, when you have the time, try out the games that people haven't listed here
KOF 2000's OST/AST has that feel of finality due to being the last KOF under the original SNK.
yeah the fight vs Cloned Zero really felt like the final battle to end em all
Three words.
American Sports Team.
Here's the objective KOF game ranking, the Ultimate Match KOF games are generally considered the best in the community,
This, these are also the only games with a notable player count.
>R2
FRICK OFF THATS ONE OF THE BEST HANDHELD FIGHTERS IN THE GENRE
If I want an oddly good GBA version of a staple fighting game IP I'd play SFA3 or Tekken Advance.
You are thinking the EX ones, R1/R2 were on the Neo Geo Pocket
Right, my bad. I was too busy playing MS 2nd Mission to try many of the fighting games on the NGPC.
You should give the SNK Vs. Capcom one ashot, I'll unironically argue that the fricking portable version was better than the Street Fighter Vs. KOF we got in the arcades.
That one has actual single player content
Look at old Saishu right in front there. Underappreciated character, and I love him.
I loved the kof advance. The advance 2 was impossible to emulate, for some reason.
98UM, 02UM, XIII (if you have the version with rollback which is only on console for some reason), or XV are the major ones. Personally I also like 2000 & XI but you'll find less people playing those. The main thing with KOF is learning the movement because each character's neutral revolves around it for the most part and combo routes aren't too difficult for most characters in most games unless you're squeezing all the damage out of a meter dump combo as your anchor character. If you can wrap your head around the four different jumps and rolling you'll be good to go.
Personally I prefer SamSho and I've been learning to like Last Blade 2 as well.
98 Ultimate Match for the peak of the NeoGeo oldschool gameplay, it has rollback netcode on the steam port and has extra characters from vanilla 9i8
94, 95, 96, 97 are apart of the Orochi Saga for plot, you need to play Kyo's default team and Iori's for canon elements everyone else is majority filler, though you can just read the manga versions if you really care.
2000,2001,2002,2003 are the Nest Saga, which you can just read the manga for as these aren't even that great gamewise. Besides 2002 UM edition which is like the Nest Version of 98.
2003, KOF10-15 (they dropped the year naming convention) are apart of the Ash Crimson saga, 14 and 15 both offer the most modern feeling and accessible versions to play.
Slight correction, 14 and 15 aren't apart of the Ash saga but are instead their own Inverse Saga, though for plot these are pretty weak so far.
Shun'ei was a mistake, especially when other good new characters like Isla & Antonov are around.
Antonov is unironically one of the greatest fighting game characters out of the modern age, hes not even a fraud like Mr. Satan from Dragon Ball he loves to help people just ain't on the level of fire ball throwers
>Be a Russian billionaire gigachad who loves the KOF tournament but hates that it's always run by corrupt evil dudes who die
>Buy the brand and run it legit, crowning yourself the new champion to guarantee you get a good fight at the end of things
>Entirely out of your control, a crazy monster made of souls of dead people attacks the stadium the finals take place in
>Risk your life to save children from the collateral damage
>Lose your fortune due to a mixture of this incident and the public assuming the tournament was rigged
>Flee Russia and have to become a pro wrestler to scrape by because he has no skillset other than business and being a really, really big man
He deserved better.
These games take so long to come out now but I hope he eventually gets a public redemption arc
Antonov is probably the only legitimate KOF Tournament host that isn't Krauser. Every other host are Criminals(Geese, Rugal, NESTS) or using the Tournament to sniff out the Bad Guys(Chizuru, Hideren)
Heidern never hosted a tournament, you're probably thinking of Adelheid in XIII, who wanted to save Rose from being controlled by the big bad. In fact, Adelheid was the first fair host, but his sister being her father's daughter kind of ruined that.
Didn't the Ikari forces host KOF 2000 or am I mistaken?
You're right, I forgot because it was hosted by joint effort of Ling and Ikaris, to draw out NESTS. Ling was of course NESTS spy, so they took over the next tournament officially.
Heidern always has his fingers in things.
Adelheid is a good brother.
I love this cheeky brat. She needs Heidern correction.
Dolores was cool, too. Super hot. Actually, Shun's brother was kind of nice, too.
Really, Shun'ei was the stand-out shitter of the storyline, despite being the main character.
IT ALL BEGAN IN '94
IT CONTROLLED LIKE SHIT IN '94
I wish SNK would include the Neo Geo CD soundtrack versions of these games in rereleases/KOF 15's library, its a shame that most people didn't get to play the game with this kick ass score
OP here, Ok I get it, what are the major gameplay differences between 98 and 2002? Not so interested in XV but might try it later
98 is a little slower than 02, but both are basic 3v3 team fighters. Not many gimmicks like tags or strikers
Movesets, Terry or Kyo play differently depending on what version
You shouldn't play anything. They're going bankrupt again in about a year from being so mediocre at everything and vastly inferior to basically every single FG company today.
Nice try israelitecom I'm still not buying the $100 dlc costume wave
Like everyone else said, 98 and 2002 are a good start, just remember, dont choose him or you could start a fight with an entire nation
play the NESTS arc just for the spectacle
Part of it involves knocking a satellite out of orbit. Now that's spectacle.
KOF games are pointless unless you're really into SNK games and recognise the characters.
They're just silly fanservice games. Like Smash Bros.
You're right. He should also play Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury while he's at it.
To piggyback, OP you need to also play Fatal Fury Special, Art of Fighting 3, The Real Bout Series and Msrk of the Wolves.
you are moronic and autistic
Eat a dick you SNKlet.
13 just came out with rollback on ps4/ps5 and it’s pretty cheap, if not 15 is fine
02UM is the definitive legacy KOF imo and you can get it for like $2 during a steam sale. 98 and 02 are also popular on fightcade. Sadly 98% of people playing KOF on fightcade are Latin Americans that you'll be getting 200 ms to if you live in the US.