Prologue: An "All-Star" Cast in a Single Machine
On August 25, 1994, a strange phenomenon appeared in Japanese arcades: people would line up at the same machine until their legs gave out. On that machine was a line of English text: The King of Fighters. On screen, a boy in a school uniform threw a ball of flame, a man with long white hair answered with purple fire, and an American in a red cap kicked out a "Power Wave" beside them. Three characters from completely different games stood on the same stage—unimaginable at the time.
Because before 1994, the rule of fighting games was one-on-one. You pick a character, your opponent picks a character, and the two of you fight. This was the iron law set by Street Fighter II, and fighting games around the world followed it.
SNK didn't follow. It stuffed the protagonists of all its games—Terry from Fatal Fury, Ryo from Art of Fighting, Ralf from Ikari Warriors, Athena Asamiya from Psycho Soldier—into the same machine, then added a new rule: three fighters per team, loser swaps out, and whoever knocks out all three of the opponent's fighters first wins.
This rule was called the Team Battle System. On the surface it just meant "two more fights," but in reality it completely changed the psychological structure of fighting games: you're no longer responsible for just one character, but for an entire team; when you take someone down, your momentum carries; when you lose someone, the pressure builds. Throughout the latter half of the 1990s, arcades around the world were addicted to this "three-man relay" rule.
And that was only the beginning of The King of Fighters' thirty-plus-year story.
1. 1994: SNK Answers Street Fighter with a "Team" Rule
The birth of The King of Fighters actually began with a game that was never made.
Before KOF was officially greenlit, SNK had an internal project codenamed "Survivor": a side-scrolling beat-'em-up similar to Double Dragon, starring only the core characters from Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury. The project was ultimately abandoned—but it left behind two legacies: the crossover idea of "putting characters from the company's games on the same stage," and the surviving concept of three-person teams.
SNK combined these two legacies and created The King of Fighters. The game's director was Masanori Kuwasashi, and the producer was Takashi Nishiyama—the latter being the creator of the original Street Fighter and Fatal Fury. In other words, the man behind KOF was also the source of both the "one-on-one fighting" and "team fighting" lineages.
The game's name is also interesting: "The King of Fighters" was originally the subtitle of the first Fatal Fury. SNK took it and made it the name of an entirely new series.
KOF '94 launched with 24 characters and 8 fixed teams: the Japan Team (Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikaido, Goro Daimon), the Fatal Fury Team, the Art of Fighting Team, the Women Fighters Team, the Ikari Warriors Team, the Korea Justice Team, the Psycho Soldier Team, and the American Sports Team. Players couldn't customize teams—each team was a fixed trio. This design was criticized at the time as "not free enough" (custom teams would have to wait until KOF '95), but it ensured that every team had its own personality and narrative.
The final boss was Rugal Bernstein—an arms and drug dealer, and one of the most intimidating villains in fighting game history. His gimmick was that he could "copy any move after seeing it once," so he could use Geese Howard's Reppuken, Wolfgang Krauser's Kaiser Wave, plus his own signature move, the Genocide Cutter. SNK's stated design goal was: to create "the strongest, most evil boss character in history." They succeeded—this "copy after one look" gimmick got countless players killed by their own moves in arcades.
KOF '94's report card was impressive: Japan's Game Machine magazine ranked it the second most popular arcade game in Japan in September 1994; America's EGM named it the best fighting game of 1994; Japan's Gamest gave it a Game of the Year award. It became SNK's flagship series from then on.
2. The Orochi Saga (1995–1997): The Most Complete Narrative in Fighting Game History
If KOF '94 proved that the "three-person team" gameplay could work, then over the next three years, SNK proved something even harder: fighting games could also have a continuous, complete, epic story with an ending.
This is the trilogy known as the "Orochi Saga": KOF '95, KOF '96, and KOF '97.
KOF '95: The Rival Arrives.
This entry's most important contribution was introducing Iori Yagami. This man with long white hair, a red jacket, and hand slashes and purple flames is the protagonist Kyo Kusanagi's sworn rival—and their relationship is far more complex than "archenemies." The two families, plus Chizuru Kagura's family, are the guardians of the legendary "Three Sacred Treasures": the Kusanagi family guards the Kusanagi Sword, the Yagami family guards the Yasakani Jewel, and the Kagura family guards the Yata Mirror. The three families once joined forces in ancient times to seal away Orochi, and thus forged a millennium-long grudge.
KOF '95 also filled in KOF '94's biggest gap: custom teams. Players could finally freely mix and match three fighters. Additionally, boss Rugal returned in the form of "Omega Rugal," becoming the series' first "remade boss."
KOF '96: The Storm Descends.
The final boss of this entry was Goenitz—one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, the man who controls wind. His entrance, accompanied by a windstorm animation, was the childhood nightmare of countless players. KOF '96 also introduced emergency evades (forward/back rolls) and other systems, giving defense an active choice for the first time.
More importantly, starting with '96, SNK officially laid out the "Orochi" mythological thread: Chizuru Kagura hosted the tournament, the fate of Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami was constantly highlighted, and players realized for the first time—this wasn't just a fighting game, there was a waking presence behind it all.
KOF '97: The Pinnacle of Everything.
On July 28, 1997, KOF '97 hit arcades. It was the finale of the Orochi Saga and the most commercially successful early entry in the entire series: by August 1998, it had sold 50,000 boards in Japan and 100,000 overseas, making it the best-selling game on the Neo Geo platform.
Story-wise, KOF '97 delivered a textbook conclusion. Three previously ordinary contestants—Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, and Chris (the "New Faces Team")—revealed their true identities during the tournament: they were the remaining three of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi. The three appeared as mid-bosses in enhanced forms, and after being defeated, Orochi descended using Chris's body as a vessel, becoming the final boss. In the "Three Sacred Treasures Team" ending (Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Chizuru Kagura), Orochi was resealed. This was the first time in fighting game history that players achieved a mythic ending with a beginning and an end in a versus game.
System-wise, KOF '97 established the "power gauge" logic still in use today: attacking and performing moves accumulates energy, up to three stocks, which can be used for super special moves or to activate MAX mode to boost offense and defense. It also offered both "Advanced" and "Extra" modes, letting veteran and new players alike find their feel.
For many Chinese players, KOF '97 isn't "one entry in the series"—it's their entire youth. We'll save that topic for later.
3. Dream Match: '98 and 2002, Two Peaks Without a Story
After the Orochi Saga ended, SNK made an unusual decision: the next KOF wouldn't tell a story.
Released in 1998, KOF '98 was officially defined as a "Dream Match"—a fantasy showdown. It had no story, no endings, no good versus evil; its only theme was: bring back every character who had ever appeared (including those who had died or disappeared in the story) and let everyone fight to their heart's content. The system was polished on the foundation of KOF '97 to be more balanced and smoother, with the returning Omega Rugal as the final boss.
As a result, this "storyless" game was widely considered by core players to be the best entry in series history. That judgment still has plenty of supporters today.
The same script repeated in 2002. KOF 2002 again abandoned story, reassembled characters from across the series, and delivered faster combat and more satisfying combos—another "Dream Match." Its enhanced version, KOF 2002 Unlimited Match (2002 UM), later became the competitive standard for many veteran players.
So the KOF series formed an interesting dual track: odd years tell epics, even years throw parties. The Orochi Saga, NESTS Saga, and Ash Saga are canon; "'98" and "2002" are storyless festivals—and it's precisely these two festivals that became many people's first KOF.
4. The NESTS Saga and SNK's Collapse (1999–2001)
After Orochi was sealed, the story needed a new villainous organization. KOF '99 provided the answer: NESTS, a secret military and technology conglomerate.
KOF '99: A New Protagonist.
The series changed protagonists for the first time. Kyo Kusanagi stepped back (officially captured by NESTS and stripped of his powers), and taking up the mantle was a man in red gloves who could wield flames yet refused to acknowledge his own identity—K' (K Dash). He wasn't a traditional hot-blooded hero, but a "fugitive" modified by the organization and extremely reluctant to be dragged into battle. The final boss was NESTS executive Krizalid.
KOF '99 also introduced the Striker system: in addition to the three-person team, players could summon a fourth character as a tactical assist. This system was continuously enhanced over the next two entries.
KOF 2000: The Best of Times, and the Last of Times.
KOF 2000 released on July 26, 2000. System-wise, the Striker system was pushed to its extreme—beyond fixed strikers, there were "Another Strikers" and a large number of special strikers to choose from, with tactical combinations bordering on insane; the boss was organization executive ZERO, and the optional hidden mid-boss was the extremely popular Kula Diamond.
But the real footnote of this entry is that it became the last KOF made by the original SNK. During the game's development, SNK headed toward bankruptcy, a large number of designers left one after another, and even series heavyweight Takashi Nishiyama departed. In those years, KOF 2000 was considered to have an "unfinished regret"—many details bore the marks of a rush job, but that doesn't diminish its special place in players' hearts.
KOF 2001: The Finale Completed by Other Hands.
After bankruptcy, SNK's brand and development were restructured. KOF 2001 was co-developed by Korean companies Eolith and BrezzaSoft, with the final boss being NESTS's mastermind Igniz, closing the book on the "NESTS Saga." Subsequently, the new company SNK Playmore was founded and took over the series.
A legend created by a Japanese company, after its founder fell, was handed to others—but in the end, it survived.
5. The Ash Saga and the Swan Song of 2D Pixels (2003–2010)
After recovering, SNK Playmore launched the series' third main storyline: the Ash Saga (Tales of Ash).
KOF 2003: A New Rival and a New Protagonist.
This time the protagonist was Ash Crimson—a blond youth with green flames and a flippant demeanor. But he wasn't a traditional hero: his goal was to seize the power of the Three Sacred Treasures, and to that end he even betrayed and schemed against everyone around him. In fighting games around 2003, such a "suspiciously motivated" protagonist was rarely seen.
KOF 2003's final boss was Mukai, with the mid-boss being Adelheid Bernstein (Rugal's son). System-wise, it introduced mid-match character swaps and a "Leader" setup, a key step in the series' transition from "turn-based team" to "real-time swapping."
KOF XI (2005) switched to the Atomiswave board, with the final boss being Magaki. KOF XII (2009) was a highly controversial experiment: it removed the story, cut a large amount of content, and was seen as a "half-finished product," with polarized reception.
KOF XIII (2010): The Pinnacle of 2D Hand-Drawn Pixels.
The true conclusion to the Ash Saga was KOF XIII. It was built with fully hand-drawn pixel animation, with every character's movements, expressions, and special move sequences detailed down to the frame—to this day, it's still widely regarded as the most visually gorgeous 2D work in fighting game history. The final boss was Saiki, and Ash's story reached a tragic, heroic ending in this entry: to prevent disaster, he chose to sacrifice himself and erase his own existence.
A 2D fighting game, ending with a protagonist "forgotten by everyone"—this is probably the most artistic farewell in the fighting game world.
6. The New Generation (2016– ): XIV, XV, and Rumors Still on the Road
KOF XIV (2016): The First Full 3D Entry.
The mainline numbered series left 2D for the first time, switching to 3D models (while still retaining 2D plane combat), and brought a brand-new protagonist, Shun'ei—a boy with phantom hands. The final boss was Verse, a being formed from the aggregation of countless fighters' souls. Its worldbuilding was quite bold: the energy released after Verse's defeat "revived" many long-dead characters back into the world.
KOF XV (2022): Return and Reorganization.
On February 17, 2022, KOF XV released on PS4 / PS5 / Windows / Xbox Series X|S, using Unreal Engine 4, and introduced GGPO rollback netcode to the series for the first time, greatly improving the online experience. The final boss was Otoma=Raga, with the mid-boss being Re Verse; and Omega Rugal and Goenitz joined as free boss challenge characters, a tribute to veteran players. Media reviews were generally positive (PC Metacritic score of 85), with criticism focused on the story mode being too thin.
As of this writing, KOF XV remains the latest mainline numbered entry in the series. News about the next generation (what players call "KOF 16") remains at the stage of unconfirmed rumors—but SNK has clearly been accelerating in recent years: new studios and new fighting game projects are appearing one after another, and this veteran company is trying to return to center stage.
7. Why Did KOF '97 Dominate Chinese Arcades?
If you treat "Chinese arcades" as an independent gaming market, its king was never Street Fighter—it was KOF '97.
This phenomenon has lasted for over thirty years. To this day, there are still active KOF '97 competitive scenes across the country, and grassroots tournaments like the "97 National Championship" have never truly stopped. Why could a 1997 game live on as a cultural symbol in China? There are usually several layers of reasons:
First, the machines were cheap and spread everywhere. This is the most underrated reason. Among the Neo Geo boards popular in domestic arcades back then, a considerable proportion were pirated or imitation cheap versions, and KOF '97 was the most widely circulated among them. Low cost meant more machines—more machines meant that no matter which street or which arcade you walked into, you could almost always find a KOF '97 cabinet. Whether a game can become a "national memory" first depends on whether everyone can easily play it.
Second, the Orochi Saga's story was a free "sense of epic." Versus games usually don't need a story, but KOF '97 had Orochi—a mythological monster descending in a boy's body, the fated duel between Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, the sealing legend of the "Three Sacred Treasures." For players in their teens at the time, these settings provided an immersion far beyond "winning a round." You weren't choosing a character; you were participating in a mythic war.
Third, Iori Yagami became the definition of "cool" for an entire generation. Long white hair, red jacket, purple flames, hand slashes, and that piercing mad laugh. Iori Yagami in KOF '97 was almost the greatest common denominator of late-'90s Chinese street youth aesthetics. A huge number of players picked Iori not because he was the strongest, but because he was the "coolest"—a rare case even in the history of fighting game character popularity.
Fourth, three-person teams were naturally suited to arcades. One person inserts a coin and can play three characters in sequence; two people fight, with wins and losses, back and forth, at just the right pace. The three-man relay let "newbies play a little longer too," which was decisive for arcade players who cared about value for money.
Thus, a peculiar situation formed: in KOF '97's native Japan, it was just a successful entry in the series; in China, it became an irreplaceable faith. More than thirty years later, when KOF XV has already introduced rollback netcode and fully entered the 3D era, a large number of players still stubbornly sit in front of KOF '97 cabinets—because for them, it isn't an old game, it's an afternoon they can't go back to.
8. Character Roster: Names That Stay in Memory
What keeps KOF remembered for so long ultimately comes down to the people. Over thirty-plus years, this character lineage is almost SNK's "Hall of Fame":
- Kyo Kusanagi—the series' original protagonist, a high schooler in a school uniform who wields crimson flames. He isn't a perfect hero, a bit arrogant and a bit lazy, but at critical moments he always stands at the front.
- Iori Yagami—the original rival, synonymous with purple flames and madness. His relationship with Kyo Kusanagi is the most successful pair of "opposing characters" in fighting game history.
- Terry Bogard—from Fatal Fury, red cap, denim jacket, and the line "Are you OK?" became a cross-language meme.
- Mai Shiranui—the female ninja from Fatal Fury, one of the most recognizable female characters of that era.
- Ryo Sakazaki—from Art of Fighting, the representative of karate and the "Haoh Shoko Ken."
- Athena Asamiya—from Psycho Soldier, from idol singer to psychic fighter, the most "positive energy" presence in the series.
- Kim Kaphwan—a Korean taekwondo instructor, a lovable character who writes "justice" into his moves (his super special even "punishes" opponents).
- K' (K Dash)—the protagonist of the NESTS Saga, red gloves and silence, the most "anti-hero" of the series.
- Kula Diamond—the ice girl, the popularity anchor of the NESTS Saga, completing her character arc from enemy to ally.
- Ash Crimson—the protagonist of the Ash Saga, a doomed-to-be-forgotten, morally ambiguous trickster.
- Shun'ei—the new-generation protagonist, phantom hands, representing the series' fresh start in the 3D era.
These people came from different games, different eras, even different company departments—but they were stitched together by the "three-person team" rule into a shared universe.
9. Legacy: What SNK Taught Fighting Games
Looking back over these thirty-plus years, what the KOF series left behind is far more than a few fun games.
It proved that "team" could become the core language of fighting games. Before KOF, fighting games were lonely—one-on-one, win or lose, only yourself. KOF put "relay" and "responsibility" into the versus structure, and countless team-based fighting games since (including many modern works) stand on this starting point.
It proved that fighting games could carry narrative. The Orochi Saga told the same myth across three works, with foreshadowing, twists, and an ending. This was an extremely strong ambition at the time—it made players believe that a "fight-fight" genre could also carry epic.
It also proved a cruel but true fact: a game's fate isn't determined by quality alone. KOF '97's status in Japan is far below its status in China; KOF XIII's quality is far above its sales. Platforms, channels, piracy, the mood of the times—these forces "outside the game" often determine how long a game lives more than frame data and balance.
KOF itself went through a complete cycle: birth, peak, bankruptcy, change of ownership, recovery, restart. It never stood at the very center of the spotlight like Street Fighter, but it never truly left the stage.
Thirty-plus years, one machine, a three-person relay. SNK's stubborn decision back then—"we won't do one-on-one, we'll go three at a time"—ultimately became an unavoidable legend in fighting game history.
Relive The King of Fighters on Arcade Game Box
This site features multiple classic arcade games from The King of Fighters series, from the first entry to 2003. Click to play directly in your browser:
The King of Fighters '94—1994, where it all began. The three-person team system, 24 characters, and the first "most evil boss in history" Rugal are all here.
The King of Fighters '97—the finale of the Orochi Saga, and a faith that has endured in Chinese arcades for over thirty years. The fate of Iori Yagami, Kyo Kusanagi, and Orochi comes to a close here.
The King of Fighters '98—"Dream Match," a storyless fantasy showdown, yet considered by countless core players to be the best entry in the series.
The King of Fighters 2000—the last KOF made by the original SNK. The Striker system was pushed to its extreme, and it was a farewell work for a generation.
The King of Fighters 2002—the second "Dream Match," with faster pacing and more satisfying combos, an evergreen choice for veteran competitive play.
The King of Fighters 2003—the beginning of the Ash Saga, with mid-match swaps and the Leader system, and the last mainline KOF on Neo Geo.
