This is TO ME the greatest kof ever made. People praise 2002, 98, 11 and 13. But the story alone in this game gives it a place in Mount Olympus of fighting games. The dark story, the tension, the atmosphere. Even the lack of music gives it an eerie feeling to something off is going on with this tournament. And the gameplay up to that point was the best out of the 4 games. Even introduced Advanced mode. I respect people choosing other games. But to me…this is the KOF of legend. Played it so much as a kid, and still play it to this day. This is the gospel of KOF in China. Just like 2002 is the gospel of KOF in Latin America haha. And I’m Latino. But 97 is just peak KoF in terms of storytelling. Great job, Nabil!
KOF 97 has a special place in my heart, and it is the game i played the most in the arcades. Yes, it is not well balanced (looking at you Terry's infinite) but as you said, the story execution alone, and presenttation makes this game stand out among many other chapters.
It doesn't matter which KoF is the best. Everybody have their fav. The most important thing is we play and support the latest KoF or any other SNK's products and not stuck in the past.
KOF '97 is one of my best game I played so far and best story through the Orochi Saga. I am looking forward to KOF '98 and KOF '99 Documentary in the future.
Grew up with KOF but ran into way more SF arcade machines than KOF but I’ve always loved the characters, their lore, the graphics and storyline way more than Street Fighter. I used to battle with my cousin from Mexico for hours when he’d come to visit in San Antonio.
My favourite game of the series is 97. I spent a lot of money on this game in the arcades. Osaka Forever, Bloody & Rhythmic Hallucination are epic themes.
Let me tell you something, story in FGs never meant much for me. Except for KOF 94-97. They said shit was going down in '97 and oh boy, they did not bs us. I LOVED THIS GAME BACK THEN. Broken as it is, full of glitches, busted damage, TOD combos ... this game was pure joy.
So many top tiers in this game. 98 was more balanced as everyone is viable, unlike 97. But 97 had almost half the roster as top tier, so that kinda balanced it out.
About the BGM: When previewing the game, some publications reported that 'every single character' would get their own specific music when entering the arena, This could have been just a misunderstanding when talking to the JP devs and not translating their words well, or maybe that was the original plan, but it was cut because of dead-lines (which's possible, given the buggy and unfinished nature of '97).
To this day, I'm amazed at why there were hardly any BGMs in this game, and then I finally got the story over ten years later when I got the Orochi Saga series on the Nintendo Wii. Very brilliant.
KOF97 was the most important KOF game to me as it debuted Orochi and the remaining Hakkesshu members. I wish Iori hadn't killed Vice and Mature in KOF96, so they could've been playable in KOF97 😅
Something that I like about modern SNK games is that they improved the New Faces Team/Orochi Team (Yashiro, Shermie and Chris) In KOF 97, sure they are fun to play but we barely knew about them. They died in the same game they made their debut And after 97, they only appeared in non canon games like KOF 98 and 2002 When Shermie made her big return in SNK Heroines, we saw a new side of her. In that game, Shermie was fine working with others and even got along well with many of the gals, especially Sylvie Paula Paula Bless the developer who came up with the idea of making Shermie and Sylvie friends, something that returned for KOF XV 👍😄 Also, unlike her friends, Yashiro and Chris, Shermie doesn't get along with her Orochi form (Orochi Shermie). Despite being a member of the hakkeshu, she enjoys her human life and making friends. In the ending of the Awakened Orochi Team, after destroying humanity, Orochi Yashiro and Orochi Shermie ended up having regrets, while Orochi Chris is just happy.
Imagine playing KOF97 in arcades back in 1997, and you hear rumors of what happened to Kyo and Iori if you play as the Sacred Treasure Team. When you beat Orochi and see the ending, you see what happened to the boys, and it leaves you speechless. You think to yourself, "Are they dead after beating Orochi?" But two years later, when KOF99 came out, you wanna know if they are alive or not. They are alive and well, but you had you to unlock them by some crazy code, and to fight one of the two, you need to have a very good score, thus no continues. But yeah, I can imagine so many people back then when they saw that ending, which made them surprised. Plus, the opening intro for KOF97 is one of my favorites.
@biancaarmstrong5097 had hours of discussions with friends on what it could mean, what happened to the trio etc. Obviously we didn't get an answer until 1999. Was fun speculating with no internet and forums lol
You forgot to mention that the next character gains, loses, or keeps the super stocks. Edit: btw, we played the shit out if this game on release on my neo cr with my lil brothers. Had to retire rbs and older games when this came out😂. Also, I hated how sone dp's like andy and joe had in invincibility on dp's. Same for Yamazaki's guillotine super. This was later corrected in 98, but I hated this back in 97.
Ah yes, KOF 97, Shermie's debut! 😍 The first female character who can compete against Mai Shiranui in terms of f@n$€rv¡c€ 😁 Shermie was based on Fujiko Mine from the 'Lupin the Third' series No wonder why Shermie ended up being so h0t 😉 Shermie, Angel and Lien are the beauties of The King of Fighters 🥰 Love how SNK made Shermie's hips and gams bigger each game she appears Just compare her 2D sprite of KOF 97/98 with her sprite of 2002 The devs made her gams bigger in 2002! 😃🥰 And in KOF XV, they made her 'cake' bigger (and gave her an amazing new outfit!) 😍🤤 Bless you SNK!
8:56-9:03 The reasons why we love Shingo 😄👍 Same thing with Dan Hibiki (Street Fighter), Shingo is cool because he sucks at fighting! Also, people like an underdog character, the every day person who fights alongside people with super powers. Edit: Maybe is just me but I think SNK made Shingo to be a counterpart for Sakura (Street Fighter) and also to make fun at her 🤔 1:41 I knew it! KOF games were not made by the same developer team. I heard that the people who made KOF 97 didn't make KOF 98 but returned to make KOF 99 2:25 Hey look! It is Maxima's prototype! Looking forward the video of KOF 99 😉 5:00 NOOOOOOOO!!!!! DUCK KING!! 😢😔 At least he finally appeared in KOF XI 5:38 GOLLY! Mary's bazongas! 😍 Look at Terry, he is enjoying the view 😏 6:21 KOF improved Yamazaki's story. Same with Kim, KOF gave him a whole cast of characters that are like a family to him at this point 😊 That is one of the reasons why I prefer the KOF timeline over the Fatal Fury one 7:06 Mmmmmm. He looks like Akira in one of the covers from the AKIRA manga. Say it with me: "SNK REALLY LOVES AKIRA!" In fact, the theme of the Bali Stage in KOF 97 sounds like music from the AKIRA movie 7:25 When the $hot@ becomes a Giga Chad Orochi's final design is kinda lame imo Also his theme is just fine, I prefer Mizuchi's theme (Neo Geo Battle Coliseum)
If you are talking BGM, stages and overall joyful atmosphere then yes kof96 was more colorful and cheerful. But gameplay wise Kof97 is definitely better.
KOF 97, the game with almost no music. Yeah...not a fan of that 😅 I even prefer the soundtrack of KOF 2001 and 2002 over 97 🎵 Something that 97 did better than 96 is that doing special moves and combos is much easier! Also, rolling was fixed. I have mix feelings about the Social Relations mechanic 🤔 In terms of lore I get it, but as for the gameplay mechanic I dislike it. Maybe that is why it didn't return for modern games. I bet 90% of the characters would dislike Ash Crimson or he wouldn't like to help others Of all the KOF games made during the original SNK era, KOF 97 has the most amount of bugs and glitches 😅 Especially the infamous TASK OVER! which is very easy to do with Kyo's flames Also, the balance is terrible. Orochi Iori is banned. While the top tiers are gods! Orochi Yashiro and Iori are the best examples, mainly because of the throws or lack of animation for the throws, something that KOF 98 fixed
