To "KOF" or not "KOF"? That is the question

[Rodimus]

I walk into a local "Mom and Pops" video game store today, and I notice that they have King of Fighters 98' for Dreamcast up to play. Some guy was playing it, and I decided to join him but after a couple rounds I quit cause he wasn't that good. His friends come up to him and REALLY start busting on KOF. Here is a list of qoutes I heard from them:

"This is like old NES or something"
"Why would a system like the Dreamcast release a game like this"
"The old Street Fighter looks better than this"
"Why do they still make this game every year, nobody buys it"

I'm a big KOF fan and I'm used to Magizines, EB employees, and other people ripping on the game, but I think this time I'm scared deep. I had to run home and hold my KOF 98', rock it saying "Shhhh it's okay I love you and that's all that matters." Okay that's a joke, but what do you guys think about KOF in general? Personally SNK fighters and Suikoden titles are the only games I really ever look forward to.

[SpookyD]

Mark of the wolves is my favorite SNK fighter, but KOFs are solid, especialy 98 and 2k3.

[crazytalkx]

Yeah, KOFs are good games. I don't really care about the graphics, they don't really look outdated.

[magilacudy]

I loved the first KOF when it came out in the arcades way back when, but since then I haven't really gotten into the newer ones.

[kristianator]

fighting games are my genre of choice, and flashy graphics don't matter more to me than the gameplay does. that said, i don't mind the 2d stuff that current publishers shun, and i think KOF is real solid. the problem is that it gets outshined by... well, practically every street fighter game ever (with the exception of the crap known as "street fighter the movie"). i'll pick up KOF games, and i'll play every now and then in the arcades, but by comparison, street fighter is just more worthy of my gametime. it's like my favorite child. street fighter gets more allowance, he gets to take the car out, he's allowed to bring girls home, and you can bet i'll invest in his college. KOF however, is the kid i don't mind having around, but he could drop out of high school for all i care. cuz i still got street fighter.

sounds messed up, now that i read over that again... hope i never have kids

[peteloaf]

About 6 months ago I dropped $500 on a neo-geo and a few games just to be able to play the AES version of King of Fighters '98, so yea, I'm a fan...

Seriously the King of Fighters games get a bad wrap based on graphics, I RARELY hear complaint about the game play. Even then it's usualy just criticism from fans, i.e KOF 9X is better than '9X 'cause...

[BigHow]

I love SNK's fighters. I think they're just as fun and nuanced as the Street Fighter games. That being said, the graphics on some the DC SNK fighters are pretty bad.

In any case, your story makes me want to go home and clutch my Japanese SNK Dreamcast collection.

[WildWop]

Is that the Dreamcast one that was uglier then PSX games at the time? Was that KOF 00/02?

It had 3D backgrounds that were so low-poly and badly textured that it HAD to be some kind of a joke. It was DREAMCAST for christ sake!

Overall, though, I like SNK fighters, and KOF in general (with the exception of whichever version I'm talking about here).

[evilpenguin9000]

I don't have a lot of experience with KOF games. I think I've played them, but they never really struck a thread with me.

[sblymnlcrymnl]

I don't have a lot of experience with KOF games. I think I've played them, but they never really struck a thread with me.

Same here.

[bob_the_goon]

I love the KOF games. Don't know why SNK thinks they need to censor them over here though.

[GuilewasNK]

Hey, I LOVE the KOF games as much as any 2D fighter but the graphics ARE outdated. A KOF game that looks like Last Blade would have been KILLER.

But that doesn't mean as much as it seems. I play SF2 Turbo Revival on my GBA SP more than anything and it has outdated graphics. It's still a solid game with tight controls. Same as KOF. I mean, it's not like KOF looks like Karate Champ. I can see how it could posssbly turn people off though. After people played Halo, I bet it was hard for some of them to go back to Goldeneye.

[CapAmerica]

I love King of Fighters!
Its the Best fighting game period!

I own all the King of Fighter games (minus the arcade games) I even own the NeoGeo games even thou I don't own anything I can play them on =P

[Rodimus]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Anyways for all the SNK fighter lovers we still got Neo Geo Battle Colisium so people just gotta put up with our classic looking 2-D fighters a bit more. Hopefully it will make up for SNK vs Capcom Chaos. Not that SVC Chaos was bad, but not very polished, very rushed.

[CapAmerica]

I hope SNK never stops doing 2D games.
KoF:MI looks freaken awsome, but I don't want them to stop making the cool 2D games. Updated smoother graphics is all I ask.

I love the 2D fighters alot more then the 3D fighers.

[SneakyPenguin]

Graphics don't matter, as SNK fighters are easily the most fun gameplay wise. KOF is great, but it's not their best series. That goes to the Fatal Fury series, Mark of the Wolves in particualr.

[BigBen]

Graphics don't matter, as SNK fighters are easily the most fun gameplay wise. KOF is great, but it's not their best series. That goes to the Fatal Fury series, Mark of the Wolves in particualr.

For me, nothing tops Samurai Shodown, after all these years, it's still my favorite fighting game.

[Richter]

A KOF game that looks like Last Blade would have been KILLER. *soils pants*

x.x

[SneakyPenguin]

A KOF game that looks like Last Blade would have been KILLER. *soils pants*

x.x

That, or a new Last Blade. I mean hell, even Art of Fighting had 3 games, why is Last Blade stuck with only 2?

[CaseyRyback]

Graphics don't matter, as SNK fighters are easily the most fun gameplay wise. KOF is great, but it's not their best series. That goes to the Fatal Fury series, Mark of the Wolves in particualr.

FF is the best SNK series.

On that point I agree with you.

[Nirvanaguy777]

i like king of fighters games, im not unbeatable at them like street fighter games or super smash bros but they are still fun too play, i love that bronze knuckles move, wish i remebered who used it

[SevereTireDamage]

The KOF game series is great. Problem is, not every year was (or is) necessarily an improvement on the last iteration.

Also, the fact that there are many other other fighters ON THE NEO system that are considerably better than that year's offering of KOF. (Fatal Fury: Real Bout 2, Last Blade 2, Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, etc. etc.)

KOF has always been a fan offering, much like the constant Vs. games we've had in the last several years. They try to maintain a balanced fighting game but as usual, it's harder to do that with established characters.

[Gothic Walrus]

Personally, I like the Capcom fighters better, if only because I've had much more time with them.

Truth be told, though, I haven't had much experience with the KOF series. I have the first GBA game, which was absolutely slammed, and I've played the arcade games occasionally. The little bits that I've seen, though, I've liked quite a bit. Now, if someone was willing to give me the DC or the more recent KOF games for free...well, I'd definitely learn some more about the series. :wink:

[flybrione]

I really enjoy King of the Fighters. Very cool way to combine all the series together. I just recently picked up 00/01 during the TRU sale.
Plus I own many of the dreamcast titles from SNK.

[Mr. Anderson]

I like playing fighting games, but KOF are usually just too technical for me. I'll take my Mortal Kombat and Tekken. Although I did looove Street Fighter 2 and 3.