The King of Fighters Series Turn 30

1994 is a very important year for fighting games, while many would say 1991 is with the release of Street Fighter 2, SNK laid out the foundation with a new kind of fighting game and that series is the King of Fighters.

In 1991 SNK released Fatal Fury: King of Fighters which was met with success, but not like that of Capcom Street Fighter 2 in 1992, SNK released The Art of Fighting and after that, they did not release a fighting game until 1994 with The King of Fighters.

The King of Fighters or KOF for short, is a 3 vs 3 team fighting game with characters from Fatal Fury, the Art of Fighting, and other SNK series such as Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier, mixed up with new original characters in a tournament to become The King of Fighters.

There are a total of 8 teams with three characters each in each team and they are as follows:

Japan Team A.K.A the hero team or Kyo Team
Italy Team A.K.A the Fatal Fury Team
Mexico Team A.K.A the Art of Fighting Team
Brazil Team A.K.A Ikari Team
China Team A.K.A Psycho Soldier Team or Athena Team
England Team A.K.A Women of Fighting Team
South Korea Team A.K.A The Korean Team
USA Team A.K.A US Team

What set the series apart from most fighting game series is the stages, music, roster of characters, and graphics. Another thing this series is also famous for is its character’s move list, it’s like trying to study for an exam for earlier games in the series and also the dreaded “SNK Boss Syndrome.” Just google it, trust me I’m a survivor of this and I don’t want any flashbacks from KOF 96-02.

KOF has a huge following all over the world, especially in Mexico, where still to this day the game series is beloved. KOF will always have a place in my heart and will love it till the very end when it gets there.