The King of Fighters '96
Encyclopedia
The King of Fighters '96 is a fighting game
released by SNK
for the Neo Geo
arcade and home consoles. 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. It is also part of the compilation The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga for the PlayStation 2
, PlayStation Portable
and Wii
. It was also released on the Wii
Virtual Console
in Japan on February 15, 2011.
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 Kyo Kusanagi
, who defeated the previous KOF host, Rugal Bernstein
, to ask him and his bitter rival, Iori Yagami
, to help her in the sealing of the Orochi demon. The new boss is one of the servants from Orochi, Goenitz, who appears after Chizuru is defeated.
SNK members had various troubles with the development of the game as they were dragged on right up to the time of its scheduled release. This happened since developers had diffulties with making the sprites and special moves of new characters from 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 it was unbalanced in comparison to its prequels.
. The letters also announced many changes, the first of which being a massive overhaul of the tournament's approach. During the time that had passed between the tournaments since the previous year, the King of Fighters tournament's fame had grown immensely, to the point that it turned into a major international event, which had not happened before. Huge corporations transformed the King of Fighters tournament into something widely televised, commercialized, and celebrated, drawing in many crowds from around the world. The tournament is now held by Chizuru Kagura, a descendant of the ancient Yata Clan responsible for sealing the Orochi demon 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 exactly willing to work together on friendly terms.
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. Takumas spot in the Art of Fighting Team was taken by his daughter Yuri Sakazaki
, formerly with the Women Fighters Team. New characters introduced in this episode include Kasumi Todoh from Art of Fighting 3, who takes Yuris 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. The new boss character is Goenitz, a servant from Orochi who wants to stop Chizuru's plans of sealing his master.
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 Wolfang Krauser received "special treatment", such as music for each of them (in comparison to other teams who only had one), however, due to lack of time to balance them, some of their special moves were removed. The sub-boss character, Chizuru Kagura, was the hardest one to create. Her pixelated image was completed in a month but the designer in charge of her often worked too much time. The game also meant to introduce Whip into the Ikari Team. However, due to Leona's introduction in the same team, developers had to wait until The King of Fighters '99
to add her to the cast.
, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. The Saturn version requires a 1MB RAM cartridge in order to be played. A Saturn Best Collection version of the port was released on October 1, 1998. It was also compilated in The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga in for the PlayStation 2
, PlayStation Portable
and Wii
.
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. This mode can be activated by entering the code in the Takara logo screen. 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
).
noted the game to be unbalanced in comparison to its prequel such as noting the projectile attacks needed to be improved. However, they liked the additions of Vice and Mature and more character interaction such as the special introductions between related characters, custom endings and custom winposes. 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. 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 Berstein from KOF '95. 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. GameSpot
noted its release along with Real Bout Fatal Fury
and Samurai Showdown IV to have been the games from SNK that sold the most in 1996. 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.
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
released by SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
for the Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
arcade and home consoles. It is the third game in The King of Fighters series, following The King of Fighters '95
The King of Fighters '95
The King of Fighters '95 is a fighting game produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It is the sequel to The King of Fighters '94 and the second game in The King of Fighters series...
. Like its predecessor, the game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD, as well as the PlayStation and Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
. Unlike the previous game, the PlayStation and Saturn versions were released only in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. It is also part of the compilation The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. It was also released on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in Japan on February 15, 2011.
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 Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
, who defeated the previous KOF host, Rugal Bernstein
Rugal Bernstein
is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
, to ask him and his bitter rival, Iori Yagami
Iori Yagami
is a character from the SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series that first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team. He is an iconic character of the series, and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Iori is a central character to the...
, to help her in the sealing of the Orochi demon. The new boss is one of the servants from Orochi, Goenitz, who appears after Chizuru is defeated.
SNK members had various troubles with the development of the game as they were dragged on right up to the time of its scheduled release. This happened since developers had diffulties with making the sprites and special moves of new characters from 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 it was unbalanced in comparison to its prequels.
Gameplay
KOF '96 made a few slight changes to the gameplay of previous KOF games by introducing new techniques. The Dodge technique from the previous two game is replaced by an "emergency evasion" or "attack deflector" technique, which allows the players character to roll away or towards the opponent. In the latter case, the player can have the ability to roll towards the opponent and end up at the other side. The player can also determine the height of their jump and perform small or high jumps. Additionally, the graphics for all the character sprites from the previous games were redrawn and the commands for certain Special and Super moves were changed from previous games. Like in the previous, Super Special Moves can be performed when the Power Gauge is filled up or when the player's life gauge is flashing red. However, the player can also perform a more powerful version of their regular Super move if both conditions are met (the player has low energy and Maximum level power gauge).Plot and characters
A new King of Fighters tournament was announced, though the letters of invitation sent out to the fighters were no longer sent by Rugal BernsteinRugal Bernstein
is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
. The letters also announced many changes, the first of which being a massive overhaul of the tournament's approach. During the time that had passed between the tournaments since the previous year, the King of Fighters tournament's fame had grown immensely, to the point that it turned into a major international event, which had not happened before. Huge corporations transformed the King of Fighters tournament into something widely televised, commercialized, and celebrated, drawing in many crowds from around the world. The tournament is now held by Chizuru Kagura, a descendant of the ancient Yata Clan responsible for sealing the Orochi demon along with the Kusanagi and Yasanaki clans (the clans from Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
and Iori Yagami
Iori Yagami
is a character from the SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series that first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team. He is an iconic character of the series, and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Iori is a central character to the...
, 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 exactly willing to work together on friendly terms.
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. Takumas spot in the Art of Fighting Team was taken by his daughter Yuri Sakazaki
Yuri Sakazaki
is a video game character from SNK Playmore's Art of Fighting series. She first appears in the original Art of Fighting being kidnapped by Mr. Big, a criminal from the fictional city of Southtown. The players, Yuri's brother Ryo and his friend Robert Garcia spend the game searching for her...
, formerly with the Women Fighters Team. New characters introduced in this episode include Kasumi Todoh from Art of Fighting 3, who takes Yuris 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
Geese Howard
is a fictional video game character appearing in SNK Playmore's Fatal Fury fighting games series. Debuting in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, Geese is the local crime boss of the fictional city of South Town. Geese hosts a fighting tournament named "The King of Fighters", in which he faces the...
, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Big, all villains from the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
series. The new boss character is Goenitz, a servant from Orochi who wants to stop Chizuru's plans of sealing his master.
Development
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 games since the staff did not have enough time to completely design them. The addition of Kasumi Todoh to the cast was done since the game in which she starred, Art of Fighting 3, which was released at the same time of KOF '96. Geese HowardGeese Howard
is a fictional video game character appearing in SNK Playmore's Fatal Fury fighting games series. Debuting in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, Geese is the local crime boss of the fictional city of South Town. Geese hosts a fighting tournament named "The King of Fighters", in which he faces the...
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 Wolfang Krauser received "special treatment", such as music for each of them (in comparison to other teams who only had one), however, due to lack of time to balance them, some of their special moves were removed. The sub-boss character, Chizuru Kagura, was the hardest one to create. Her pixelated image was completed in a month but the designer in charge of her often worked too much time. The game also meant to introduce Whip into the Ikari Team. However, due to Leona's introduction in the same team, developers had to wait until The King of Fighters '99
The King of Fighters '99
The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle is a head-to-head fighting game by SNK released for the Neo Geo arcade and home platform. It is the sixth installment in the companys The King of Fighters series. The game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD and the PlayStation as the final KOF game released...
to add her to the cast.
Original version
The original KOF '96 was released for Japanese arcades on July 30, 1996. A Neo Geo and Neo-Geo CD versions were released on September 27, 1996 and October 25, 1996, respectively. The PlayStation port was released on September 4, 1997 and the Sega Saturn port on December 31, 1996. Unlike the previous game, the PlayStation and Saturn versions were released only in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. The Saturn version requires a 1MB RAM cartridge in order to be played. A Saturn Best Collection version of the port was released on October 1, 1998. It was also compilated in The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga in for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
.
Game Boy
Like the previous game, a Game BoyGame Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
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. This mode can be activated by entering the code in the Takara logo screen. Characters exclusive to the Game Boy version includes Orochi Iori and Orochi Leona from The King of Fighters '97
The King of Fighters '97
The King of Fighters '97 is a fighting game produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It is the fourth game in The King of Fighters series. It was ported to the Neo-Geo CD, as well as the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn in Japan only...
, 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
Art of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
).
Neo Geo CD
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 included 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. A similar version of this game, The King of Fighters '96 Perfect File, was also released for Windows and Macintosh computers. This version was released on June 18, 1997 and included most of the features found in its predecessor.Reception
The Neo Geo version of the game had an average of 75.00% based on only one review by GameRankings, while the Game Boy version received an average of 67.50%, based also on one review. The game received praise and criticism from video game publications, which commented on its new additions. 1UP.com1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
noted the game to be unbalanced in comparison to its prequel such as noting the projectile attacks needed to be improved. However, they liked the additions of Vice and Mature and more character interaction such as the special introductions between related characters, custom endings and custom winposes. 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. 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 Berstein from KOF '95. 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. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
noted its release along with Real Bout Fatal Fury
Real Bout Fatal Fury
is a 1995 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo-Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the fifth installment in the Fatal Fury series, following Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory. Ports of Real Bout were released for the Neo-Geo CD, PlayStation and the Sega Saturn...
and Samurai Showdown IV to have been the games from SNK that sold the most in 1996. 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.
External links
- The King of Fighters '96 at the official Japanese website of SNK Playmore