The King of Fighters '96

Review

by Kyle Knight

At first, King of Fighters '96 appears to be basically King of Fighters '95 with more playable characters. But players who approach the game this way will soon find themselves hampered by the subtle differences the game has.

Most of the changes are in the game's mechanics rather than its presentation. Some of the characters have had their moves changed. The move's priority is changed or the move executes differently, or the move has a different input required to execute it. Other characters have been downright redesigned with basically all new moves. Yet other characters will notice slight changes in their technique range, particularly projectiles. For gamers who are finely tuned into the King of Fighters '95 fighting system, the subtle changes in this game takes awhile to get used to.

If you can get over the differences King of Fighters '96 has a very polished fighting system, at least as polished as its predecessors. The characters each have a sizeable selection of special techniques, and each technique can be altered depending on the button pressed. For example if a move requires a quarter circle joystick motion combined with a punch button, you can pull either a weak or strong variant of that move depending on which punch button you press. This has the effect of almost doubling each character's already impressive list of special techniques.

The system is very deep and takes significant amounts of playtime to master. In addition to the character specials and desperations, there are guard crushes, move cancels, several types of jumping, air blocks, evasions, throw breaks, etc. But the game doesn't overwhelm you with all of these things; instead you can jump in at your own level and slowly explore the game's nuances. And like the other games in the KOF series, King of Fighters '96 has controls that are characteristically tight and responsive.

King of Fighters '96 also sports some touched up graphics. The fighters are a little bigger than before. They're also more detailed and have more frames of animation. The gorgeous stage backgrounds are some of the best in the series. The artists have made great use of dramatic coloring to make some of the stages look really vibrant and alive. A few of the stages are on boats, with the boat rocking gently as the fighters go about their business. Sound quality has been improved a bit as well. Wolfgang Krauser's music is quite impressive. However there are also some fairly bland musical tracks in the game.

King of Fighters '96 is more than just a sequel with better graphics and more characters. By introducing a whole host of minute changes in character moves, the game presents you with a new system to explore and learn while keeping the familiar KOF feeling and storyline. First time gamers to the KOF series will find a polished and enjoyable fighting game. Veteran KOF gamers may be put off by how the game feels subtly different. But after investing some time in familiarization King of Fighters '96 will ultimately prove very rewarding.