Visuals put aside, this is a pretty standard fighting game that didn't really deviate from the formula of the time: light and hard hits, simple inputs for special moves, more complex ones for "supers," and lots of combos to learn.
There's only one flaw here (more like a nitpick), and that's the fact that, while the roster at hand is pretty large for the time this got released, in terms of design they were not created equal, with some having that extra something that makes them stand out (Mai Shiranui's hypnotically bouncing funbags included), while others are just… there. The surprising thing? It still looks great, which makes the lack of additional visual enhancements in this emulation-like port not matter at all. SNK did not want to be outdone, and subtitled Fatal Fury King of Fighters.Like the vast majority of arcade hits from the developer, this is a simply beautiful game, so much so that even the 3D visuals of later generations couldn't compete with its hand-painted 2D backgrounds and large, fantastically animated sprites. When Capcom introduced Street Fighter II in 1991, it was given the subtitle The World Warrior. Technically, this is not the first King of Fighters game. Rugal Bernstein, the final boss, was originally intended to be a super boss who had the skills of all the characters in the game however, space limitations prevented that, so the designers decided to give him two moves from the deadliest characters in the SNK universe at the time: Geese Howard's Reppuken, and Wolfgang Krauser's Kaiser Wave. SNK has a special easter egg related to this reference: If a fight between Guile and Rugal Bernstein occurs, they have a special intro where Guile destroys a statue of himself in front of Rugal before they start the fight. If you look closely, you'll notice that one of the characters looks a lot like Guile, from Street Fighter II.Ĭapcom vs. Trivia 1001 Video Games King of Fighters '94 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.ĭuring the story sequences before fighting against Rugal Bernstein, you can see a few statues of fighters that he had defeated in the past. Playing against the computer, the player must defeat all 8 teams in the game in order to reach the final boss, Rugal Bernstein. Each active character can charge up " Art of Fighting" style in order to gain access to "Desperation Moves", or "DMs" (moves which operate very much like Street Fighter's Super Combos). Each team consists of three fighters for each player, the winner being the player who is able to eliminate the other team first.
The King of Fighters '94 is notable in that it is one of the first known fighting games that pits a team of fighters against each other in single combat. The King of Fighters '94 joins together fighters from other SNK Corporation franchises: Art of Fighting (Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Takuma Sakazaki, Yuri Sakazaki, King), Fatal Fury (Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Mai Shiranui, Kim Kaphwan) and Ikari Warriors (Ralf Jones, Clark Steel, Heidern), as well as totally new fighters such as Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikaido, and Goro Daimon (from the Japanese team).
#The king of fighters '94 series#
Not an American user? DescriptionThis is the first game of the series that conquered legions of fighter fans from all over the world.