The King Of Fighters '95

"Well...Its not bad!"

Ive loved the King Of Fighters series ever since I saw those people playing at the arcade as if their life depended on it. Needless to say Im not as good as those players mainly because a) I don't mind losing $1 and b) I own the PSX version. The Playstation gets hammered a lot by fan boys of other consoles saying that it doesn't handle 2D as well as that certain system. Want to find out who's telling the truth? Keep reading (not that Im going to release a certain answer or anything :P)

Story: Rugal hold the King of Fighters(KoF) tournament every year in hope of expanding his collection. What does he collect? The winning team of course! Once he defeats them the team is stuffed and put on display. Unfortunately the 94 team was too good and defeated this evil man. He detonated before they could do anything. Bad news though, he stills lives through dark forces and this time you have to stop him. One of the most far fetched and linear stories Ive read but its good to see a fighting game with a story.
5/10

Sounds: Very good sound in this game. Feel the crack as Kyo unleashes a frontal attack. Very realistic. And the music goes nice with the fighting. Only problem is, it doesn't sound like a lot of effort was put into the sound. As in its a bit low rate. Sure, its an arcade port, and not a bad one at that, but effort makes the gamer happy. Why not spend a little more time improving something that wasnt 100%?
7/10

Control: The Playstation control was made for games like this wasn't it? While the 2nd form Sega Saturn control was definitely the best, this one is not bad and it shows. Sony have kept this same control only making slight alterations since 95 when the original Playstation was released. And it takes the same form into its PS2. The control works perfectly with this game and as with all fighting games, after a while you'll master the controls.
8/10

Gameplay: Very slick and fluid. You'll feel like you are playing a arcade machine. Some people say the Sega Saturn version is better because of the ROM card that comes with it to enhance graphics. Pish tosh I say. This one is just as good with no extra work required. Some hardcore fans may say "I noticed the difference" but truth be told they most likely just had hallucinations.

It was very easy to pull off combo's and do special moves. I like this. It means that you don't get frustrated trying to do a 23 button press combo.

Suspense was injected into the game through the characters. A lot of them are even in how much damage they take off, so choosing one over the other has its advantages and disadvantages. Some are fast, some are slow. Others can jump higher. Its all these different aspects that make this game so playable.
7/10

SNK did a good job porting this. If you asked which one Id choose over the Saturn or the Playstation version Id definitely say this one. Its cheaper and doesn't require no ROM card to play.

Story: 5/10
Sounds: 7/10
Controls: 8/10
Game play: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/04