Back in 8th grade, I couldn't handle higher levels of the Marathi language and decided to go to a home tutor. Right outside her apartment was an open arcade with 4/5 arcade machines. Metal Slug and it's various versions that came out as years passed by has been 1 fixed game and the other - King Of Fighters. Back then they had 94' and every year or two years they'd go higher - all the way through 2000 or 2001. So, I'd spend 5 rupees once a week on a game, and lose terribly each week. One of the regs showed me a couple of basic moves for team Brazil (the team I'd frequently pick because of Ralf and Heidern's BRUTAL power move where he'd shout "Go To Hell!". We'd actually wait for regs to play against each other and be enthralled whenever we saw that specific Heidern move (the same move looked cool in 95 and 99 but looked SO tacky in those other years). The music on 94 IS the best the game has put out in all these years. The game play got better in 95 and the main draw was Iori's and his team since they were new. Counter's were incredible, opened up possibilities on moves and what not, so it was a step in the right direction from 94. Then came 96 which paled in comparison to 94/ 95 in a big way. I mean, the graphics, game play, music were awful. Goenitz was an interesting boss, not as menacing as Rugal but cool enough. Playing with Geese was a good throw back from Fatal Fury I'll admit, not redeeming enough to praise the game as a whole. 97 was pretty cool because the game play was improved a lot and you had new characters to play with. It was very competitive in versus mode. 98 was a turd, alike 97 but 99 redeemed the franchise. It was the smoothest so far in game play, counters included and the character design was awesome - an overall MUCH better game. Character design sucked on 96, 97 and 98. I played a bit of 2000 when it came out but couldn't get into the craze people had for Kula (if I remember right or Ramon or someone), I'd see players choose them frequently I think because they were new characters. With 99 it was K's team. Anyway, I always go back to 94, 95 and 99 for nostalgia and it's come to a point where I just hit the "?" because I know the moves for every player on those versions. Last year I picked up the new KOF game (XIII was it?) and that came with a bunch of different buttons to press and blah blah that would excite fans of fighting games of today. Doesn't do it for me. It's good for people who turn the joystick pressing buttons aimlessly like they'd do on Street Fighter/ Tekken games these days. Forget Ralf looking like he's on steroids, the game play is disappointing. Classic game combos looked a lot better, maneuvered a lot better without being over the top. I kind of find myself wanting to go back to the speed or way characters would interact with each other in a fight in those older KOF versions but that's just me.
I don't know a lot about multiplayer gaming on fighting games except to have tried it on a Tekken game or a SF vs Tekken game where it lagged and took the fun out of it, whether it's playing someone who's supposed to be in your own class or randomly. How does KOF's multiplayer gaming hold up?
I don't know a lot about multiplayer gaming on fighting games except to have tried it on a Tekken game or a SF vs Tekken game where it lagged and took the fun out of it, whether it's playing someone who's supposed to be in your own class or randomly. How does KOF's multiplayer gaming hold up?
