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 initially developed for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware and received yearly installments up until its tenth entry, The King of Fighters 2003 — thereafter, SNK moved away from annual The King of Fighters releases and games adopted a Roman numbered format, while simultaneously retiring the use of Neo Geo. The first major installment after this change was The King of Fighters XI (2005) on the Atomiswave arcade board. The series' most recent arcade hardware is the Taito Type X2, first used with the release of The King of Fighters XII (2009) and continues with the latest entry in the series, The King of Fighters XV (2022). Ports of the arcade games have been released for several video game consoles.
SNK Corporation is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing coin-op games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company produced many in-house games and now-classic franchises during the 1990s, including Aggressors of Dark Kombat, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of the Monsters, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters, The Last Blade, Twinkle Star Sprites, and World Heroes; they continue to develop and publish new titles in some of these franchises on contemporary arcade and home platforms. Since the 2000s, SNK have diversified from their traditional arcade focus into pachislot machines, mobile game development, and recently character licensing.
Sengoku is a beat 'em up arcade game. It is the first entry of the Sengoku trilogy by SNK. It was ported to numerous home consoles including the Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, Mega-CD and Super Famicom. The arcade version was part of SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, released in 2008. The Neo Geo version was re-released on the Japanese Virtual Console in 2011, with the sequels for the North American Virtual Console on November 8, 2012 and June 6, 2013 and for the PAL region on February 7, 2013 and September 5, 2013. In 2009 the series was compiled on the Sengoku Anthology for PlayStation 2 and Windows.
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 Game Boy.
The King of Fighters '97(KOF '97) is a fighting game produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home console in 1997. It is the fourth game in The King of Fighters series. It was ported to the Neo Geo CD, as well as the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn in Japan only. It is the last game in the "Orochi Saga" storyline, that began in The King of Fighters '95.
The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle, also called KOF '99, 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 following The King of Fighters '98, 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 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.
Fatal Fury 2, known as Garō Densetsu 2: Aratanaru Tatakai in Japan, is a 1992 fighting video game developed by SNK as the sequel to Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (1991), and the second game in the Fatal Fury franchise. Originally released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms, it was later ported to several other home systems, including Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis by Takara. Its updated version, Fatal Fury Special, was released in 1993.
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 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.
The King of Fighters XI(KOF XI) is a 2005 2D fighting game produced by SNK Playmore. It is the eleventh installment in The King of Fighters series following The King of Fighters 2003. Originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Atomiswave platform, a home version for the PlayStation 2 was released in Japan in 2006, followed by releases in the PAL region and North America in 2007. It is the second The King of Fighters game to not run on the Neo Geo following its predecessor, The King of Fighters Neowave and also the first major canonical entry to not be named after its year of release.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves is a 1999 fighting game produced by SNK, originally for the Neo Geo Arcade system and then as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves for the Dreamcast. It is the sixth main installment of the Fatal Fury series. Though released a year after Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers, the game is canonically a sequel to the 1995 installment Real Bout Fatal Fury, taking place a decade after the events of that game. Ten years after combatant Terry Bogard kills crimelord Geese Howard in the King of Fighters competition, he and his adoptive son, Rock Howard, enter into a Southtown tournament known as Maximum Mayhem to learn about the Howard legacy. The game features 14 characters, all new, with Terry's exception. As a fighting game, the game employs two innovative mechanics, the first known as T.O.P, which provides players with powerful attacks when their health is within a certain range, and the second known as Just Defend, which provides players with various advantages if they block attacks at precise moments.
The King of Fighters '96(KOF '96) is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1996. It is the third game in The King of Fighters series, following The King of Fighters '95. The game made a few changes to gameplay, such as the introduction of new techniques, and made various changes to the composition of some teams, with a few of them introducing new characters. The plot follows a new King of Fighters tournament created by Chizuru Kagura, the heir of the Yata Clan, who wants to find and recruit the protagonist, Kyo Kusanagi, who defeated the previous host Rugal Bernstein. She seeks to recruit him to ask him and his bitter rival, Iori Yagami, to help her in the sealing of the Orochi demon like her predecessors. The final boss of the game is Goenitz, one of the servants of Orochi. Developers made several changes to the cast when compared to The King of Fighters '95, with special focus on a Boss Team composed of famous villains from their other two IPs, Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting.
The King of Fighters 2001(KOF 2001, or KOF '01) is a 2D arcade fighting game produced for the Neo Geo originally released in November 2001. The eighth game in The King of Fighters series, it was the first to be produced following the closure of the original SNK Corporation, developed by the South Korea-based Eolith with assistance from BrezzaSoft, a company formed by former SNK employees. Although the SNK logo is displayed at the game opening, SNK's development staff was not involved in the production of the game itself at all, except for the game sound.
The King of Fighters 2000 is a fighting video game that was produced by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 2000. It is the seventh installment in The King of Fighters series for the Neo Geo and the final game in the series SNK produced before the original company's bankruptcy. The game was ported to the Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2 in 2002. The game's story, a sequel to The King of Fighters '99 and the second part of the "NESTS Chronicles" story arc, focuses on a new tournament held by the commander of the Ikari Warriors, Heidern, who seeks to capture and interrogate former NESTS agents K' and Maxima into revealing crucial and critical information about the NESTS cartel. The gameplay retains the Striker system of the previous games in the series, but the assisting character can also cooperate with the playable character to generate combos.
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 ported to other platforms including Super Nintendo in 1992 and Sega Genesis in 1993, published by Takara. Fatal Fury was SNK's first fighting game for the Neo Geo system and served as the inaugural game in their Fatal Fury series. The three playable characters are the Bogard brothers Terry and Andy alongside their friend Joe Higashi. In the story they oppose their nemesis Geese Howard, the host of "The King of Fighters" tournament where the player must use to defeat enemies until becoming the champion and reach Geese.
Art of Fighting 2 is fighting game developed and released by SNK first released in arcades on 3 February 1994. It is a direct sequel to Art of Fighting involving both new and returning characters. They all fighting each other in the King of Fighters tournament, with Ryo Sakazaki and his friends working together to take down the mafia host Geese Howard whose forces manipulated them in the first Art of Fighting game. It retains most of the characters from the first Art of Fighting characters rather than just Ryo and Robert Garcia. The gameplay remains faithful to the original Art of Fighting including Desperation Moves and taunts that are use strategically. but this time playable This game was promoted with The King of Fighters '94 released in the same year by the company. It was ported to the Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD and Super Famicom. It would be later ported as part of the entire Art of Fighting trilogy for more modern consoles.
Samurai Shodown, known in Japan as Samurai Spirits, is a fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platform. Released in 1993, it is the first installment in the Samurai Shodown series. In contrast to other fighting games at the time, which were set in modern times and focused primarily on hand-to-hand combat, Samurai Shodown is set in feudal-era Japan and was SNK's first arcade fighting game to focus primarily on weapon-based combat.
King of the Monsters 2 is a fighting/wrestling game released on May 5, 1992 by SNK. It is a sequel to the 1991 game King of the Monsters. In this game three of the previous game's surviving monsters return and battle across the Globe against giant alien monsters that threaten the Earth. The game was later ported to the Super NES and Sega Genesis by Takara.
SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash is a series of SNK Playmore games between 1999 and 2006 for hand-held consoles. It is a digital collectible card game, spun off from the popular series of fighting games by SNK and Capcom, and also including references to many other kinds of games from both companies. The game uses cards based on Capcom and SNK characters from a variety of earlier games. The first two versions of this game were released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, and a new version for the Nintendo DS was released in 2007.
World Heroes is a 1992 fighting arcade game developed and published by Alpha Denshi with the assistance of SNK. It was originally released for the Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet on July 28, 1992. It is ADK's first game in the fighting game genre, as well as their earliest attempt in the fighting game trend of the 1990s that was popularized by Capcom's 1991 arcade hit Street Fighter II. It was the last game with the Alpha logo labeled within the game before the developer became ADK; however, the Alpha logo was last used on one of the arcade flyers of its sequel.
ZuPaPa! is a platform arcade video game developed by Face and originally published by SNK on September 1, 2001. Starring the eponymous creature, players are tasked with travelling through nine stages, throwing small creatures called Zooks, jumping on and off platforms to navigate level obstacles while dodging and defeating monsters. Although first launched in arcades, the game has been re-released through download services for various consoles. The title has gained a cult following since its initial release.
