The king of fighters

Initially, this series of games was developed for the hardware of SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade machine, which was the main gaming platform until 2004, when SNK abandoned MVS in favor of the Atomiswave arcade platform, which left the concept of arcade platforms before its support ceased and SNK abandoned it. two games: The King of Fighters Neowave and The King of Fighters XI . The last machine to launch the series was Taito Type X2, the first game to play The King of Fighters XII. Ports for arcade versions and the original games in the series have been released for several video game consoles. The most recent game in the series, The King of Fighters XIV, was released on the PlayStation 4 and for PCs running Microsoft Windows.

The series of games was created on the basis of the earlier Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series. She uses the characters of these games, but does not follow their plot.

Basic Game Series

The first game in the series, The King of Fighters '94 , was released by SNK on August 25, 1994 ^[1] . The game was attended by characters from the previous SNK fighting game series - Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting - as well as characters from the franchises Ikari Warriors (Ralph Jones and Clark Still) and Psycho Soldier (Athena Asamiya), adapted for versionus fighting games, and original characters. The game had a simple plot: a group of fighters fights with other groups in the tournament, and in the end fights with the tournament organizer, Rugal Bernstein, who decided to take the winners to his personal collection with statues, defeats him and escapes from the explosion of the base, which the defeated boss decided to blow up.

The success of the game led SNK to start releasing games in the series annually, and numbered the games by year of release. “ The King of Fighters '95 ”, in addition to adding new characters, also launched the first story arc called “ The Orochi Saga ”. It was also the first game in the series that allowed players to create their own team of three from any three characters in the game ^[2] . “ The King of Fighters '96 ” began the second part of “Saga Orochi ”and replaced the sprites of characters from the games of the previous two years with new ones, and also improved the gameplay system. Depending on the game characters in the team, an exclusive ending will be shown ^[3] . “ The King of Fighters '97 ” completed the storyline of “The Orochi Saga” ^[4] . The King of Fighters '98 , unlike the previous games in the series, did not contain a storyline campaign. Instead, it was touted as a game like " Dream Match , which allowed players to select most of the characters available in previous games, including those that were supposedly dead after past games. Later, the SNK version was redesigned for Dreamcast and renamed it “The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999” with an extended animated intro and three-dimensional backgrounds ^[5] .

The King of Fighters '99 introduced a new story arc known as " The NESTS Chronicles ”( Eng. The NESTS Chronicles ), several new characters in the series, as well as the fourth member rule added to each team. According to the new tactics, a specific person from the team will be an assistant, called " Striker, ”and this person will be able to help the team in a few seconds in battle. The Dreamcast version was called “The King of Fighters: Evolution”, with several improvements in the game, such as the new “Strikers” and improved animation ^[6] . The King of Fighters 2000 is the second installment of the NESTS Saga, as well as the last KOF game that SNK made before bankruptcy. Several new playable characters and a couple of Strykers were added to it (most of them are from previous KOF games and other SNK games, such as Metal Slug and Kizuna Encounter ) ^[7] . The game " The King of Fighters 2001 " ends the second story arc. Due to the economic problems that SNK had at that time, the Korean company Eolith helped develop the game after the bankruptcy of SNK ^[8] . The King of Fighters 2002 was created to reunite old characters from previous KOF games and did not contain a story like KOF 98. It was also developed by Eolith ^[9] .

A new KOF storyline called Tales of Ash began in The King of Fighters 2003 , the latest KOF game released for the Neo Geo system. The game allowed players to change characters during the game, but the number of team members was reduced to three. SNK has returned to developing a franchise in this game of the series ^[10] . By 2004, SNK refused the annual release of the games in the series and subsequently numbered future games in a more traditional manner ^[11] . The first game in the main series released in this way was The King of Fighters XI , released in 2005 ^[12] . The game “ The King of Fighters XII ” was released in 2009 using 2D high-resolution hand-drawn sprites on detailed 2D backgrounds ^[13] . She was a plotless hodgepodge of fighters, similar to the previously released "KOF 98" and "2002". The story arc ends with The King of Fighters XIII , which includes the entire list of characters of The King of Fighters XII, as well as additional characters released in the summer of 2010 ^[14] .

The game “ The King of Fighters XIV ” was released on PlayStation 4 on August 23, 2016 with 3D graphics and a large list of characters ^[15] . In December 2018, SNK announced that it was working on “ The King of Fighters XV, ” planning to release the game in 2020 ^[16] .

Side games and compilations

The King of Fighters '94 was remade and released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 in Japan as The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout . There are several new features in this version, such as high-resolution graphics, an online game, team editing, made playable Rogal Bernstein and added Saisu Kusanagi ^[17] . A remake of KOF '98 entitled The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match was released in Japanese arcades in 2008, and later on some game consoles that expand the list of characters and improve the graphics ^[18] . A remake of “KOF'2002” titled “ The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match ” was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2009 in Japan. SNK also released a game called "The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise", which can be connected to the Japanese port "KOF'99" on the Dreamcast console ^[19] . Yumekobo also developed a visual novel with strategic elements for combat, known as The King of Fighters: Kyo ( ザ ・ キ ン グ ・ オ ブ ・ フ ァ イ タ ー ズ 京 ) . The game follows the everyday life of Kyo Kusanagi while he prepares to fight in the KOF'97 tournament, interacting with other rivals ^[20] . For Neo Geo Pocket , the KOF'97 adaptation called King of Fighters R-1 was released on October 28, 1998. ^[21] The sequel for Neo Geo Pocket Color , King of Fighters R-2 , was released on March 19, 1999. years ^[22] .

In 2004, SNK released the first 3D game in the series, “ The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact ” ^[23] . The game and its continuation KOF: Maximum Impact 2 and its updated version of Maximum Impact: Regulation A revise most of the characters' histories and settings from previous games ^[24] . A third update called “Regulation A2” was planned but canceled. Falcoon , the manufacturer of the Maximum Impact series, stated that Maximum Impact games differ in sequence from the original series of games ^[25] . Another side video game, The King of Fighters Neowave , was released for the Xbox , PlayStation 2, and arcade machines during 2005 and 2006. Neowave is essentially a remix of KOF 2002 , with a new presentation and some changes to the character list. As in this game, Neowave does not have a storyline and is considered a “dream match”. The characters were designed by Tomokazu Nakano ^[26] . Two video games were released for the Game Boy Advance console under the title “The King of Fighters EX: Neo-Blood” and “The King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood”, respectively, with the participation of characters and the use of backgrounds from “KOF '99” and “KOF '2000 "respectively ^{[27] [28]} . Also exclusively for the PlayStation was created role-playing game called " The King of Fighters: Kyo, "adapting the manga of the same name ^[29] . In 2005, an N-Gage version of the first Game Boy Advance game was released, titled “The King of Fighters Extreme,” which added Bluetooth multiplayer.

By the end of the 2000s, at least three patch acid games were developed for this series. The first, “The King of Fighters”, is based on the storyline of Orochi, the second, “The King of Fighters 2”, is based on the fight of Kay ( K ' ) with the NESTS cartel ^{[30] [31]} , and the third, “Maximum Impact ”is dedicated to the“ 3D titles ”series. None of them were released outside of Japan ^[32] . At least six games for Japanese mobile phones have also been developed. Although some of them are fighting games, others are mini-games, such as volleyball and quizzes ^[33] .

Several characters from the series also appear in video game crossovers. NeoGeo Battle Coliseum is a 2-on-2 team fighting game for the Atomiswave arcade platform, and SNK Gals' Fighters is a fighting game for Neo Geo Pocket Color . Along with KOF characters, characters from other SNK game series also play a major role in both of these games ^[34] . Rhythm game called The Rhythm of Fighters was released on mobile phones in 2015 ^[35] . Capcom has also released a series of similar crossovers featuring SNK. The produced SNK fighting games of this crossover include the Dimps- developed portable fighting game “ SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium "for" Neo Geo Pocket Color "in 1999 and" SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos for Neo Geo in 2003. Capcom released the game “ Capcom vs. SNK "in 2000 followed by a small update," Capcom vs. SNK Pro, released in 2001, as well as a sequel titled Capcom vs. SNK 2 ”, released in 2001 ^[36] . All three games were created for NAOMI equipment, and then ported to various consoles. SNK also released SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos ” ^[37] , and a card video game called“ SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS " ^[38] .

Several mobile phone games have also been released, including The King of Fighters: All Star ^[39] , Kimi wa Hero ^[40] , Clash of Kings ^[41] , KOF X Arena Masters ^[42] , “KOF: WORLD” ^[43] , “The King of Fighters Orochi Go”, “The King of Cyphers” ^{[44] [45]} and a crossover with “Fatal Fury” ^[46] . Characters also appeared in other mobile games, such as Kyo Kusanagi in Fighting Days. ^[47]

Game Collections

In addition to remakes of individual games, such as Re-bout, Ultimate Match, and Unlimited Match, SNK has released collections of its games in the KOF series. In Japan, two KOF collections for the PlayStation 2 were released as part of the Neo Geo Online Collection . The first compilation, The King of Fighters Orochi Hen ( ザ · キ ン グ · オ ブ · フ ァ イ タ ー ズ - オ ロ チ 編 - , “The King of Fighters: The Orochi Compilation” ) includes “KOF'95” , "KOF'96" and "KOF'97", the three games that make up Orochi's storyline. The collection included Color Edit mode, which allows the player to create their own color palette for each character in each game, the ability to play each game with original and ordered sound tracks, as well as an online confrontation mode that supports the MMBB service ^[48] . The second compilation, The King of Fighters NESTS Hen ( ザ · キ ン グ · オ ブ · フ ァ イ タ ー ズ - ネ ス ツ 編 - , “The NESTS Compilation”) , includes original versions of “KOF'99”, “KOF'2000” and “KOF '2001' for Neo Geo, as well as the corresponding versions of each game for Dreamcast. It has the same functions as the previous collection, but with online support available only for Dreamcast games in this collection ^[49] .

A separately produced compilation entitled “The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga” was released for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii in North America, the PAL region and Southeast Asia. This collection has the same line of games as the Japanese "Orochi Hen" along with "KOF '94" and "KOF '98", although the additional functions were different, a test mode ( English Challenge Mode ) was added, in which the player must win certain matches against the computer (CPU) in “KOF '98” under certain conditions, and a media gallery showing the audible tracks from each game and a collection of official illustrations ^[48] .

The King of Fighters title tournament came from previous SNK franchises, Fatal Fury and " Art of Fighting . " The first game in the series, "KOF '94," is dedicated to a black market arms dealer named Rugal Bernstein , who holds a famous fighting tournament to lure worthy foes into his trap so he can kill them and turn them into stone statues, adding to his collection of defeated martial artists. In addition to the previously coined fighting stars Terry Bogard and Ryo Sakazaki , a new hero has appeared in the game: a young Japanese martial artist named Kyo Kusanagi , who performs in as the main character in the early KOF games. When creating Kyo, SNK wanted his personality to contrast with previous main characters and stand out in a crossover ^[50] .

In KOF '95, Rugal, who survived the previous tournament, holds a new one with the intention of taking revenge on his opponents. KOF '95 introduced Kyo's rival in the series, Iori Yagami , and became the first game to mention the presence of the Orochi Clan , which served as the central plot element in the next two games of the series. The KOF'96 and KOF'97 tournaments are held by a woman named Chizuru Kagura , who seeks to recruit allies (in particular Kyo and Iori, who, together with Kagura, descended from the Three Divine Vessels ), fight against the Orochi clan. The Orochi storyline ends in "KOF '97" ^[51] , and the next game in the "KOF 98" series is the " Special Edition" without developing a plot.

“KOF '99” presents a new story arc featuring a mysterious corporation known as NESTS, which aims to create an army of genetically modified fighters. A new lead character appears in the game by the name of Kay Dash ( K ′ , Jap. ケ イ ・ ダ ッ シ эй , Kay Dasshu ): an NESTS fugitive genetically enhanced with Kyo DNA ^[52] . The next two games in the series, "KOF '2000" and "KOF' 2001", continue the NESTS storyline, and each game more and more reveals the secret of the organization. “KOF '2002”, like “KOF '98” before, is the “Special Edition” of the series without a special plot. Like Kyo, Kay was created as a hero, different from the rest. Unlike the daring Kyo, Kay is a dark hero who fights against the NESTS syndicate despite his reluctance ^[53] .

KOF 2003 begins a new storyline, focusing on yet another new main character named Ash Crimson , a young man who seeks to possess the powers of the Three Divine Vessels for his own unknown design. Like Kay, Ash gets a different characterization, playing the part of a villain during his story arch ^[54] . The tournaments from KOF '2003 and KOF XI were organized by Those From the Past , an organization of inhuman warriors trying to break Orochi’s seal to gain his power so that they could pass it on to their hidden owner. Although KOF XII has no plot, in KOF XIII the story concentrates on the next tournament, organized by Temi, who is from the past, at the end of which Ash confronts their leader, despite the fact that he was Ash's ancestor ^[55] .

"KOF XIV" begins a new storyline featuring a new key character named Shun'ei ( Eng. Shun'ei , Chinese. 瞬 影 , Japanese. シ ュ ン エ イ , Xun'ei ). According to SNK, although Shun'ei, described as a "kindhearted" person, is not the new main character, he is still important for the saga ^[56] .

The prototype of the game was a side-scroller beat 'em up called "Survivor" . It used only the main characters from the series "Art of Fighting" and "Fatal Fury" , specifically, players were allowed to play for Robert Garcia and Terry Bogard (respectively from "Art of Fighting" and "Fatal Fury" ) to check locations. However, the idea was abandoned over time. Since SNK was tied to the idea of ​​a crossover from two series, they ultimately agreed to turn their idea into a fighting game. Characters from the games "Ikari Warriors" and "Psycho Soldier" have also been added to the list of characters in the new series of games. The concept of a team of three was one of the ideas saved from the side-scroller version ^[57] . Title "The King of Fighters" was the reused subtitle of the first game in the Fatal Fury series, " Fatal Fury: King of Fighters " ^[58] . The director of the Toyohisa Tanabe series claimed that fighters from "Art of Fighting" and “Fatal Fury” ) was added specifically for adults, and new characters from “KOF” were aimed at young and new audiences. Characters like Benimaru Nikaido ( born Benimaru Nikaido Jap. 二階 堂 紅丸 , Nikaido Benimaru ), Choi Pongge ( cor. 최 번개 , Chinese. 崔 稲 妻 , チ ョ イ ・ ボ ン ゲ Choi Bonge / Choi Bong ) and Chan Kohan ( cor. 장거 한 , Chinese. 張巨漢 , Japanese チ ャ ン ・ コ ー ハ ン Chan Kōhan so that the cast was non-standard variety, which he previously considered too serious ^[59] .

While the first two games used the Neo-Geo MVS arcade system, The King of Fighters '96 includes 68 KB of video memory and 64 KB of RAM. This made The King of Fighters '96 the first game that violated the technical limitations of the MVS system ^[60] . SNK staff noted that due to the popularity that some characters in the series acquired, it became difficult to develop new characters that could have the same appeal. This also occurs during tests of the location of new games ^[61] . The artist, known as Shinkiro , was responsible for the first artwork involving the characters. As a result, the novice artist Hiroaki felt that he needed to draw with the idea of ​​attractive characters, despite the lack of experience during his debut ^[62] . Former producer Takashi Nishiyama was not on the team for the first time during the development of “The King of Fighters' 2000,” which provoked negative thoughts within the development team ^[63] . Despite the early negative thoughts about the state of the game, SNK was pleased with how the title ended, calling the arcade an attractive game. Following the release, SNK thanked fans for their support ^[64] . Mexican company Evoga had a big impact on games due to the popularity of the franchise in Latin America ^[65] .

In 2000, SNK went bankrupt, but in the same year, Eolith entered into a license agreement to continue production of the KOF series. Eolith became interested in developing The King of Fighters due to the popularity of the franchise in Korea and wanted to please fans of this series of games around the world. Brezza Soft helped Eolith create a video game. Fearing disappointment from fans returning to the series, Eolith decided to keep most of the parts common for The King of Fighters, adding new elements to it. One of the biggest changes is the optional use of Strikers , where players can use from one to three characters to help playable. The team sought to improve the original gaming system from previous KOF games. After conducting a survey of popularity about the characters, Eolith still sought to present the least popular teams in the game. The high popularity of Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami led to their immediate inclusion in the game ^[66] . References to work from Evoga can be seen in the scripts from the game. Working on them, the team played The King of Fighters '98 with the developers to see if they could include the character in the game. A participant from Evoga won, as a result of which the team asked to add a character named “Angel” to the game ^[67] . Starting in 2003, games were again developed by SNK, then known as SNK Playmore ^[68] . In the same year, SNK Playmore shut down the AES system, preferring to release video games in collaboration with Sammy , using its Atomiswave arcade platform, which provided it with a more secure and modern platform for new arcade releases. This allowed the new KOF games to improve the quality of sound and graphics, as well as their predecessors ^[69] .

Beginning with the first game in the King of Fighters series, each has been released every year; the last one released this way was The King of Fighters 2003. In December 2004, Falcoon , the chief illustrator of the series, mentioned that the next game that SNK Playmore employees tried to release was different from “ The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact ” or what could be “The King of Fighters 2004”. Game development began when SNK employees completed the creation of the "Neo Geo Battle Coliseum" ^[70] . The series continued “The King of Fighters 2003” with parts “XI”, “XII” and “XIII”, in which there were serious changes that the audience liked ^[71] . The decision to create The King of Fighters XIV was made when SNK Playmore CEO Eikichi Kawasaki decided that the company should return to producing attractive fighting games, not Pachinko slot machines and mobile applications. Although it took some time, the development of the game went into full production, when in April 2014 more employees from Esaka joined the team ^{[72] [73]} . The director of the game was Yasuyuki Oda. The leadership of the young staff was his first contribution to the franchise. During Oda’s first work at SNK, games like Virtua Fighter hit him and motivated him to make a 3D game after he left. When Oda returned to SNK, there was no discussion about the transition of the series from 2D to 3D, although the adaptation of some characters turned out to be more complicated than others ^[74] . Many SNK employees consider KOF 98 and KOF 2002 the best franchise games, which led them to think of creating new parts of the series that are superior to the quality of these two games ^{[75] [76]} . During the contest, SNK used the NLC DLC character Najd , based on Saudi Arabian artist Masaele. Chairman of the SNK Board of Directors Zhihui Ge expressed his desire to attract more Middle Eastern fans to the game, as well as to hire new creators during the post release of “The King of Fighters XIV” ^[77] .

Adaptations in printed materials

During 1995, Tatsuya Shingyouji created the manga adaptation of The King of Fighters '94. It was mass-produced in Kadokawa Shoten 's Sh Knen Ace magazine and was compiled into four volumes of tankobons . They were released from February 10, 1995 to December 1996 ^{[78] [79]} . There is also a spin-off storyline based on the adventures of characters from The King of Fighters '96, dedicated to the rivalry of Kyo and Iori called "The King of Fighters: Kyo . " The author of this manga is Masato Natsumoto, and it was published by Kodansha in two tankobom volumes during 1997 ^{[80] [81]} . Ryo Takamisaki has also developed another adaptation based on KOF '96; Shinseisha published a series in three collections of tank boons from June 1996 to February 1998 ^{[82] [83]} . Akihiko Uresino ( English Akihiko Ureshino ) is also the author of several novels based on games, with the participation of various artists who contributed to each issue ^{[84] [85] [86]} .

KOF XIV inspired the adaptation of a manga called "The King of Fighters: A New Beginning" by Kotaro Azuma ( born Kyōtarō Azuma ). The series has been published in Kodansha publishing magazine Magazine Pocket since January 2018 ^[87] .

Manhua- adaptation "KOF" called "The King of Fighters: Zillion" was created by . Hong Kong artists Wing Yang and King Tung created another Manhua in a series of games, from King of Fighters 2001 to 2003, along with the Maximum Impact sub-series ^[88] . Both authors also made a sequel “The King of Fighters 03: Xenon Zero” (拳皇 XENON ZERO) to complete the arch of the 2003 tournament ^[89] . The ComicsOne publishing house licensed the series, the first volume of which was timed to coincide with the release of the new video game, and continued to publish the series after their [rights to publish titles, team, publishing facilities?] Transfer to the DrMaster publishing house ^{[90] [91]} . They were published in five volumes of 128 pages each from May 25, 2005 to June 26, 2008 ^{[92] [93]} . Another Manhua series is the King of Fighters RX Project '00 (拳皇 RX), a three-volume Manhua series officially sponsored by SNK-Playmore Hong Kong. A version of the NESTS saga, illustrated by Ricky, illuminates the fight against NESTS, which mainly focuses on the 2000 tournament ^[94] .

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