KING OF FIGHTERS XIV SERIES
Flashy fighters aren't new to the genre, but it's rare when a series also manages to present a spectrum of archetypes. Fighters of the series are often designed to be flamboyant to a degree. Characters for anyone and everyoneĪnother reason why KOF is so unique among fighters is their pool of characters. When you also include that KOF is a highly technical 2D fighter that asks for perfect execution, it requires players to be at their best. This was met very positively by critics and fans alike. Demanding, nerve-wracking and thrilling? Absolutely. Image is something to consider while playing - whom will I place first, center, and/or last? This is of course, in addition to the information players have to consider normally during matches. This team battle format lead to a larger degree of planning and strategy. At the time of KOF 94's release, most fighters of the 1990s only followed the one on one structure. KOF was the only fighter to feature 3v3 system. When the first game was released, its core gameplay was entirely new. Over the years, the story has expanded to three sagas and many more characters. KOF '94 featured a story of an enigmatic mogul's invitation to fighters across the world to fight in a tournament with a hidden agenda. After its success, all titles afterwards have retained the same narrative design.
So SNK took characters from the Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Psycho Soldiers, etc and placed them into a "dream match" fighter. The driving force of its development was to create a game that would incorporate their most popular franchises. This SNK Playmore (at the time SNK) series emerged in 1994 with the release of KOF '94.