The Series Becomes a Legend (or kind of adopts one)
The King of Fighters '96
KOF really took off with this third installment. By this point, most people accepted Kyo as the hero and the pockets of fanboys began to exhibit the early symptoms of fan rabies (naughty doujinshi, widespread cosplay.) While '94 and '95 were really pretty average at best, with '96 came a vast upgrade to the fighting system and an actual combo system.
I also have to give '96 some bonus points for presentation. Each stage has a special intro (ranging from the pretty dull doors opening to the arena in the Korea level to the fake 3-d pan around the skyscraper before the nightclub match.) Although there are a couple teams who seem to share a location with only minor changes, the backgrounds seem fresh and lively, and most importantly- active. Yes, for once a random street fight between superpowered martial artists draws attention from passersby. There are a few animated billboards in a couple levels, as well as lots of cameo appearances. (Look close at the far right of the underground stadium the Dream Team starts in to see Billy Kane.) Even the victory poses and such are presented in an interesting way. At the end of the third fight, the victorious fighter does their winpose, with a full-screen portrait of them in that pose in the foreground. It really adds something.
The cast saw some new blood as well as some old faces. The aforementioned "Dream Team" was actually more like nightmare fuel in the form of Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Bald. Uh, Big. Mr. Big. Kasumi Todoh from AOF 3 appears on the Ladies' Team to replace Yuri, who was in turn replacing her father on the Kyokugen team. Vice and Mature, formerly Rugal's secretaries, are now tagging along with Iori, and Heidern retires from active duty, leaving his dangerous schizo foster daughter Leona.
Actually, KOF '96 was probably as close as the tournament ever got to being legitimately sanctioned. The previous years were all elaborate schemes to get one to three fighters turned into statues or something. This one was sponsored by Chizuru Kagura, shinto priestess and power executive, as a means to draw out Kyo and Iori to combat the awakening of the Orochi. (see right for the long winded version.) The final fight with Chizuru akes place in a massive stadium with lots of spectators. Then, after her defeat, she reveals herself to be the keeper of the seal placed on the eight-headed serpent Orochi 1800-some years ago. Since the seal was weakening, she needed to enlist the help of the people who had defeated Rugal, who had infused himself with-you got it- Orochi Power at the cost of his right eye. Not being of the bloodline, however, Rugal's power vaporized him. Then a freak windstorm devastated the stadium, ushering in the appearance of Leopold Goenitz, Orochi's living high priest and all around nasty guy. Cue final fight.
Even though the ending will be drastically different with every team, the 'official' outcome involves Kyo and Iori teaming up to beat the crap out of Goenitz after he reveals all sorts of plot things (like it wasn't he who destroyed Leona's family, but Leona herself after he 'awakened' her blood) and then deciding to go home instead of kill each other. Goenitz kills himself rather than face defeat, and he punishes his two servants Vice and Mature (turns out he's the one who had them watch Rugal, then subsequently, Iori) by sending Iori into a beserk rage called the Riot of Blood. They stay dead through much of the series.
So, Goenitz dead, world saved, right? Nope. The seal is still about to collapse. Which is a nice segue into...
The King of Fighters '97
KOF '97 is definitely one of my favorite installments. While it might not have the sheer number of characters as later games, the game engine is rock solid, and customizable to an extent. The two modes of play, Advanced and Extra are pretty much the same as the "Capcom" and "SNK" Grooves (respectively) from the first CvS game. In Advanced, you can store multiple power stocks, enter MAX mode to perform super cancels and SDMs, and use the evasion roll. Advanced also is the mode that lets you run. Extra Mode is traditional SNK style, with the manually-charged meter, and SDMs only while you're 'in the red.' The plus side being you can perform unlimited normal DMs. Speaking of which, all characters now have multiple DM/SDM techniques.
One of the drawbacks I'll get out of the way regarding KOF '97 is the soundtrack. While some of the tracks are good, specifically the themes for key characters, most of the time you're stuck listening to the level music, which invariably sucks. We're talking ambient noise here. The Japan level's background track is literally people cheering, with the announcer occasionally shouting "THE KING OF FIGHTERS! NINETY-SEVEN!" The suckiness of the ambient tracks is only magnified when it comes on right after one of the special themes. But don't let shoddy sound direction keep you away from what may be the best canon installment of KOF.
The creatively-named New Faces team consists of band members Yashiro (skank, Yashiro, skank!) Shermie (just skanky) and Chris (not skanky.) They enter the tournament hoping to beat the crap out of Iori for pre-empting one of their performances, but discover not even they knew who they really were. And die tragically, even if you beat the game with them. Iori himself isn't on a team, he appears as an edit-only character, as does Shingo. Shingo Yabuki, who deserves his own paragraph.
Shingo is SNK's reply to Ryu's Sakura. Unfortunately, instead of being a cute bubbly schoolgirl who clumsily emulates her idol, Shingo is a rather big schoolboy who clumsily emulates Kyo Kusanagi. He's voiced by the one and only Takehito "Hanagata" Koyasu, who whines and yelps pathetically while being beaten, and yelling enthusiastically with each victory.
One of the things you'll be bound to hear about when reading about KOF are the Orochi characters. I touched on it before, and elaborated in the sidebar, but '97 was like, the Orochi Game. Orochi Leona, Orochi Iori, The New Orochi Team, and oh yeah, Orochi himself all show up in this game. Basically, if you're not in the loop, just take the word 'Orochi' to mean 'overpowered and mentally unstable.'
The series of boss battles at the end are rather long, but it is one of the most impressive sequences I can think of in a 2-D fighter. The Riot of the Blood stage is a fight with Iori or Leona against the last battle's background shot through a red filter with creepy music. After this, there's a long cinema, followed by the Orochi team. They all fight you in the middle of a magic circle that pulsates with the appropriate power (fire for Chris, lightning for Shermie, and lots of shaking ground and lava for Yashiro.) Finally, you battle Orochi himself in the Twilight Zone, as he pounds you with rays of heavenly light and other fun tricks.
All in all, a pretty satisfying little game. It's got all the plot you can expect of a fighting game, attractive character designs for the most part, and even a sense of humor (mostly found in secret endings gained with certain edit teams.) The main thing the game lacks in besides music is the artwork. The portraits between fights are simply awful.
The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest (aka Ultimate Dream Match Never Ends)
OK, KOF '97 had an epic storyline that ended with a climactic battle with Orochi. How would 1998's installment follow up on it? SNK honestly didn't know, so they released 'The Dream Match' to buy them some time to dream up a new story arc. (This would ultimately prove to both suck and be good.)
KOF '98 is a lot like '97. There are a few tweaks to the system, including the 'advantage' system that gives an extra stock to a player after losing a fighter. Basically, it brings together all your favorites (and the USA Sports Team) for a out-of-continuity battle royale. The final boss is the cheapest Rugal ever.
All in all, KOF '98 may very well be the peak of the series. I just have to wonder about some of the people they decided to bring back. Vice and Mature return to Iori's side, and Takuma and Heidern return with Saiksyu Kusanagi. But then again, the USA Sports Team comes back. Why not the old Dream Team? I've been itching to see if Krauser's Kaiser Wave could beat Rugal's stolen version. Instead we get Lucky, Heavy D! and Brian again. Speaking of which, I got an email not long after posting the last installment:
The USA Sports Team somehow doesn't make me want to point and laugh; it makes me want to sit and cry. There's just something strangely offensive when somebody steals your name, bastardizes it, and slaps it onto an object of ridicule.
-Brian Butler, who can't play any sport worth a damn anyway.
There, there. The USA Sports Team won't be coming back. Except for scattered cameos.
The Story of Orochi
The word 'Orochi' is being thrown around at this point like Shingo Yabuki (see below) so I figured I'd take the time out to explain the intricacies.
It's a sort of retelling of an old Japanese legend of an eight-headed serpent/dragon that terrorized the countryside some 1800 years ago. The KOF retelling of the story says that Orochi was beaten through the cooperative efforts of three clans; the Hakkeshu (I'm pretty sure I mispelled that), the Kusanagi, and the Yata. Specifically, the H and K clans beat him up with their crimson flame powers and Yata sealed it off.
At some point, the Hakkeshu (ghesundheit) started to get jealous of the Kusanagis and tried to become more powerful. So, the elder clansoman killed the Yata priestess guarding the cave where he was kept, and made a blood pact with the spirit of Orochi for greater power. This had a downside, though. Not only did their flames turn purple, they had to change their names to Yagami and wear little tuxedo jackets. Oh yeah, and they all die young. So, the Kusanagi were pissed off at them, sparking a long fued, and the Yata kind of backed off for the time being to focus on keeping Orochi sealed off.
Flash forward a millenia or two, and Iori Yagami, after a nasty abusive childhood that involved mandatory martial arts training, matricide, and presumably lots of time-outs, is tracking down Kyo, the latest of the Kusanagis. Kyo really doesn't want anything to do with the Yagami, much less the Orochi. Unfortunately, Iori is nothing is not persistent, and the whole question of who will end up murdering whom is more than likely going to drag on longer than the whole X vs. Zero debacle.
The power-hungry Rugal was at least partly responsible for the Orochi revival, but Goenitz was definitely the main agitator. It was he who gave Rugal Orochi power, and killed Chizuru's older (or twin?) sister. He also travelled the world seeking out people of the bloodline, including a remote village somewhere in the jungle. There, he delivered a Bush-esque 'you're either with us or against us' ultimatum to the chief (Gaidel), who adamantly refused to participate. Goenitz cheerfully left the village, but not before casting a spell on Leona, who was only a child at the time. That night, Leona went berserk and single handedly killed everyone in the village. When she regained her senses, she was surrounded by her dead family and soaked in blood. Then along came Goenitz, who sealed off her memory of the event and told her she would 'awaken' again when the time was right. Leona's vague recollections led her to have terrible flashbacks and she believed Goenitz to be the one responsible.
In KOF '96, Goenitz reveals the truth to Leona, and also reveals the true nature of Vice and Mature as his servants. Having fought with him so long, they believed Iori to be the one to save them from Goenitz's ambition, however, Goenitz invoked the Riot of the Blood in Iori, which of course means he goes nuts and slaughters them.
In the following year, the events Goenitz set into motion came full circle at the KOF victory ceremony. Iori was lurking in the shadows, in his typical manner, when all of a sudden, he began coughing up blood. Or green stuff, if you're playing the US/Euro machine. Elsewhere, Leona hears Goenitz's voice telling her the time has come. So, they both go insane and start tearing through spectators like paper towels. While Kyo and company subdue Iori, Ralf and Clark manage to restrain Leona until her mind comes back.
The Riot of the Blood is a painful experience that, near as I can tell, involves the Orochi blood in their body physically trying to escape the body- Leona spits a huge amount of blood in her victory pose. Iori doubles over, looking like a zombie and breathing hot vapors. (Possibly his flame coming up his throat.) Leona is understandably terrified of slipping into it, on the other hand, Iori actually seems to like it.
Orochi's main servants, in the form of Leopold Goenitz, Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie and Chris, also represent the 'shitenoh,' or Four Heavenly Kings. The theme crops up often in anime, just thought I'd point it out. The New Faces are also the opposite of Team Japan, as its members, once awakened embody fire, lightning and earth.
Regarding the flames of Kusanagi and Yagami, it's also worth pointing out that they are actually hurt by their own power. Kyo and Saisyu wear insulated gloves, but Iori, knowing he won't live long anyway, uses them bare-handed.
Pantheon of Bosses, Round 2
Chizuru Kagura: Even though she's a regular fighter in '97, this '96 mini-boss (of sorts) is infuriating to fight against as she throws doubles of herself around and counters virtually anything that comes her way.
Orochi: Orochi has full-screen supers, massively damaging throws, teleports, lasers from the sky, and multi-hit projectiles. But he still doesn't piss me off as much as any of the bosses from the NESTS saga.
