The year is 1994 and arcades are exploding with 2D fighting games that seek to dethrone the technical and graphic marvel that is Street Fighter 2, one of Capcom’s many masterpieces. In another sector of these same rooms, a group of people hurry in front of a machine, amazed by the rapid combination of lever and buttons that results in inevitability. Mortal Kombat is the newest member of a family that is already looking for new members.
SNK, for its part, captivated the audience with its brutal repertoire: Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury (created by Takashi Nishiyama, director of Street Fighter 2), in the first one could only play with two characters and in the second with three in the story mode, but that didn’t stop players from leaving hundreds of coins every day in an attempt to finish them.
The cuna of The King of Fighters
Fatal Fury introduced an innovative mechanic for the genre at the time that allowed fighters to move between two planes to dodge attacks, on the other hand Art of Fighting dazzled with incredible zooms that at certain points in the encounter, showed sprites
But that year 1994 would also present a title with which the structure of fighting games would be broken again. Today it’s common for us to see titles in which we find ourselves fighting for teams, without going any further than the great Dragon Ball FighterZ, but in those years when Sega and Nintendo fought to the death for the control of the video game market and Senna made his last laps in Formula 1, it was unthinkable and in this scenario the first King of Fighters arrives who used not only the aforementioned Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters but also other SNK franchises such as Psycho Soldier and Ikari Warriors.
The game, in turn, incorporated a good number of characters with everything and their stories that would become big public favorites, such is the case of Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi who would later take a central role in the first story of the franchise. . . . . The title is so successful that it will become an annual saga with constant innovations.
If there is success, let it be shown
The King of Fighters ’95 featured the famous “Orochi Saga” which will run until the ’97 edition. incorporated the ability to customize the teams of fighters, something that was not possible in the first part of the game. The 1998 version had no story and is, to this day, the most popular with IP fans, perhaps because it s ‘this is kind of a compilation of characters from the previous versions with a really exquisite roster of fighters. From this edition, in fact, several versions came out such as The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999 which would see the light of day in the beloved Sega Dreamcast with various upgrades or the modern The King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match Final Edition. This pattern of rejecting a story with a title like to crush
Already in The King of Fighters ’99 a new story begins with the “Nests Chronicles” and a new tactical option is incorporated which allows another team member to spend a few moments in the action to aid in the fight. This story continued until the 2001 version, when the Korean company Eolith took over part of the development of intellectual property after SNK’s bankruptcy.
With The King of Fighters 2003 the “Tales of Ash” saga began and one of the most important changes in the franchise happened, which was the possibility of changing fighter during battles and not just in case of defeat. Additionally, in this installment, SNK would once again have full control over development and focus on a new era of its ownership by dropping annual releases and adopting a Roman numeral that continues to this day. This is how The King of Fighters XI will happen in 2005, The King of Fighters XII in 2009 and The King of Fighters XIII in 2010.
The great absent
The generation leap that unfortunately wasn’t present on Xbox was The King of Fighters XIV, which released on PS4 and PC in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and marked the arrival of full 2.5D on IP. The game had 16 teams of three characters each, most of them already known from the saga and 8 DLC that added a whopping 58 fighters. As is often the case in such cases, not everyone liked the change, which was to be expected given that classic 2D graphics were part of several generations. Thus and throughout the game he was able to obtain a good score between the critics and the players.
The future
After many and varied delays, The King of Fighters XV will arrive on February 17th and, after a mysterious suspense, it has been confirmed that it will arrive on Xbox unlike its predecessor. Will he be able to rekindle fans’ love for the franchise? Perhaps, the advantage of the current storyline is that fighting games aren’t plentiful and the stage is clear for a well-done production to take all the applause. The glory could well remain on the side of SNK, next February, we will see how the story ends, which today is rich in all the main editions of the IP and its multiple spinoffs.
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