Despite the time that has elapsed, it is not possible to forget the faces of concern, annoyance and even anger of those attending the arcades when someone approached to challenge them in KOF ’98 o KOF 2002 and chose Rugal. That character was considered—fairly or not—more powerful than the others. Those who dared to put him on his team were accused of being cheats or beginners who depended on him to win. These comments were mostly made in jest, but others took the matter seriously.
This kind of hate and fear towards the character became part of the culture of the fighting game community. But this villain was out of the franchise for so long that those emotions seemed forgotten.
The almighty Rugal: memes or reality
When they announced that Omega Rugal would be a DLC character in The King of Fighters XV (KOF XV)those emotions came back with force in the form of memes and jokes on social networks.
Rugal is so infamous that even the governor of Nuevo León in Mexico made a mention of him when he wished the gamers of his state a happy day in 2021.
It is not strange that most of these memes have been made by players from Latin American countries such as Mexico and Colombia, since KOF
What does the community say?
Daniel Himura, a Colombian player with an international career, believes that we are not remembering things correctly. He didn’t hate Rugal at all. KOF ’98 because, although many do not remember it, it had two versions in that game. One was a normal character, very balanced and fun to play. The other version was the final boss (Omega Rugal), which was not selectable and was really difficult.
true, but most of the hatred and fear of Rugal does not come from that version, but from KOF 2002. Himura agrees that he is a complicated character, “but he has his play to be able to defeat him more simply.” Duván, one of the ‘casters’ of the past Predator League tournament 2022 KOF XValso believes that it was simply a matter of looking for the right strategies and options.
However, this didn’t stop Rugal from earning his reputation for “being broken.” Khriz —champion of KOF XV in the Predator League 2022 and that he says he “likes to be matched using the ‘broken’ characters”—believes this is not so much due to the players picking him, but rather the ‘artificial intelligence’ he had when we were playing him as a boss. Himura agrees that he was difficult to play against, especially in the old KOF ’95.
However, Duván does not believe that this character was ‘broken’, but rather the grudge is due to the amount of coins he made us spend in arcades to be able to defeat him, especially the speedy 2002 version. Helsican artist who has been a fan of the series for more than two decades, says the “problem” is even older. Rugal is an incredibly difficult enemy since KOF ’94the first game of the saga. She says that while her successive appearances have been more or less manageable, she has always had the “boss syndrome”, purposefully designed as a token ‘stealer’ from arcade players.
Enough of the past, is this character just as much of a problem in the new game?
Omega Rugal en The King of Fighters XV
When they announced that the free DLC was not only going to add this character to the game, but would have a special game mode to take on him, we feared the worst.
Sure enough, the Boss Challenge mode seems to recreate the way we remember our losing battles against Rugal in the past. There are even times when he seems invincible and abuses his hook: the infamous ‘Genocide cutter’.
The Colombian community of KOF agrees how powerful this move is. Rockland Kyo —a well-known player who has even reached the top 16 of a tournament of KOF in EVO—acknowledges that Omega Rugal has a very good uppercut and is capable of doing a lot of damage with few slashes, but only with very specific combos. When we asked him for advice on facing him in the new game, he told us that we should keep in mind that every bad jump will be punished with said uppercut and that characters who attack from a distance should beware of his new laser special.
Khriz thinks the same and added: “don’t jump so much.” Himura recommends familiarizing yourself with his wide variety of moves and Duván has an extra tip: take advantage of his weak punch and kick that aren’t very good. However, he insists that you have to be very careful with his hook.
Interestingly, Helsic thinks otherwise. Although she had a hard time defeating him, she says that there is a part of the community that wanted it to be even more difficult, like the classics. In KOF XV we have more “tools” in the form of game mechanics to deal with him and there are very dedicated players who can take Rugal down in seconds.
We really believe that that move, the ‘Genocide cutter’, is one of the main reasons why Rugal has always been so feared and hated. It is one of the best anti-air moves in the game thanks to its range, damage, and ease of being thrown into a combo. There are fans who have even dedicated their art to this hook.
The stigma against Rugal is far from disappearing and the tournament broadcast chats are filled with “insults” and jokes against the ‘Rugaleros’ who dare to choose him and who, according to the perception of the community, are mostly Peruvians. Will it be true?
In closing, Khriz has one last bit of wisdom. He believes that people are underestimating Rugal because they had a preconceived idea of how “strong” he used to be. It is true. That fear or ‘respect’ that we have for the character has a strong psychological effect when facing him. We believe, albeit unconsciously, that we have the loser only because the stories, memes and perhaps distorted memories of previous games have created a legend around them.
Omega Rugal is ‘broken’, but is beatable in both KOF XV like in the previous games. The first step to achieve this is to leave behind those ideas about how powerful it is. The second is reading our guide on how to defeat him.
But there’s another fighting game character who does seem invincible and is gaining contempt that could overshadow Rugal’s. We are talking about N°21 (laboratory coat) of Dragon Ball FighterZBut that is another story.
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