The King of Fighters '94
Encyclopedia
The King of Fighters '94 (officially abbreviated KOF 94) is a fighting game
released by SNK
for the Neo Geo
arcade and home console. It is the inaugural game in The King of Fighters series by the same company. The game was originally ported to the Neo Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD following its original arcade release. In , to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the series, SNK released a remake titled The King of Fighters '94 Rebout, which featured the original game and a new version with high definition
graphics.
The game is a fictional crossover
featuring characters from SNK's previous fighting game properties Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting
, as well as revised versions of characters from their pre-Neo Geo games Ikari Warriors
and Psycho Soldier
, and original characters created specifically for the game. The plot features the creation of a new King of Fighters tournament created by the criminal Rugal Bernstein, but this time with teams composed of three members unlike the ones from Fatal Fury, which had no teams.
SNK developed KOF '94 with the initial idea of using several games from the company in order to attract gamers who played these games. However, they later added original characters not seen in other games to develop a story arc. Video game publications have commented on KOF '94, praising its characters designs as well as the gameplay of using teams of three members. The success of this game allowed SNK to produce a large number of sequels.
, and Samurai Shodown. The game uses a four attack button configuration similar to Fatal Fury 2
and Fatal Fury Special
consisting of Light Punch, Light Kick, Strong Punch, and Strong Kick. Like in Fatal Fury 2, certain specialized techniques can be performed by pressing certain buttons in combination. Pressing Light Punch and Light Kick simultaneously allows the player to dodge an opponent's attack, while pressing Hard Punch and Hard Kick will perform a character's "Bop Attack". As with other fighting games, each character has a set of basic, unique, and special moves that can be perform by the player with a specific series of joystick and button inputs.
Each player also has a power gauge at the bottom of the screen which can be filled up by pressing and holding three buttons at the same time, leaving the character vulnerable to an attack while charging. Once the power gauge is filled, the players basic attacks become stronger for a short period. When the player is in this state, they can also perform their character's "Super Special Move", which will immediately consume the entire Power Gauge. The player can also perform their character's Super move when their life gauge is 75% empty and flashing red like in Fatal Fury 2.
Instead of the traditional round-based format used in preceding fighting games, KOF 94 features a format consisting of 3-on-3 team based matches officially dubbed the Team Battle System. Instead of choosing a single character, the player selects from one of eight available teams, each consisting of three members. Before each match, the player and the opponent will then choose the order in which each member will enter battle. When the match begins, the members chosen to go first on each team will fight. When one character is defeated, the following member of the same team will take his place, while the character on the other team will have a small portion of their life restored (if energy was lost during the previous round). If a character is losing a match against the opponent, then the player can call one of their remaining teammates standing on the sidelines to jump in and attack the opponent. The match will end when all three members of either team loses.
is an incredibly rich and notorious arms and drug trafficker, as well as an incredibly skilled and ruthless fighter. Having become bored with the lack of competition, Rugal decides to host a new King of Fighters tournament. Rugal has his secretary travel to eight destinations around the world and invite fighters to his new tournament. Unlike the previous KOF tournaments depicted in the Fatal Fury series, the new King of Fighters is a team tournament, with eight teams of three, each representing a different nationality, participating this time. Most characters come from other SNK games, such as Team Italy, which is composed of three heroes from the original Fatal Fury
(Terry Bogard
, Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi
). The two heroes from Art of Fighting
(Ryo Sakazaki
and Robert Garcia) are featured along with their mentor and Ryo's father (Takuma Sakazaki), who make up Team Mexico. Team Korea features Kim Kaphwan
from Fatal Fury 2
as the leader of two convicts he's trying to reform (Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge), while Team England is a mix of female fighters from Fatal Fury 2 (Mai Shiranui
) and the Art of Fighting series (Yuri Sakazaki
and King). The two heroes from Psycho Soldier
(Athena Asamiya
and Sie Kensou) form Team China along with their mentor, Chin Gentsai. Similarly, Team Brazil features the heroes from Ikari Warriors
(Ralf Jones
and Clark Still) along with their commanding officer, Heidern. Additionally, the game features two teams composed entirely of original characters: Team Japan featuring Kyo Kusanagi
, Benimaru Nikaido and Goro Daimon; and Team USA composed of Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber and Brian Battler.
titled, Survivor. In this version, it would only use core characters from the Art of Fighting
and Fatal Fury series, specifically allowing players to play Robert Garcia and Terry Bogard
for location testing. However, the idea was quickly abandoned after the debut of Capcom's game with similar gameplay, Final Fight
. Since they were attached to the idea of the two series crossover, they eventually agreed to make their idea into a fighting game. Characters from Ikari Warriors
and Psycho Soldier
games were also added in spirit of other gaming genres considered for their final product. The concept of a three-man team was one of the ideas kept from the side-scrolling version. The title "The King of Fighters" was originally the subtitle from the first Fatal Fury game, Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
; according to GameSpot
, the members from SNK liked the title "The King of Fighters" and wanted to give it its own game.
Flagship director, Toyohisa Tanabe, asserts that the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury fighters were added specifically for adults. The newer KOF characters were aimed to appeal to younger and newer audiences. He adds that every original character for the series is added based on the developers' strong desire to make one. For example, he agreed to include characters such as Benimaru and Chang to add an off-beat variety to the cast, which he previously deemed to be too serious before. SNK developer C.A.C Yamasaki commented that it seemed the lead programmer thought the game would not sell well, but he thought it would catch on. For the first location test only ten people showed up, but they later received a large number of players attracted with the game. The SNK staff also had troubles with making advertisements for the game due to its low rent. As such, some of them were noted to have poor quality.
Developers wanted a new, "snazzy" lead character who would easily fight against Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters. He was named Kyo Kusanagi
in order to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend, which was used as the idea to the following games. The boss character, Rugal Bernstein
, was developed to be " the mightiest (most violent) and most evil boss character ever". The game was meant to have a "Fugitive Team" composed of Chang and Choi along with an unknown criminal. However, due to certain circumstances, Kim Kaphwan
was the one who had Choi and Chang as his teammates. Another team meant to appear was the English Team composed of King from Art of Fighting and Billy Kane
along with Big Bear from the first and second Fatal Fury, respectively. Developers had several problems with Big Bear concerning capacity and the Art of Fighting staff pressed with adding Yuri to KOF. As such, Yuri replaced Billy Kane, and later Mai Shiranui
took Big Bear's place to form the England Team (also known as Women Fighters in following games).
Most of the characters from other games were meant to have some of their moves changed or removed in order to balance them with the new characters of KOF. Designers from certain characters found disagreement with this, and so they focused in adjusting their imbalance without removing any move. In the end, creators from the series noted that the Art of Fighting characters were the strongest ones from the game. However, other characters such as Terry and Andy Bogard became the ones who got the designers' utmost attention and were given new moves which caused them to be stronger fighters.
's Virtual Console
download service, for a price of 900 Wii Points
. The North American version was released on January 7, 2008, while the European version on November 23, 2007.
An emulation of the Neo Geo version is also included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1
and in the internationally released compilation The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga in for the PlayStation 2
, PlayStation Portable
and Wii
(the game was not included in the equivalent Japanese compilation The King of Fighters - Orochi Hen). It was also released for the PlayStation 3
on December 21, 2010, making one of the first games in the Neo-Geo Station line-up.
, arranged music, and an online versus mode. Developers from the game commented that they received negative fan feedback from these high-definition sprites. As such, they decided to create new ones for The King of Fighters XII
. A North American version was meant to published by SNK Playmore for the Xbox
, but it was cancelled on March 23, 2006 for unknown reasons. Ben Herman, president from SNK Playmore USA, mentioned "they cancelled the game as it took a lot of time to remove all the bugs from the game. During the first quarter of 2006, they came to the conclusion that there was no place to sell the game" and they had issues for how much money would the game cost.
at #3, Kyo Kusanagi
at #4, Yuri Sakazaki
at #7, King at #8, Mai Shiranui
at #10, Sie Kensou at #16, Heidern at #17, Ralf
at #19, Ryo Sakazaki
at #24, Goro Daimon at #26, Robert Garcia at #36 (tied with Iceman
from X-Men: Children of the Atom
), Clark at #38, Kim Kaphwan
at #44 (sharing the spot with three other characters), and both Chang Koehan and Rugal Bernstein
sharing the #48 spot. The King of Fighters '94 was awarded Best Fighting game and Best Neo-Geo Game of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly
. Additionally, Mai Shiranui
was awarded Hottest Game Babe of 1994.
Video game publications have commented on the game, adding praise and criticism. 1UP.com
praised KOF '94 for the large number of characters it had considering it "a hell of cast for 1994". They also commented on the cast to be well balanced and that the new characters "revived some fun past concepts". Zentendo.com reviewer Chuck Allen noted the music to have been well done and that the characters were "extremely pixilated". However, he criticized that the special moves required "dead-on precision" in order to perform them and commented it was one of the hardest fighting games to win. Lucas M. Thomas from IGN
gave it a 8.0 praising the graphics from the game, commenting it has fluid animation and vibrant colors. He also complained about the fact that players cannot create their own teams and are forced to use the pre-established teams. IGN writer Jeremy Dunham commented that KOF '94 "was essentially a cross between Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting", but with faster response than both games. He praised the creation of three-on-three battles and the idea of "borrowing" characters from other games from the company, making it an advanced game during 1994. G4
commented that while The King of Fighters '94 was considered by several fans as the "Street Fighter
beater", it was unique due to its option to selecting teams.
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
released by SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
for the Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
arcade and home console. It is the inaugural game in The King of Fighters series by the same company. The game was originally ported to the Neo Geo AES and Neo-Geo CD following its original arcade release. In , to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the series, SNK released a remake titled The King of Fighters '94 Rebout, which featured the original game and a new version with high definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
graphics.
The game is a fictional crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
featuring characters from SNK's previous fighting game properties Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
, as well as revised versions of characters from their pre-Neo Geo games Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors is a 1986 arcade game by SNK, published in the United States and Europe by Tradewest. Known simply as in Japan, this was SNK's first major breakthrough US release and became something of a classic. The game was released at the time when there were many Commando clones on the market...
and Psycho Soldier
Psycho Soldier
is an action arcade game developed by Japanese software company SNK that was originally released in 1986 and internationally in 1987. It is somewhat of a sequel to Athena released a year earlier, Psycho Soldier continues the adventures of Athena, and is noteworthy for being the first video game...
, and original characters created specifically for the game. The plot features the creation of a new King of Fighters tournament created by the criminal Rugal Bernstein, but this time with teams composed of three members unlike the ones from Fatal Fury, which had no teams.
SNK developed KOF '94 with the initial idea of using several games from the company in order to attract gamers who played these games. However, they later added original characters not seen in other games to develop a story arc. Video game publications have commented on KOF '94, praising its characters designs as well as the gameplay of using teams of three members. The success of this game allowed SNK to produce a large number of sequels.
Gameplay
The basic gameplay of KOF '94 is similar to SNK's previous games such as the Fatal Fury series, Art of FightingArt of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
, and Samurai Shodown. The game uses a four attack button configuration similar to Fatal Fury 2
Fatal Fury 2
is a 1992 fighting video game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the sequel to Fatal Fury: King of Fighters and the second game in the Fatal Fury franchise.-Gameplay:...
and Fatal Fury Special
Fatal Fury Special
is a 1993 head-to-head fighting game produced by SNK originally released for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is an updated version of Fatal Fury 2, introducing several changes to the gameplay system while expanding the available character roster....
consisting of Light Punch, Light Kick, Strong Punch, and Strong Kick. Like in Fatal Fury 2, certain specialized techniques can be performed by pressing certain buttons in combination. Pressing Light Punch and Light Kick simultaneously allows the player to dodge an opponent's attack, while pressing Hard Punch and Hard Kick will perform a character's "Bop Attack". As with other fighting games, each character has a set of basic, unique, and special moves that can be perform by the player with a specific series of joystick and button inputs.
Each player also has a power gauge at the bottom of the screen which can be filled up by pressing and holding three buttons at the same time, leaving the character vulnerable to an attack while charging. Once the power gauge is filled, the players basic attacks become stronger for a short period. When the player is in this state, they can also perform their character's "Super Special Move", which will immediately consume the entire Power Gauge. The player can also perform their character's Super move when their life gauge is 75% empty and flashing red like in Fatal Fury 2.
Plot and characters
Rugal BernsteinRugal Bernstein
is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
is an incredibly rich and notorious arms and drug trafficker, as well as an incredibly skilled and ruthless fighter. Having become bored with the lack of competition, Rugal decides to host a new King of Fighters tournament. Rugal has his secretary travel to eight destinations around the world and invite fighters to his new tournament. Unlike the previous KOF tournaments depicted in the Fatal Fury series, the new King of Fighters is a team tournament, with eight teams of three, each representing a different nationality, participating this time. Most characters come from other SNK games, such as Team Italy, which is composed of three heroes from the original Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
is a 1991 head-to-head fighting game 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...
(Terry Bogard
Terry Bogard
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore , and is the main character of the Fatal Fury series. In the series, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide tournaments called The King of Fighters to kill Geese Howard, a criminal who killed Terry's father. Terry becomes a formidable...
, Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi
Joe Higashi
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . He makes his first appearance in the fighting game Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as one of the three playable characters from the game...
). The two heroes from Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
(Ryo Sakazaki
Ryo Sakazaki
is a video game character developed for the fighting game Art of Fighting from SNK Playmore . His name is most often written in kana, however, in some games kanji is used to write parts of his name. In the series, Ryo is a martial artist that practices his family's fighting style, the Kyokugenryu...
and Robert Garcia) are featured along with their mentor and Ryo's father (Takuma Sakazaki), who make up Team Mexico. Team Korea features Kim Kaphwan
Kim Kaphwan
Kap-hwan Kim , usually written surname first as Kim Kap-hwan, is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series created by SNK Playmore . He is credited as the first ever fictional Korean character to appear in a fighting game...
from Fatal Fury 2
Fatal Fury 2
is a 1992 fighting video game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the sequel to Fatal Fury: King of Fighters and the second game in the Fatal Fury franchise.-Gameplay:...
as the leader of two convicts he's trying to reform (Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge), while Team England is a mix of female fighters from Fatal Fury 2 (Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui
is a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
) and the Art of Fighting series (Yuri Sakazaki
Yuri Sakazaki
is a video game character from SNK Playmore's Art of Fighting series. She first appears in the original Art of Fighting being kidnapped by Mr. Big, a criminal from the fictional city of Southtown. The players, Yuri's brother Ryo and his friend Robert Garcia spend the game searching for her...
and King). The two heroes from Psycho Soldier
Psycho Soldier
is an action arcade game developed by Japanese software company SNK that was originally released in 1986 and internationally in 1987. It is somewhat of a sequel to Athena released a year earlier, Psycho Soldier continues the adventures of Athena, and is noteworthy for being the first video game...
(Athena Asamiya
Athena Asamiya
is a character originally from the former SNK's video game Psycho Soldier and a descendant of Princess Athena in its Athena. She later appears in The King of Fighters series of fighting games as a female fighter character and has appeared in each of its thirteen editions...
and Sie Kensou) form Team China along with their mentor, Chin Gentsai. Similarly, Team Brazil features the heroes from Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors is a 1986 arcade game by SNK, published in the United States and Europe by Tradewest. Known simply as in Japan, this was SNK's first major breakthrough US release and became something of a classic. The game was released at the time when there were many Commando clones on the market...
(Ralf Jones
Ralf Jones
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . Ralf has made appearance in several games from the company, premiering in TNK III as a military tank driver. The Ikari Warriors series also emphasized Ralf's role as a soldier with him becoming the partner of Clark Still...
and Clark Still) along with their commanding officer, Heidern. Additionally, the game features two teams composed entirely of original characters: Team Japan featuring Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
, Benimaru Nikaido and Goro Daimon; and Team USA composed of Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber and Brian Battler.
Development
In an interview with veteran developers of the series, they claim that their prototype version for KOF was going to be a side-scrolling beat 'em upBeat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
titled, Survivor. In this version, it would only use core characters from the Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting
is a trilogy of competitive fighting game titles that were released for the Neo Geo platform in the early 1990s. It was the second fighting game franchise created by SNK, following the Fatal Fury series and is set in the same fictional universe...
and Fatal Fury series, specifically allowing players to play Robert Garcia and Terry Bogard
Terry Bogard
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore , and is the main character of the Fatal Fury series. In the series, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide tournaments called The King of Fighters to kill Geese Howard, a criminal who killed Terry's father. Terry becomes a formidable...
for location testing. However, the idea was quickly abandoned after the debut of Capcom's game with similar gameplay, Final Fight
Final Fight
is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game originally released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in . It was the seventh game released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game hardware...
. Since they were attached to the idea of the two series crossover, they eventually agreed to make their idea into a fighting game. Characters from Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors is a 1986 arcade game by SNK, published in the United States and Europe by Tradewest. Known simply as in Japan, this was SNK's first major breakthrough US release and became something of a classic. The game was released at the time when there were many Commando clones on the market...
and Psycho Soldier
Psycho Soldier
is an action arcade game developed by Japanese software company SNK that was originally released in 1986 and internationally in 1987. It is somewhat of a sequel to Athena released a year earlier, Psycho Soldier continues the adventures of Athena, and is noteworthy for being the first video game...
games were also added in spirit of other gaming genres considered for their final product. The concept of a three-man team was one of the ideas kept from the side-scrolling version. The title "The King of Fighters" was originally the subtitle from the first Fatal Fury game, Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
is a 1991 head-to-head fighting game 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...
; according to GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, the members from SNK liked the title "The King of Fighters" and wanted to give it its own game.
Flagship director, Toyohisa Tanabe, asserts that the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury fighters were added specifically for adults. The newer KOF characters were aimed to appeal to younger and newer audiences. He adds that every original character for the series is added based on the developers' strong desire to make one. For example, he agreed to include characters such as Benimaru and Chang to add an off-beat variety to the cast, which he previously deemed to be too serious before. SNK developer C.A.C Yamasaki commented that it seemed the lead programmer thought the game would not sell well, but he thought it would catch on. For the first location test only ten people showed up, but they later received a large number of players attracted with the game. The SNK staff also had troubles with making advertisements for the game due to its low rent. As such, some of them were noted to have poor quality.
Developers wanted a new, "snazzy" lead character who would easily fight against Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters. He was named Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
in order to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend, which was used as the idea to the following games. The boss character, Rugal Bernstein
Rugal Bernstein
is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
, was developed to be " the mightiest (most violent) and most evil boss character ever". The game was meant to have a "Fugitive Team" composed of Chang and Choi along with an unknown criminal. However, due to certain circumstances, Kim Kaphwan
Kim Kaphwan
Kap-hwan Kim , usually written surname first as Kim Kap-hwan, is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series created by SNK Playmore . He is credited as the first ever fictional Korean character to appear in a fighting game...
was the one who had Choi and Chang as his teammates. Another team meant to appear was the English Team composed of King from Art of Fighting and Billy Kane
Billy Kane
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . He makes first appearance in the fighting game Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as the sub-boss from the game. In the Fatal Fury series Billy is the right-hand man from Geese Howard, the crime lord from Southtown...
along with Big Bear from the first and second Fatal Fury, respectively. Developers had several problems with Big Bear concerning capacity and the Art of Fighting staff pressed with adding Yuri to KOF. As such, Yuri replaced Billy Kane, and later Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui
is a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
took Big Bear's place to form the England Team (also known as Women Fighters in following games).
Most of the characters from other games were meant to have some of their moves changed or removed in order to balance them with the new characters of KOF. Designers from certain characters found disagreement with this, and so they focused in adjusting their imbalance without removing any move. In the end, creators from the series noted that the Art of Fighting characters were the strongest ones from the game. However, other characters such as Terry and Andy Bogard became the ones who got the designers' utmost attention and were given new moves which caused them to be stronger fighters.
Original version
The King of Fighters '94 was released in Japanese arcades on August 25, 1994. It was ported to the Neo Geo cartridge system (released on October 1994) and the Neo-Geo CD (released on November 1994) following the original arcade release. On November 6, 2007, the Neo Geo version was made available for download on the WiiWii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
download service, for a price of 900 Wii Points
Wii Points
Nintendo Points are a currency that Nintendo uses for its Wii and Nintendo DSi systems through the Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop respectively...
. The North American version was released on January 7, 2008, while the European version on November 23, 2007.
An emulation of the Neo Geo version is also included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1
SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1
SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 is a video game compilation created and published by SNK Playmore which includes sixteen Neo Geo games.The compilation was released on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the Wii...
and in the internationally released compilation The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga in for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
(the game was not included in the equivalent Japanese compilation The King of Fighters - Orochi Hen). It was also released for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
on December 21, 2010, making one of the first games in the Neo-Geo Station line-up.
Re-Bout
A remake was released on December 28, 2004 for the PlayStation 2 in Japan under the title The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the franchise. This version features the original 1994 game and an enhanced version featuring remade high resolution graphics, a Team Edit option feature similar to the later KOF games, the ability to play as Saisyu Kusanagi and Rugal BernsteinRugal Bernstein
is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
, arranged music, and an online versus mode. Developers from the game commented that they received negative fan feedback from these high-definition sprites. As such, they decided to create new ones for The King of Fighters XII
The King of Fighters XII
is the twelfth installment of The King of Fighters series. SNK Playmore announced that it is abandoning the Atomiswave system and is moving its most popular game franchises to the Taito Type X2 arcade system. KOF XII uses newly-drawn 2D sprites on 2D backgrounds...
. A North American version was meant to published by SNK Playmore for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, but it was cancelled on March 23, 2006 for unknown reasons. Ben Herman, president from SNK Playmore USA, mentioned "they cancelled the game as it took a lot of time to remove all the bugs from the game. During the first quarter of 2006, they came to the conclusion that there was no place to sell the game" and they had issues for how much money would the game cost.
Reception
In the January 30, 1995 issue of Gamest magazine in Japan, The King of Fighters '94 was awarded Best Game of 1994 in the Eighth Annual Grand Prize. The game also placed #1 in the categories of "Best Competitive Fighting Game" and "Best Direction", #5 in "Best Graphics" and #3 in "Best VGM (Video Game Music)". Several characters in the game were also featured in list of Top 50 Characters of 1994, with Athena AsamiyaAthena Asamiya
is a character originally from the former SNK's video game Psycho Soldier and a descendant of Princess Athena in its Athena. She later appears in The King of Fighters series of fighting games as a female fighter character and has appeared in each of its thirteen editions...
at #3, Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
at #4, Yuri Sakazaki
Yuri Sakazaki
is a video game character from SNK Playmore's Art of Fighting series. She first appears in the original Art of Fighting being kidnapped by Mr. Big, a criminal from the fictional city of Southtown. The players, Yuri's brother Ryo and his friend Robert Garcia spend the game searching for her...
at #7, King at #8, Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui
is a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
at #10, Sie Kensou at #16, Heidern at #17, Ralf
Ralf Jones
is a video game character created by SNK Playmore . Ralf has made appearance in several games from the company, premiering in TNK III as a military tank driver. The Ikari Warriors series also emphasized Ralf's role as a soldier with him becoming the partner of Clark Still...
at #19, Ryo Sakazaki
Ryo Sakazaki
is a video game character developed for the fighting game Art of Fighting from SNK Playmore . His name is most often written in kana, however, in some games kanji is used to write parts of his name. In the series, Ryo is a martial artist that practices his family's fighting style, the Kyokugenryu...
at #24, Goro Daimon at #26, Robert Garcia at #36 (tied with Iceman
Iceman (comics)
Iceman is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero, a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men vol. 1 #1, ....
from X-Men: Children of the Atom
X-Men: Children of the Atom
X-Men: Children of the Atom may refer to:* X-Men: Children of the Atom , a 1994 fighting game* X-Men: Children of the Atom , a 1999 comic book...
), Clark at #38, Kim Kaphwan
Kim Kaphwan
Kap-hwan Kim , usually written surname first as Kim Kap-hwan, is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series created by SNK Playmore . He is credited as the first ever fictional Korean character to appear in a fighting game...
at #44 (sharing the spot with three other characters), and both Chang Koehan and Rugal Bernstein
Rugal Bernstein
is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
sharing the #48 spot. The King of Fighters '94 was awarded Best Fighting game and Best Neo-Geo Game of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
. Additionally, Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui
is a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
was awarded Hottest Game Babe of 1994.
Video game publications have commented on the game, adding praise and criticism. 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
praised KOF '94 for the large number of characters it had considering it "a hell of cast for 1994". They also commented on the cast to be well balanced and that the new characters "revived some fun past concepts". Zentendo.com reviewer Chuck Allen noted the music to have been well done and that the characters were "extremely pixilated". However, he criticized that the special moves required "dead-on precision" in order to perform them and commented it was one of the hardest fighting games to win. Lucas M. Thomas from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave it a 8.0 praising the graphics from the game, commenting it has fluid animation and vibrant colors. He also complained about the fact that players cannot create their own teams and are forced to use the pre-established teams. IGN writer Jeremy Dunham commented that KOF '94 "was essentially a cross between Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting", but with faster response than both games. He praised the creation of three-on-three battles and the idea of "borrowing" characters from other games from the company, making it an advanced game during 1994. G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
commented that while The King of Fighters '94 was considered by several fans as the "Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
beater", it was unique due to its option to selecting teams.