NOTE: This was a previous Game of the week discussion thread!
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Seems like KOF won by a lot in the GOTW poll. Guess we'll be doing that. ^^;
'96 isn't particularly one of my favorites, I still had a lot of fun with this one, though. Also, the soundtrack is pure win. And the graphics are really good in this one too! Being used as a base for future KOFs, I believe.
King of Fighters '96
Genre: Fighting Size: 362 Megs Players: 2 Released on: AES, MVS, King of Fighters: Orochi Saga (PS2/Wii/PSP)
Brief Description:
The King of Fighters '96 is the third game in the King of Fighters series. 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 the man who defeated the previous KOF host, Rugal Bernstein, to ask him 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.
Kazuya_UK wrote:
With KOF '96 though, I can just enjoy it for the great game that it is. In hindsight, you could say that the newer KOF games like '97 and '98 took the series one step further and improved it, but for some reason I still LOVE playing this game. This is due in part to the general atmosphere of the game, with its cool music and nice backgrounds, but the game itself just plays great anyway. I guess that is one of the awesome things about this series really; no matter how many they release or how good the newer games get, us King of Fighters fanboy's still get a lot of enjoyment out of the older games in the series!
One-Fu wrote:
The experience I had, pushing quarters in dozens of times when it was put in the arcade place I went to after school, I enjoyed every minute of it. By itself, this is probably the most underrated chapter of the series. The chance to play it in the arcade is a must for any loyal fan to SNK. If it's available on the home console you have, go get it! The things that SNK did to make 96 look better then the first two KOFs before it are done wonderfully and should be appreciated.
: Videos:
'96 Playthrough w/ Kensou
YouTube Video:
Other Media
Enjoy the pure win that is the KOF '96 OST/AST. :3
It was the first KOF I bought on the 'Geo. I like a number of tweeks they made in it, particularly the tweeks to Andy and Ryo. Its got some lovely tunes, a tough ass but fair final boss, and a great line-up - Boss Team FTW!! Endings are good too.
There are better in the series, but you can't go wrong with a bit of '96 action!
23-08-2009 05:00 PM
Posts: 56 Joined: 20.07.09 Location: Los Angeles,CA Age: 31
Best graphics and sound, hands down... Kasumi is awesome too This was the game that was used as a base for the graphics in later games, but some how it manages to still look better then them...
Shame its a bit broken and surpassed by later entries, but given the time it was released I can imagine it being very well received.
Im not really a KOF expert, so I don't know about it being broken, but I do really love 96! its my fav after 02. The music is amazing and the best ever, and the backgrounds are beautiful too. Love it lots! - I like that you get your team cheering you on (or looking depressed) in the background, unlike 02 (which is my fav)
Definitely a KOF game worth getting!
"As fun as it was for people like us who knew what we were doing - parrying started a trend where new players were afraid to get into the game. We love Street Fighter III and hope people will keep playing it on PS2, but Street Fighter IV is its own game" Yoshinori Ono producer of Street Fighter IV
23-08-2009 05:58 PM | Edited by priest 23-08-2009 06:13 PM
Posts: 2927 Joined: 27.06.07 Location: Sweden Age: 35
In my opinion, one of the best KOF games in the whole "saga", I still play this. You can´t say that this game is "broken" . Unlike KOF ´94 and KOF ´95 this game is more balanced in terms of difficulty. And because of this a lot more enjoyable.
Remember to enter the KOF ´96 Highscore Challenge:
I like this version a lot, although the graphics in 95 were great 96 does seem to set the template for the future. The backgrounds are of a very high standard , the redesign of Robert was a genius move and I find it plays fine regardless of a lot of people finding fault with it.
Yes 98 & 99 are probably better but its a game I still enjoy and find that it holds up very well after 13 years, I much prefer this to 97.
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This game I found exciting above the others. The movements are more flexible than its predacessors and the character variety is big and brilliant.
King's restaurant is better than before. I like the way the camera scans in above the city and a second later you find yourself inside the penthouse. The boss stage seems to be a real treat for players having to beat the trio in Venice and after that, more bosses. I wonder what Terry's team and the Sakazaki team are doing in the same train station location in New Mexico (Probably the city of Glasshill Valley shown in AOF3).
There are some parts I cannot understand. For example Geese Howard teams with both Mr. Big and Wolfgang Krauser. In AOF2 Geese sacked and booted out Mr. Big and in Fatal Fury series , Krauser despises Geese.
I look forward to a good tryout in the highscore challenge.
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I VOTED FOR... 'Its ok, but outdated now', even though this isn't true on my part. Games being 'outdated' has never been an issue for me. However, the game isn't 'It's horrible' either! I couldn't rightly vote it's horrible as it's not! The game kinda fell in a category that didn't exist on the poll, at least for me...
PERSONALLY... '96 carries HUGE pluses & minuses, at least for me I realise after reading through the posts, I'm in the minority here.
PLUSES:
The BKGDs in this game are pretty much the BEST ones you will ever find in a KOF in my opinion. They glorious! They have a real 'KOF' feel to them too! Hard to explain, but hopefully you'll 'get' what I mean. All the stages are great, aren't they?!
AND...
The Music! The music in this game is absolutely awesome... from the mellow AOF guitar theme to the Jazzy theme on Kings stage to the AMAZING Arashi No SaxII on Iori's stage! GENIUS... literally!
MINUSES:
The gameplay. For me 95 played amazingly and REGARDLESS of how many things had been improved in 96's presentation and system (animation, character sprites, running ability etc) the game itself just didn't play well IMO. It just didn't feel instant enough and quite commonly moves took to long to 'come around' after initial execution, or the move would connect on a frame you wouldn't expect it too. I just had too many problems ACTUALLY playing the game. Everything just felt so cumbersome, slow and elaborate! I felt like that BACK in the day... not after playing sequels. 95 felt much better to me.
Also at that time I was unimpressed with the character changes (which were LATER backed up by superior gameplay and tweaks in the sequels I might add!). I missed FF2 Andy and AOF1/2 Ryo & Robert. Also they fucked up Mai, King, Kyo, Benimaru too! Mai's basic style was decimated... just like Andys was too! The specials were fine, but the basic styles were just horrible. I feel like that about many of the characters in 96. I could go on all night, but you'd all hate me! I feel a lot of characters were had over in the games 'overhaul'.
ON THE FLIP SIDE... we got Leona (BIG PLUS!), Mature, Vice & the Boss Team too. Overall though, I wasn't too keen with the roster. I preferred 95 & 97's myself (Team 97 & Team Orochi FTW!).
THX-1138 wrote:
'96 was where KOF went from good to brilliant.
SADLY...
I always felt the complete opposite! I loved 95. I loved how sharp it was in terms of gameplay. 96 let 'me' down. 97 was a step in the right direction and everything (more or less) had been refined to how everything should've been by 98 IMO. so for me...
'98 was where KOF went from good to brilliant.
(as for me - 95 was brilliant... 96 was good... 97 was great... 98 was brilliant!)
SO THAT YOU KNOW... 96 is my least favourite KOF... period. Sorry
24-08-2009 10:56 PM
Posts: 10851 Joined: 07.11.06 Location: Bat Country Age: 30
Thanks for the great work with the GotW once again cat!
I must admit that originally I was never a big fan of KOF '96, I preferred the style of gameplay in 94/95, which are still two of my favourite Neo Geo games even after all this time. However as I started collecting the MVS carts when I got my own system I played a lot of 96 and suddenly I started to wonder why I hadn't liked it before!
KOF '96 still has, imho, the best backgrounds in any Neo Geo KOF apart from KOF '99, as well as the best music (with '99 being a close second in that respect). But, despite its flaws, the gameplay is still a lot of fun, and it also has my favourite boss fights... who doesn't love fighting the boss team? Epic doesn't even begin to describe that one!
I pretty much agree with everyone about KOF 96. I think KOF 96 has best backgrounds and music in KOF games and it is still fun but gameplay of newer KOF games are much better. Also some moves are very hard to pull like Kyo's qcf+C, hcb+C,f+C
I used to play KOF 96 at arcade everyday when i was 12 and it was my favorite game at the time. I used to go to arcade early morning to play KOF 96 when there was noone because i wasn't good as others but a few months later i started to kick everyones ass
Hmm... I think the background in 96 are okay but... not the best I've seen on the 'Geo. Bettter than '98, way better than 2000, 2002 and 2002, but nowhere near as good as the best looking titles in the series - '99, 2003 and '95.
Maybe its just my preference for more organic locales though??
26-08-2009 11:52 PM | Edited by NeoGeoNinja 26-08-2009 11:52 PM
Mr Vengeance wrote:
...the best looking titles in the series - '99, 2003 and '95.
WTF??!
Do me 'n' thee have some sort of telepathy going on or somethin'?
Those are my favourites too... BUT I do reckon TOGETHER 95 & 96 have the best KOF BKGDs available... period (except 95 has that killer gameplay!)
99's BKGDs are also fantastic. 03's were good too, but not to 95 & 96 standard IMO.
I actually (genuinely!) think 95 has the all the best BKGDs. They're amazing! (NeoGeoLand FTW!). I also like 97's... but no-one seems to like this game. Shame, as it's mega! I'll wait til 97's GOTW for my say
27-08-2009 03:07 AM
Posts: 301 Joined: 19.03.08 Location: Beijing, China Age: 24
I really liked the backgrounds in 95 too, pretty much every game up to 98. As for 99... well... the backgrounds lack the liveliness that comes with a large scale tournament like KOF (one stage makes you fight in a sewer ) It does follow the storyline but its the last KOF that actually felt like a tournament (that is until XII at least.)
Still the quality of the backgrounds was still very good in 99 and especially 2000! It was just after 2000 that things went bad... (I don't really remember the backgrounds in 03 but I really didn't like 02 at all.)
Mr Vengeance wrote:
...the best looking titles in the series - '99, 2003 and '95.
WTF??!
Do me 'n' thee have some sort of telepathy going on or somethin'?
Those are my favourites too... BUT I do reckon TOGETHER 95 & 96 have the best KOF BKGDs available... period (except 95 has that killer gameplay!)
99's BKGDs are also fantastic. 03's were good too, but not to 95 & 96 standard IMO.
I actually (genuinely!) think 95 has the all the best BKGDs. They're amazing! (NeoGeoLand FTW!). I also like 97's... but no-one seems to like this game. Shame, as it's mega! I'll wait til 97's GOTW for my say
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You and I seem to agree more often than not. I pretty much agree with everything THX has ever said too. Funny that.
Anyway, I put on '96 again last night to appraise its backgrounds and there is this theme to the art direction of that game that makes it unique - its all reds and light browns throughout the game - the box is red and that colour appears A LOT throughout most of the stages in the game. And where red is not present, you will see a sandy coloured brown. Its all very nice and an interesting direction and theme, but I love more organic stages, with lots of foliage, and I love water too, so stages like the China level and Japan in '98 really do it for me for example. Brazil in Real Bout Special and that title's Japan stage are outstanding and very much to my taste.
I've had '96 for a long time and whilst its not my favourite game in the series, it really is a very playable game, even after all these years
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King of Fighters '96 discussion
