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The King of Fighters '96

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The King of Fighters '96
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
SNK
  • Game Boy
Director(s)Kuwayan
Producer(s)Takashi Nishiyama
Designer(s)Eri Koujitani
Kaori Kusunoki
Masato Yokoyama
Programmer(s)Khozoh Nagashima
S. Fujinuki
Artist(s)Toshiaki Mori
Composer(s)Akihiro Uchida
Hideki Asanaka
Kazuhiro Nishida
SeriesThe King of Fighters
Platform(s)Arcade, Game Boy, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Release
30 July 1996
  • Arcade
    • JP: 30 July 1996
    Neo Geo AES
    • NA/JP: 27 September 1996
    Neo Geo CD
    • NA/JP: 25 October 1996
    Saturn
    • JP: 31 December 1996
    PlayStation
    Original release
    • JP: 4 July 1997
    Re-release
    • JP: 23 July 1998
    Game Boy
    • JP: 7 August 1997
    • EU: 1998
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNeo Geo MVS

The King of Fighters '96[a] (KOF '96) is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1996. It is the third game in The King of Fighters series, following The King of Fighters '95. Like its predecessor, the game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD, as well as the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Unlike the previous game, the PlayStation and Saturn versions were released only in Japan, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. The game would later be ported to other consoles such as part of the Orochi Collection as the story follows a story arc that was set itih The King of Fighters '95 and ends with The King of Fighters '97.

The game made a few changes to gameplay such as new techniques, various changes of some teams, with a few of them introducing new characters. The plot follows a new King of Fighters tournament created by Chizuru Kagura, the heir of Yata Clan who wants to find and recruit the protagonist Kyo Kusanagi, who defeated the previous host, Rugal Bernstein, to ask him and his bitter rival, Iori Yagami, to help her in the sealing of the Orochi demon like her predecessors. The new boss is one of the servants of Orochi, Goenitz, serves as the final boss. Developers made several changes to cast when compared to The King of Fighters '95 with special focus on a Boss Team composed famous villains from their other two IPs, Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting.

SNK members had trouble with the development of the game as they dragged on right up to its scheduled release. This happened because the developers had difficulty making the sprites and special moves of the new characters of the game. The game has had mixed reviews from several video games publications. While some reviewers have praised the graphical improvements and the addition of new characters, some have commented the gameplay was unbalanced in comparison to its prequels as a result of characters possessing new moves that clash the ideas of projectiles and hand-to-hand combat.

Gameplay

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Gameplay screenshot showcasing a match between Mature and Mai Shiranui.

KOF '96 is a fighting game that carries the same goal of previous games involving the creation of a team of three fighters who participate in the title tournament against several rivals. This installment makes significant changes to the gameplay of previous KOF games by introducing new techniques. The Dodge technique from the previous two games has been replaced with an "emergency evasion" or "attack deflector" technique, which allows the player's character to roll away or towards the opponent. In the latter case, the player has the opportunity to end up at the other side of their opponent. The player can also determine the height of their jumps and perform small or high jumps. The player is also able to create several counter techniques to cancel the enemies' attacks.[1]

Additionally, Super Special Moves can still be performed when the Power Gauge is filled up or when the player's life gauge is flashing red, but in addition to this, the player can also perform a more powerful version of their regular Super move if both conditions are met (i.e., the player has low energy and their power gauge has reached Maximum level). One other change to the gameplay system is that the player can now run instead of hopping forward in order to approach the opponent faster. While the game includes several bosses, both Chizuru Kagura and Goenitz can be unlocked to become the players'.[1]

Plot and characters

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See also: List of The King of Fighters characters

A new King of Fighters tournament is announced, though the letters of invitation sent out to the fighters are no longer sent by Rugal Bernstein. The character roster underwent major changes since the previous game. The Rival Team was disbanded, with only Iori Yagami returning, while Heidern and Takuma Sakazaki retired from the tournament. Takuma's spot in the Art of Fighting Team is taken by his daughter Yuri Sakazaki, formerly with the Women Fighters Team. New characters include Kasumi Todoh from Art of Fighting 3, who takes Yuri's place in the Women Fighters Team; Leona, who joins the Ikari Team in place of her mentor and adoptive father, Heidern; Mature and Vice, two of Rugal's assistants who join Iori Yagami as members of the new Yagami Team; and the Boss Team, composed of Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Big, all villains from the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series.[2]

The tournament is now held by Chizuru Kagura, a descendant of the ancient Yata Clan responsible for sealing the snake demon Orochi along with the Kusanagi and Yasanaki clans (the clans from Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, respectively). Chizuru uses the tournament in hopes of finding and recruiting Kyo and Iori in order to stop the upcoming Orochi threat, but Kyo and Iori aren't willing to work together on friendly terms. The new boss character is Goenitz, a servant from Orochi who wants to stop Chizuru's plans of sealing his master. After Chizuru tests the winners, Goentiz ambushes her and faces the player. Following his defeat, Goenitz passes away as he body disappears in a tornado.[3] If Kyo and Iori are allied with Chizuru, the two rivals join forces to incinerate Goentiz in combat.[4] If Goenitz is chosen by the player, Goenitz is defeated by Chizuru's late sister Maki, who put a spell on him before her death.[5]

Development

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SNK developer Yasuyuki Oda referred to KOF '96 as the most important game from the franchise because that it served as the basis for most of their works.[6] The development period for KOF '96 dragged on right up to the time of its scheduled release. At the location test for the title, Mature and Vice were still not included in the game, since the staff did not have enough time to completely design them.[7] The King of Fighters '96 is the second game to break the technical limits of the Neo Geo platform by using a memory footprint of 362 mega bits (which is roughly 46 mega bytes). While the first two games used the Neo Geo MVS arcade, The King of Fighters '96 includes 68 KB of video RAM and 64 KB of RAM. This made The King of Fighters '96 the first game to break the technical limits of the MVS system.[8] SNK staff members noted that due to the great popularity of some of the series' characters, it is difficult to design new ones that might have the same appeal. This also happens during location tests of new games.[9]

The basic concept is novelty through new characters, new language, and new systems. Unlike the previous two titles, the key point is how to change the way the players use the characters. The tempo of the game has increased. SNK aimed to create a game with less waiting and more attacking. Also, how to make the new character stand out ASW a big issue. The attack evasion causes the game to pause for a moment. The developers felt that this was an element that contradicted their previous aim of speeding up the game, and although the "attack evasion" itself was well received, they took the plunge and changed it to an "emergency return action" that involved movement. This was also a bit difficult to use. This lead to the removal of projectile techniques to make fights more strategic and make the characters more unique. Many people always came to the word-of-mouth tests, and even after the release, many people played the game, which helped improve the developers. The inclusion of Geese Howard was innovative but at the same time confusing to players because the game was released after Real Bout Fatal Fury which marks the death of the boss character.[10] Among several characters, the protagonist Kyo Kusanagi have different moves that reinforce a hand-to-hand combat rather than throwing projectiles like in previous games. While Kyo remained popular, SNK developers noted players missed the original Kyo which often resulted in next games to include an alternate version of the main character possesing his classic moves.[11][12]

Kasumi Todoh was added to the cast since the coinciding release of Art of Fighting 3 had increased the character's profile.[13] Geese Howard from Fatal Fury was first meant to appear in KOF '95, but developers abandoned this idea. When KOF '96 began development, the staff decided to make Geese become a playable character. The Boss Team in which he starred along with Mr. Big and Wolfgang Krauser received "special treatment", such as music for each individual member (in comparison to other teams, who only had one). Due to memory restrictions, some of the special moves that were designed for Geese had to be left out of the game.[14] Artist Shinkiro considered Leona to be "ice queen" persona; an opposite of Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury.[15] SNK artist Falcoon stated Leona is the company's response to Street Fighter character Cammy; both of whom are implosion assassins.[16] The sub-boss character, Chizuru Kagura, was the hardest one to create. Her pixelated image was completed in a month, and the designer in charge of her often worked until six in the morning.[17] The game also meant to introduce Whip into the Ikari Team. However, due to Leona's introduction in the same team, the developers waited until The King of Fighters '99 to add her to the cast.[18] The final boss Goenitz was written to be an antagonist who surpasses the previous villain, Rugal Bernstein.[19]

Release

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The original KOF '96 was released for Japanese arcades on July 30, 1996. Neo Geo and Neo Geo CD versions were released on September 27, 1996 and October 25, 1996, respectively. The Sega Saturn port was released on December 31, 1996 and the PlayStation port on July 4, 1997.[20] Unlike the previous game, the PlayStation and Saturn versions were released only in Japan, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. The Saturn version optionally uses a 1MB RAM cartridge to run additional animations which would not fit in the Saturn's internal RAM.[21] A "Saturn Best Collection" version of the port was released on October 1, 1998. The PlayStation version was a bestseller and was re-released in the "PlayStation the Best" series in Japan.

Like the previous game, a Game Boy game based on The King of Fighters '96 was released by Takara in Japan titled Nettō The King of Fighters '96 on August 8, 1997, and was released in Europe titled The King of Fighters: Heat of Battle in 1998. This version only includes 17 of the 29 characters in the original version. The Game Boy game features a secret code called "Carnage" mode, which allows the player's (including CPU) Power Gauge to be filled automatically without charging. This feature also enables the player to use powerful versions of their Super Special Moves and normal versions of Super Special Moves without having the player's health at a low rate. Characters exclusive to the Game Boy version includes Orochi Iori and Orochi Leona from The King of Fighters '97; a stronger version of Chizuru Kagura; the final boss of the game, Goenitz; and Mr. Karate (Takuma's persona in the original Art of Fighting).[22]

An emulated version of the game was released as part of The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga in 2008 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii.[23] The Neo Geo AES version was added via emulation to the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on February 15, 2011, in North America on July 12, 2012 and in the PAL region on November 22, 2012.[24] The arcade version was emulated and released as part of the ACA Neo Geo series for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 30, 2017 with releases for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android following afterwards.[25][26][27]

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An extensive database for the game, titled The King of Fighters '96 Neo Geo Collection, was released on February 14, 1997 to promote the year's title. It was available only for the Neo-Geo CD. The database includes the game's intro, an interactive reenactment of the game's backstory, character profiles spoken by their voice actors, outtakes, an exclusive gallery section from the creators, a complete command list and a sound selection.[28] A similar version of this database, The King of Fighters '96 Perfect File, was also released for Windows and Macintosh computers. This version was released on June 18, 1997 and includes most of the features found in its predecessor.[29]

Ryo Takamisaki also wrote The King of Fighters G, a manga that retells the events of the game following Athena Asamiya.[30]

Reception

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In Japan, Game Machine listed The King of Fighters '96 on their September 1, 1996 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month.[35] According to Famitsu, the AES version sold over 33,323 copies in its first week on the market.[36] Electronic Gaming Monthly editors named The King of Fighters '96 their Neo Geo Game of the Year, calling it "an excellent packaged deal for any fan of 2-D sprite-based fighting games."[34] GameSpot noted the game helped start "a modest resurgence in the sales of AES consoles and cartridges."[37] During its release week, the Sega Saturn port of the game sold 109,752 copies in Japan. As of 2004, the sales went to 155,116.[38]

The game received praise and criticism from video game publications, which commented on its new additions in regards to the gameplay and characters. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Neo Geo AES version a 7.5 out of 10, citing the huge roster of fighters and retention of the series' strong playability.[32] Game Master Mook regarded it as the most fun fighting game from the franchise by the time of its release thanks to the new mecahnics including Max Mode among other new characters.[39] 1UP.com noted the game to be unbalanced in comparison to its prequel such as noting the projectile attacks needed to be improved.[40] Chris Wigham from consoleob.com also found issues with projectile moves, as the fights were closer. However, he noted the graphics to have gone through a big improvement in comparison to KOF '95.[41] The emulated Virtual Console release for Wii obtained a good review by Nintendo Life based on the improvements SNK added to the title, such as balancing the gameplay, movements of characters but criticized the audio.[31] HardcoreGaming noted that several characters have aerial techniques which add more variety to the cast despite still failing to balance the cast. Nevertheless, HardcoreGaming praised the new gameplay elements that made the game unique when compared to the previous two installments.[1]

The presentation was a subject of positive response and regative responses. Dan Hsu and Sushi-X both criticized it for failing to improve graphically over the previous installment and thereby keep up with contemporary 2D fighting series such as Street Fighter.[32] In a review from the compilation The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga, George Damidas from entdepot.com commented that KOF '96 should be the first game as he praised the graphical improvements and the new characters appearing in the series.[42] Zentendo.com writer Chuck Allen praised the improvements of music and voice acting such as the announcer's voice which is "audible and understandable". He also praised the addition of new characters to the cast as well as the boss Goenitz, who is easier to defeat than Rugal Bernstein from KOF '95.[43] In retrospect, the plot was well-received for how the two rivals Kyo and Iori join forces for the first time despite their antagonism, which went on to mark a major impact in SNK history thanks to appeal of these two fighters.[44][45] 1UP.com and HardcoreGaming liked the additions of Vice and Mature, the new Boss Team composed of SNK famous villains, the special introductions between related characters, custom endings and custom winposes.[40][1]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ'96, Hepburn: Za Kingu Obu Faitāzu '96

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "The King of Fighters '96 - Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PSP, PSN, Wii (1996)". HardcoreGaming101. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  2. ^ "The King of Fighters '96". SNK. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  3. ^ SNK (July 30, 1996). The King of Fighters '96 (Neo Geo). SNK. Benimaru: Trying to escape, huh? / Goenitz: No. I am being called... to Heaven.
  4. ^ SNK (July 30, 1996). The King of Fighters '96 (Neo Geo). SNK. Goenitz: I guess I underestimated you. I never thought... but this isn't the end for you./Iori: Hah! "ONE-FOR-THE-ROAD" BLAST!/Goenitz: AHHHHH!/Kyo: Hah! Eat this, pal! SERPENT WAVE!/Goenitz:GYAAAH! Why? Why is there no wind? GYAAAAAH!
  5. ^ SNK (July 30, 1996). The King of Fighters '96 (Neo Geo). SNK. Goenitz: Even after her death she still kept her eyes on me.
  6. ^ "Interview – Yasuyuki Oda – Chief Producer – The King of Fighters". Player2. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "Vice Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  8. ^ "FEATURE – THE KING OF FIGHTERS 96 (RETRO REVIEW)". Atomix. August 26, 2016. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  9. ^ "This conclusion to the developers' section consists of two parts". SNK. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  10. ^ "The King of Fighters '96". Neo Geo Freak. Geibunsha. 1997. pp. 79–82.
  11. ^ "Kyo 94 Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
  12. ^ "Kyo 95 Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
  13. ^ "Kasumi Todoh Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  14. ^ "Geese Howard Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  15. ^ "Interview with Q". SNK. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  16. ^ Falcoon [@falcoon_master] (September 6, 2017). "キャミィへのアンサーはレオナ。ハイデルン流りゅう暗殺あんさつ術じゅつを使つかうので同おなじ「暗殺あんさつ者しゃ」というカテゴリーで結むすび付つけました。レオナは対戦たいせんではほとんど使つかってないなぁ・・・。" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Chizuru Kagura Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  18. ^ "Whip Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  19. ^ "Goenitz". SNK. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  20. ^ "The King of Fighters '96 Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  21. ^ "Big in Japan: King of Fighters '96". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 19. Emap International Limited. May 1997. p. 50.
  22. ^ "Nettou The King of Fighters '96 Hints & Cheats". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  23. ^ "KoF Collection Orochi Releases dates". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  24. ^ "King Of Fighters '96 To Flex Its ACA Neo Geo Muscles on Switch". NintedoLife. December 21, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  25. ^ "ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS '96". Store PlayStation. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  26. ^ "ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS '96 for Windows". Xbox. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  27. ^ "Classic Fighter The King of Fighters 96 From SNK and Hamster Is Out Now on iOS and Android As the Newest ACA NeoGeo Series Release". TouchArcade. July 6, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  28. ^ "King of Fighters '96 Neo-Geo Collection, The". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  29. ^ ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ’96―最終さいしゅう攻略こうりゃくガイド (覇王はおうゲームスペシャル 91) (単行本たんこうぼん) (in Japanese). ASIN 4063292916.
  30. ^ Takamisaki, Ryo (1997). ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズG. Vol. 1. Shinsenga. ISBN 978-4881993507.
  31. ^ a b Dillard, Corbie (19 July 2012). "The King of Fighters '96". Nintendo Life. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  32. ^ a b c Smith, Shawn; Hsu, Dan; Boyer, Crispin; Sushi-X (November 1996). "Review Crew: King of Fighters '96". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 88. Ziff Davis. p. 88.
  33. ^ "King of Fighters '96 Review". Capsule Monsters. October 24, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  34. ^ a b "The Best of '96". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 92. Ziff Davis. March 1997. p. 86.
  35. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機きーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 525. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 September 1996. p. 21.
  36. ^ "Game Search". Game Data Library. Archived from the original on 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  37. ^ Provo, Frank (June 11, 2004). "History of SNK (Page 16)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  38. ^ "Sega Saturn Japanese Ranking". Japan Game Charts. Archived from the original on September 24, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  39. ^ "The King of Fighters 096". Gamest Hook. No. 112. Shinseisha. 1996. p. 41.
  40. ^ a b "History Of... The King of Fighters, SNK's classic team-based 2D fighting series". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-04. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  41. ^ Wigham, Chris (2008-12-16). "The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga Review". Consoleob.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  42. ^ Damilas, George (2008-11-26). "King of Fighters: Orochi Saga". entdepot.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  43. ^ Allen, Chuck (2009-01-25). "The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga". Zentendo. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
  44. ^ "King of Fighters: Ranking All the Characters". Den of Geek. November 14, 2016. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  45. ^ "King of Fighters XIV". The Daily Star. March 16, 2017. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
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