The King of Fighters '96 is a 1996 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles. It is the third game in The King of Fighters series, following The King of Fighters '95. Like its predecessor, the game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD, as well as the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Unlike the previous game, the PlayStation and Saturn versions were released only in Japan, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. It is also part of the compilation The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii. It was also released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on February 15, 2011.
The King of Fighters '96 has 27 regular characters plus 2 boss characters (who can be unlocked with the use of a code). Newcomers to the tournament include Mr. Big from the Art of Fighting series, the bosses from Fatal Fury (Wolfgang Krauser and Geese Howard), and completely original characters like Leona Heidern, Mature and Vice. Other features carried over from the previous year include the ability to choose between the default "Team Fighting" mode or the traditional "Single Fighter" style of gameplay, plus the "Versus" and "Survival" gameplay modes.
GAMEPLAY:
KOF '96 made a few slight changes to the gameplay of previous KOF games by introducing new techniques. The Dodge technique from the previous two game is replaced by an "emergency evasion" or "attack deflector" technique, which allows the player's character to roll away or towards the opponent. In the latter case, the player can have the ability to roll towards the opponent and end up at the other side.
The player can also determine the height of their jump and perform small or high jumps. Additionally, the graphics for all the character sprites from the previous games were redrawn and the commands for certain Special and Super moves were changed from previous games.
Like in the previous, Super Special Moves can be performed when the Power Gauge is filled up or when the player's life gauge is flashing red. However, the player can also perform a more powerful version of their regular Super move if both conditions are met (the player has low energy and Maximum level power gauge).
STORY:
A new King of Fighters tournament was announced, though the letters of invitation sent out to the fighters were no longer sent by Rugal Bernstein. The letters also announced many changes, the first of which being a massive overhaul of the tournament's approach. During the time that had passed between the tournaments since the previous year, the King of Fighters tournament's fame had grown immensely, to the point that it turned into a major international event, which had not happened before.
Huge corporations transformed the King of Fighters tournament into something widely televised, commercialized, and celebrated, drawing in many crowds from around the world. The tournament is now held by Chizuru Kagura, a descendant of the ancient Yata Clan responsible for sealing the Orochi demon along with the Kusanagi and Yasanaki clans (the clans from Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, respectively). Chizuru uses the tournament in hopes of finding and recruiting Kyo and Iori in order to stop the upcoming Orochi threat, but Kyo and Iori aren't exactly willing to work together on friendly terms.
CHARACTERS:
The character roster underwent major changes since the previous game. The Rival Team was disbanded, with only Iori Yagami returning, while Heidern and Takuma Sakazaki retired from the tournament. Takuma's spot in the Art of Fighting Team was taken by his daughter Yuri Sakazaki, formerly with the Women Fighters Team.
New characters introduced in this episode include Kasumi Todoh from Art of Fighting 3, who takes Yuri's place in the Women Fighters Team; Leona, who joins the Ikari Team in place of her mentor and adoptive father, Heidern; Mature and Vice, two of Rugal's assistants who join Iori Yagami as members of the new Yagami Team; and the Boss Team, composed of Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Big, all villains from the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series. The new boss character is Goenitz, a servant from Orochi who wants to stop Chizuru's plans of sealing his master.
Manufacturer's description:
Game "The King of Fighters" series popular fighting! Emergency avoidance behavior, such as adding a jump-small, medium, due to significant changes in the system, further expand the speedy battle! S becoming even in the middle of a story depicting the struggle of the fate of Kyo and Iori, Orochi finally clearly the existence of the clan! Mystery of the "Orochi" is Tokiakasa gradually Yuku!
Features:
- Third person perspective.
- 2D graphics
- Cartoon graphics
- Fighting theme.
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