Fatal Fury VS Artof Fighting?!? Oookay!REVIEW:The King of Fighters '94 is the firstinstallment of what would later become SNK's longest-running and most successfulfighting series.
KOF94's premise alone is simply epic, especially for fans of SNK's earlier hand-to-hand 2Dfighting games. 'The Future is Now'. 3-on-3 battlesfeaturing SNK's most well known characters from arcade hits such as FatalFury and Art of Fighting!In addition, 'reimagined'versions of characters from other classic Neo Geo games (such as Psycho Soldier andIkari Warriors) also make their fighting game debuts in '94. Fatal Fury team here torepresent!Players can choosefrom one of 8 different teams (representing a different country), each consisting of 3 members. Kingof Fighters '94 plays like a staple 2D fighting game, using a simple 4-button control scheme withthe staple punch and kick commands. However, KOF '94 offers up some unique gameplay mechanics,including:Evading, Bop Attacks and Super Meter Charging. Comparably to Capcom's latest fighting game effort in1994, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, KOF '94 offeredsomething very distinguishable to the genre. Although, KOF '94's gameplay definitely feltpretty 'stiff' compared to Capcom's iconic franchise (among othertitles).
The King of Fighters fighting game series, produced by SNK Playmore, includes a wide cast of characters, some of which are taken from other SNK games. The story takes place in a fictional universe in which an annual series of 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 fighting tournaments are held.
![King King](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125394996/372769588.png)
However, what KOF '94 lacked in smoothness, it made up for in'style' and arguably in its 'advanced' gameplay engine forthe time. KOF '94 was definitely ahead of its time.Along with the interesting gameplay elements, KOF'94 offers some pretty fun 3-VS-3 match-ups (non tag).
Each team has their strengths and weaknesses, and unlike in the sequels, players can not pickindividual characters. KOF '94's character roster was arather decent size for the time, although the fact thatplayers couldn't 'customize' their teams was a definite flaw(something that wasfixed in KOF '95). Kyo Kusanagi VS Sie KensouGraphically, KOF '94presents 'realistically proportioned' 2D character sprites, whichactually brought something unique (and possibly refreshing to the fighting genre at the time.On the flipside, you could also say KOF 94's graphics were a bit drab andheavy on pixels.
Any way you shake it, KOF '94 definitely wasn't the prettiest 2D fighter around in the mid 90's.The sound and music quality is also fairly mediocre. As a big fan of Samurai Shodown and Art of Fighting at the time, KOF94's art style and (arguably) 'gritty' in-game graphics and sound didn'treally manage to impress me. (However, I later became a big fan of theseries, after KOF '97 & KOF '98 arrived).On certain stages in KOF '94, the sharp pixels of characters and backgrounds just seem to 'blur'together, and sometimes isn't as 'easy on the eyes' as other 2D gamesI know and love. Nonetheless, the cool 2D character sprites and hand-drawnbackgrounds do have a unique flair of their own. One of thecoolest and most unique visual aspects of KOF '94 is that your eternallysupportive teammates are seen in the background during the fight, cheeringyou on when you land attacks. That subtle detail alone definitely added a ton ofpersonality tothe game, and would also carry on to future sequels.