Title - "The King of Fighters 1994"
Alternative title(s) - N/A
Genre(s) - Fighting - 2D
Platform(s) - Arcade and Neo-Geo home systems
Hey! I’m Kusanagi Ky
. I’m your standard Japanese student from Esaka who hates hard work and likes to have a good fight. I have a girlfriend named Kushinada Yuki-chan. Asamiya Athena-chan, our friend is crazy about me too, even though another friend of mine, Sie Kensou-kun likes her. I use techniques from various Japanese and Chinese arts along with the help of my flames that have been running in my family for a while. Athena uses psychic powers and wu shu. Kensou uses kung fu and wu shu I believe as well has having some special powers of his own. The duo’s sensei is a drunken kung fu artist named Chin Gentsai-sensei. Yuki-chan can be a decent fighter, but she’s not that much into it.
I made my debut in "The King of Fighters 1994", the first game of the series, which only came out on arcade palaces and Neo-Geo systems. Technically, "1994" did not hold the first ever "King of Fighters" tournament. Why is that? Let me explain.
If you are familiar with the "Gar Densetsu" series, you should know why 1994 did not hold the first ever "King of Fighters" tournament. Before this time, the Bogards and their friend Joe faced people like Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser. I learned that those guys took them out.
So, 1994 came around. I learned that a new host was bringing the tournament this time around and the rules changed. Instead of it becoming a 1 on 1 battle, teams of 3 fighters were required. Japan recently had a tournament of its own. I won it, of course. I slid my way past my soon to be friend/rival Nikaid Benimaru, a half-Japanese, half-American bishnen (or biseinen now) who has some kind of art that’s real flashy, though he can be a bit too weird, especially since he tries to woo girls. The guy who was in third place was Daimon Gor-san, a judo master, and Japan’s powerhouse as many people called him who happens to be a family friend. We all forgot who came in fourth, but the point is that with this in mind, we three became a team. At the time, I’ve been told stories that I am a fighter of destiny, but I never figured out why until a few years after.
Like I said, this was my first game as well as Beni’s and Daimon’s. Did you know that SNK was so close of putting in "Samurai Spirits" characters in the series? Also, did you know that SNK had a hard time on designing the hero? I’m glad the company stuck with me.
A guy named R hosted the 1994 tournament. Eight teams made it to the tournament and they were from old games. The countries in this tournament are Japan, (the People’s Republic of) China, Italy, Mexico, England, (South) Korea, Brazil and U.S.A. I told you about Athena-chan and Kensou who represented China here along with Chin-sensei and make "Psycho Soldier's" team. I also told you about the Bogards and Joe who represent Italy and not America because that country was represented by the Sports team who were from old SNK games that never got much recognition and that the Bogards as well as Joe did spend some time in Italy or around that area. The Sakazaki guys, Ry and his dad, Takuma-san, along with their friend, Robert Garcia represent the team of "Ry
ko no Ken" in Mexico. England has the only all-heroines team with King and Sakazaki Yuri from the "Ryko no Ken" series and Shiranui Mai from "Gar Densetsu". (The Sakazaki guys wanted Robert, since they thought Yuri wasn’t really prepared to be in a tournament and since Andy-san didn’t think that Mai would help out him and Joe, he brought in Terry instead.) Korea had Kim Kaphwan from the "Gar Densetsu" series and with two weird guys: big Chang Koehan and little Choi Bounge. Brazil had the soldiers of "Ikari Warriors", Ralf Jones and Clark Styll (or Vincent and Paul if you’re wondering) along with Heidern, their commander. What were those guys’ names in the Sports team again? Oh, they’re Lucky Glauber the basketball player, Brian Battler, the American football player and the boxer, Heavy D! I guess that’s it.
1994 was a special year as well as a bothersome one. I’m glad that my team was able to beat Italy since they have been here before and they know how the tournament goes. Those guys do know how to put up a fight, but I should be thankful that my partners and I were able to win. It was bothersome also because my dad, Saish, was missing. Sure, he can be a pain in the, you know what, but he still is my dad. I found out what happened to him and you know the rest from there.
Our final challenge was R. His full name was Rugal Bernstein and he was a formidable fighter. He studies from the best fighters. He has Geese’s Repuken and Krauser’s Kaiser Wave as well as moves of his own. Well, we did beat him too and I was glad, but I was worried as well.
Now, I'll give some last bits of trivia before I go on to the scores. The only characters to either not appear in an old SNK game or be reincarnations of characters from old SNK games are myself, Beni, Daimon-san, Chin-sensei, Chang, Choi and Rugal. Okay! Let's go to the scores, shall we?
Fun - 8
Well, being the first game to have three on three matches, the game does feel pretty good. The ability to help teammates out is a nice touch. Seeing people dodging moves looks pretty slick. My debut game really is good.
Of course, people will complain that the roster is a bit unbalanced. While characters like myself, Terry and Ry dominate this game, there are characters people wished that they got better like Benimaru.
Also, the game is pretty fun until you hit Rugal. His first form may not be harmful, though his hits are still powerful, but facing him in his second form is real trouble. That Genocide Cutter is real painful.
Life - 8
Yes, you will enjoy the game for a while. Yeah, there are people who wish that there is team edit. Still, this is a start.
Control - 8
A and C for light and hard punch. B and D for light and hard kick. A+B gives you the dodge. C+D gives you a hard attack. A+B+C charges up your power bar and have a teammate help you out if you’re dizzy or if you’re in a multi-hit submission. Press C from far away to taunt and lower your opponent’s power bar. With a charged bar, you get a 25% power bonus and you get to use a desperate move. A charged bar and low life will give you a super version of your desperate move.
Although many of the special moves motions are fine, it’s the desperate moves that will give you trouble, but you have to remember that "Gar Densetsu" games have these motions too. I know people complain that moves with what should be the motion of the Shoryken don’t come out like my Oniyaki (or my anti-air attack). That’s not how it works here. Sure you go forward first off, but you don’t go down after. Rather, you put the joystick in the neutral position. Then, you go down forward and press that button you need to press. Yeah, it’s not the best way to execute a move, but that’s how it works.
Audio - 8
The music is solid. Our theme, which also happens to be named Esaka, is so good and I like the Psycho Soldier theme. Some of the sound effects aren’t as good as they should be though. Again, as time went on, they did get better.
Story - 8
If you think about it, some endings are fine like ours, but then there are some pointless ones out there in which I won’t mention them. The fact that Rugal changed the rules was a nice change. So, the story is pretty good.
Art - 8
Well, the art looks spiffy. I must say that SNK did put on a show for their first try. There is no question about that.
The backgrounds for the most part look real spectacular. You have our background in Esaka with people cheering on. You have the one in America, even though the surroundings aren’t the best to have a fight in. There is so much effort put in like seeing teammates being happy if you won a round.
I know the games later on look better. The graphics here aren’t the smoothest of the series, but the game still looks solid. Oh and if you wondering, yeah, there’s that "Ryko no Ken" element. I’m sure you know that by now.
Overall - 8
My first game brings the series off to a good start. So, why not play the game for old times sake? It wouldn’t hurt to do so.
+
It started a legacy well with its nice concepts.
-
As a game by itself, it’s good, but the sequels have done better in every department for the most part.
Date of creation - 7/5/03
Last update - 11/22/04