The King of Fighters (KOF) is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of The King of Fighters '94 in 1994. The series was developed originally for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. This served as the main platform for the series until 2004 when SNK retired it in favor of the Atomiswave arcade board. Two King of Fighters games were produced for the Atomiswave platform (The King of Fighters Neowave and The King of Fighters XI) before SNK decided to discontinue using it for the series. The series' most recent arcade hardware is the Taito Type X2, first used with the release of The King of Fighters XII. Ports of the arcade games and the original The King of Fighters games have been released for several video game consoles. The latest entry in the series, The King of Fighters XV, was released in February 2022.
Art of Fighting is a fighting game series originally released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It is the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series, and is set in the same fictional universe. The original Art of Fighting was released in 1992, followed by two sequels: Art of Fighting 2 in 1994 and Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior in 1996. A new Art of Fighting game is currently in development.
Karnov is a platform game released in arcades in 1987. A Nintendo Entertainment System port followed. Players take control of the title character Jinborov Karnovski, or "Karnov" for short. Karnov is a strongman popularly illustrated as being from an unspecified part of the Soviet Union's Central Asian republics as shown on the arcade flyer and again in Karnov's Revenge.
The King of Fighters '95(KOF '95) is a fighting video game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1995. It is the sequel to The King of Fighters '94 and the second game in The King of Fighters series. It is also the first game in the series to be ported to other home consoles besides the Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD with versions released for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and another on Game Boy by Takara and Nintendo.
The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle is a 1999 fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS arcade and home consoles in 1999. It is the sixth installment in The King of Fighters series, introducing a new story arc known as the "NESTS Chronicles" which is centered around a young man named K', who is formerly associated with a mysterious yet threatening organization known only as NESTS. The game introduces several changes to the established KOF format, most notably an assisting character labeled "Striker". The game was ported to the Neo Geo CD and the PlayStation. Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows versions were also released under the title The King of Fighters' 99: Evolution whose stages were remodeled in 3D.
Trio The Punch: Never Forget Me... is an arcade game released by Data East in 1990. Chelnov and Karnov were produced by the same director, and the three games are grouped together by Data East as the Deco-gē Trio.
World Heroes 2 is a 1993 fighting arcade game developed and published by ADK with the assistance of SNK. It was originally released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet on April 26, 1993. It is the sequel to the 1992 fighting arcade game World Heroes, as well as the second title of the World Heroes series. It was even the first game with the "ADK" logo labeled within the game after the developer changed from its previous name "Alpha Denshi"; however, the "Alpha" logo was last used on one of the arcade flyers of World Heroes 2.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves is a 1999 fighting game produced by SNK, originally for the Neo Geo system and then as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves for the Dreamcast. It is the sixth main installment of the Fatal Fury series.
World Heroes Perfect is a 1995 fighting arcade game developed and published by ADK with the assistance of SNK. It was originally released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet on May 25, 1995. It is the fourth and final title of the World Heroes series.
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, known as Garō Densetsu: Shukumei no Tatakai in Japan, is a 1991 head-to-head fighting game originally released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. Fatal Fury was SNK's first fighting game for the Neo Geo system and served as the inaugural game in their Fatal Fury series, as well as the first game to depict the fictional "King of Fighters" tournament, which became the basis for the later The King of Fighters games.
The King of Fighters '94 is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS arcade system in 1994, as the first in The King of Fighters series. The game was also released for the Neo Geo home console systems, including the Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD. In 2008, KOF '94 was one of sixteen games included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii.
World Heroes 2 Jet is a 1994 fighting arcade game developed and published by ADK with the assistance of SNK. It was originally released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet on April 26, 1994. It is the sequel to the 1993 fighting arcade game World Heroes 2, as well as the third title of the World Heroes series.
Neo Geo Battle Coliseum is a fighting game designed for the Atomiswave arcade board developed and released by SNK in 2005. The game features characters from several SNK and ADK titles. Subsequently, a PlayStation 2 version of the game was released in Japan, North America, and Europe. The Xbox Live Arcade version was released worldwide on June 9, 2010. In 2020, a homebrew conversion was released for the Dreamcast.
Karnov's Revenge is a 1994 fighting game developed by Data East, released for the Neo Geo. It is the second game in the Fighter's History series. The game was later ported to the Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD and Sega Saturn home consoles.
Atomic Runner Chelnov is a Japanese runner arcade video game developed and published by Data East in 1988.
Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty, known in Japan as Suiko Enbu (水滸演武), is a 1995 fighting arcade game developed and published by Data East. It was one of the first games developed for Sega's ST-V arcade board.
The Eye of Typhoon 極超豪拳, sometimes known in Korea as극초호권, is a 1996 2D fighting video game developed by Viccom. It is the second game Viccom created after Fight Fever, and was shown at the AOU Show in February 1996 as a Neo Geo title, but it was never released; however, during the same year, it was released for the 3DO and MS-DOS operating PCs exclusively in South Korea.
Fighter's History is a 1993 arcade fighting game developed and published by Data East. It's the inaugural game in the Fighter's History series. The main unique feature of the Fighter's History is its weak point system, which allows the player to temporarily stun an opponent by repeatedly hitting their weak point.
Fighter's History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!! is a 1995 fighting game developed by Data East. It is the third game in the Fighter's History series, and the last one published by Data East. The gameplay system is largely unchanged from its predecessor, Karnov's Revenge, but a few new additions made it to the game, including a new game mode where Mizoguchi is the protagonist, and the new character Chelnov, the hero of Data East's action game Atomic Runner Chelnov.
Magical Drop II is a 1996 puzzle video game developed and published by Data East for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It was later ported to Neo Geo CD, Super Famicom, and Sega Saturn. It is the second entry in the Magical Drop series. In the game, the player takes control of one of several characters, battling against computer-controlled opponents before facing the villainous Empress in a final encounter. Gameplay is similar to its predecessor Magical Drop (1995) albeit with improvements; the objective is to clear the screen of constantly advancing colored 'drops' via a character placed at the bottom of the playfield, which can grab drops and make them disappear by putting them as a column of three or more drops of the same color. Two players can also participate in a competitive versus mode.
Ray McDougal (レイ・マクドガル, Rei Makudogaru) – the lead character in the first two games, he is a detective from Los Angeles with a unique fighting style.
Makoto Mizoguchi (溝口 誠, Mizoguchi Makoto) – a high school delinquent from Osaka who is in his late 20s after being held back repeatedly for many years. He is the most prominent character in the series, having appeared in several games outside the Fighter's History franchise, including SNK's KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A .
Liu Feilin (劉 飛鈴, Ryu Feirin, Chinese Pinyin: Liú Fēilíng) – a top actress in the Chinese classical opera world, she is also a master of the Chinese murderer's fist, which appears to be Praying Mantis Kung Fu.
Matlok Jade (マットロック・ジェイド, Mattorokku Jeido) – a punk rock guitarist from England who seeks a legendary guitar.
Samchay Tomyamgun (サムチャイ・トムヤムクン, Samuchai Tomuyamukun) – a muay Thai fighter from Thailand who seeks to support his younger siblings in the absence of his parents.
Jean Pierre (ジャン・ピエール, Jan Piēru) – a French gymnast who has always achieved perfect scores until the day he scored a 9.98. Since then, he began picking martial arts in order to improve his grace and strength. He participates in the tournament in order to see the results of his training.
Marstorius (マーストリウス, Māsutoriusu) – a professional wrestler from Italy in his 40s who believes that wrestling is the strongest martial art. In the versus screen of Karnov's Revenge, his name is misspelt as Marstrius.
Karnov (カルノフ, Karunofu) (Карнов) – the main boss in the first two games, originally a character from a previous Data East game of the same name. The second son of a poor Russian farmer, his full name is Jinborov Karnovski. He earned his reputation as a brawling ruffian at a young age by picking fights at neighboring places. He was forced to become a servant of God in the past as punishment for his past behavior, but has since renounced the heavens in order to host his own martial arts tournament, where he is the undefeated champion. After losing in the first game, he hosts the second tournament in Karnov's Revenge in order to seek revenge for his defeat. In Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!, Karnov leaves the heavens from his retirement in order to defeat the people mocking him.
Zazie Muhaba (ザジィ・ムハバ, Zajii Muhaba) – one of the new characters introduced in Karnov's Revenge. A nature-loving practitioner of the Hokutō Shinkan Karate (北東真館空手) style from Kenya, he participates in the Great Grapple tournament in order to fund his self-made environmentalist organization and protect the African wildlife from poachers.
Liu Yungmie (柳 英美, Japanese: Ryū Yonmī, Korean: Ryu Yeongmi) – the other new character introduced in Karnov's Revenge. A young female taekwondo practitioner from Korea whose parents were both top-class martial artists, she participates in the Great Grapple in order to investigate her parents' disappearance. When she defeats Karnov, she is told that her father committed suicide after losing to Karnov and that her mother disappeared afterward. In Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!, she participates in Chelnov's Great Grapple tournament in order to face her rival Feilin. In her ending in Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!, she becomes a tour guide who travels the world.
