Summary

• SNK's The King of Fighters has historical significance within the fighting genre, facing challenges but remaining a staple.
• Determining the best entry is subjective, based on personal preferences like speed, play style, and meter systems.
• The King of Fighters 15 introduces rollback netcode for better competitiveness, with a vast roster but limited diverse gameplay.

Throughout the 90s and 2000s, Capcom and SNK battled for fighting game supremacy with their flagship titles, Street Fighter and The King of Fighters, respectively. Due to SNK’s financial troubles, The King of Fighters has🍷 had inconsistent release schedules and fluctuating production values. However, it's now fully back in the fighting game market, and The King of Fighters remains a staple of the genre.

With numerous entries featuring different play styles, characters, and graphical styles, determining the best King of Fighters game is challenging. It ultimately 💫comes down to personal preference—what level of play you seek, the speed you prefer, and which meter systems best complement your play style. Regardless, most King of Fighters games can be enjoyed by any fighting game fan.

10 💟 The King Of Fighters 97

The Orochi Saga is the story arc most King of Fighters fans are familiar with, and The King of Fighters 97 provided a solid conclusion to the plot. The game introduced two 🧸distinct modes: Advanced and Extra. Advanced functions similarly to most modern fig༺hting games, where players build meters during combat to unleash powerful attacks. Extra, on the other hand, resembles older SNK games, allowing players to sidestep and manually charge their meter by holding down specific buttons.

Although The King of Fighters 97 features imbalanced secret characters and infamous infinite combos, such as Terry's Power Charge infinite, it remains an enjoyable game for an arcad♋e run.

9 🌺 The King Of Fighters 2001

The last entry in The King of Fighters series to feature the Striker system, The King of Fighters 2001 offered 🦩an incredibl♈e level of team customization. Strikers, essentially assist characters, could make up three-fourths of a team in exchange for having a single, exceptionally powerful on-point character.

In The King of Fighters 2ဣ001, learning when to use stocks and how to construct a team w🧜as more crucial than in other entries. However, the on-screen gameplay lacked crispness, and the abundance of options that weren’t properly playtested made it a fun yet highly unbalanced game.

8 The King Of Fighters 2006 🐟

The 3D spinoffs got a bad rap, but they are among 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the better-made 3D fighters. Similar to Project Justice, The King of Fighters 2006—also known as The King of Fighters: Maximum🧸 Impact 2—controls꧃ more like a traditional 2D fighter than popular 3D fighters like Virtua Fighter and Tekken.

Far more scenic than other King of Fighters games of its era, it features giant explosions and lavish super moves. The parry system allows for fun back-and-forth exchanges, though parrying an attack doesn’t provide a major advantage, making it a largely ineffective mecha🤡nic at higher levels of play.​​​​​♎​​

7 The King Of Fighters 20ღ00

The most balanced of the NESTS Saga games, The King of Fighters 2000 retained the traditional three-character team structure while also introducing a striker character. The striker acted as a fourth member who could assist mid-battle, similar to an 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:assist character in Marvel vs. Capcom. Unlike🅠 its sequel, The King of Fighters 2001, the fixed team st𝔍ructure led to a more balanced gameplay experience.

However, The King of Fighters 2000 didn’t quite capture the pace or extravagance of other entries in the series, such as The King of Fighters 98 or The King of Fighters 13. St🎃ill, it boast🐠ed fantastic production and presentation, featuring one of the best intros in the series.​​​​​​​

6 ❀ The King Of Fighters 14 ☂

Often credited with helping SNK rev💃ive other series such as Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters 14 was slower-paced and not as visually striking as The King of Fighters 13, but it was more enjoyable to play. It also fostered the healthiest competitive scene in the West in quite so🦄me time, offering a high skill ceiling while remaining accessible to newcomers.

Compared to The King of Fighters 13, The King of Fighters 14 is more balanced at a ca☂sual level but feels more one-note in high-level competitive play. Its aesthetics are a major drawback, and its lead protagonist, Shun’ei—sporting an unusual fashion style—is arguably the least likable main character in the series.​​​​​​​

5 ಌ The King Of Fighters 15

The King of Fighters 15 is the first entry in the series designed with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:rollback netcode in mind fro▨m the ground up. While the implementation isn’t perfect, it marked a significant shift ♐in making the series more competitive and ac🦋cessible.

Featuring one of the largest rosters, The King of Fighters 15 includes nearly all fan favorites when DLC is considered, such as Omega Rugal, Yamazaki, and Geese. However, the similarity in combo structure makes the roster feel less diverse in terms of gameplay. Wake-up options are also more awkward due to one-frame throws, which can limit 🎐close-range pressure.​​​​​​​

4 ꦓ The King Of Fighters 13 🔜

Perhaps only rivaled by The King of Fighters 2002, The King of Fighters 13 features an incredible skill ceiling but also the highest barrier to entry in the series. It was a significant༺ improvement over The King of Fighters 12, which felt more like a tech demo for the PS3 era of the franchise.

With fluid animation and vibrant colors that stand out like no oꩵther entry, The King of Fighters 13 is arguably the best-looking game in the series. It also ranks among the fastest-paced.

3 The𝄹 King Of Fighters 200✃2 Unlimited Match

Released as a swan song to the NESTS Saga, which explored the stories of popular characters like K’ and Kula Diamond, The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match features the full roster from✅ the arc, along with returning characters from the Oroc🥂hi Saga.

For fans of high-execution, highly damaging combos, The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match is the most skill-intensive entry in the series. Max Mode allows players to link combos more effectively, and mastering the various defensive cancel options is essentialꦬ when facing experienced oppon𒅌ents.

2 The King Of Fig🦂hters 11 ꦅ

Perhaps one of the most underrated fighting games of all time, The King of Fighters 11 refined the tag system first introduced in The King of Fighters 2003. It features fast-paced short hops, a less demanding combo system, and a hot tag mechanic that allows players to extend combos whileꩲ safely bringing in another character.

Unfortunately, after the release of The King of Fighters 11, the series went on hiatus until The King of Fighters 12, which shifted toward a more nostalgic style of play. The King of Fighters 11 may not appeal to traditionalists, due to its tag-based format instead of the classic gauntlet style, but it remains an incredible entr𒅌y - one that deserved at least two more follow-ups.​​​​​​​

1 The King Of Fighte🐠rs 9🤡8 Ultimate Match

The King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match is an updated version of the most beloved entry in the series, featuring vibrant sprites that showcase the distin🐟ct '90s Neo Geo🅘 aesthetic—something rarely seen in modern fighters. However, any version of The King of Fighters 98 is worth playing.

Even after character updates, the roster remains far from the most balanced, but each fighter in The King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Mat💮ch feels distinct. Likely due to its "dream match" nature, the game features a wide clash of styles, from Goro Daimon’s massive sumo throws ♌to Lucky Glauber dunking a basketball in his opponent’s face.