The King of Fighters 95

1995 was a big year for 2D fighting games as they were now the most established and well presented arcade-centric genre around the world. Despite an over abundance of fighting games by this point, the general gaming consumer wasn't quite sick of the genre just yet and 1995 would be a killer year for gamers itching for their next melee-fest. While the King of Fighters 94 was still quite popular in arcades, it wasn't long after the release of that game that the King of Fighters team would begin work on the next year's entry.

Rather than create a new game or overhaul the mechanics established in 1994, the team fleshed out and refined the prior year's entry into a game that is tighter, faster, flasher and bigger. When the King of Fighters 95 was released in the summer of 1995 it quickly became the hottest game on the market and earned Game Machine's ranking as the second highest grossing arcade game in Japan for the entire year! That's no small feat considering it was up against some truly groundbreaking fighting games like Capcom's Marvel Super Heroes, Street Fighter Alpha and Vampire Hunter as well as SNK's own killer line up in their most popular IP.

That said, 1995 would begin a bit of a breaking point for the burgeoning fighting game genre as there were far, far too many games in the genre already released by this point and even more on the horizon from just about every video game publisher at the time. What's more, Capcom and SNK both had multiple fighting game intellectual properties under their belts by this point which created internal competition directly from the publishers and overwhelmed the consumer. Even the most avid fighting game aficionado didn't have the time or patience to actually learn how to play the litany of fighting games coming out. So, by 1995 many fighting games began to be overlooked or outright ignored due to market oversaturation.

Thankfully, the King of Fighters 95 was a step above most other fighting games at the time by offering the player a choice of over 24 of the "coolest" characters ever in a fighting game, fine-tuned mechanics, excellent 2D pixel art, smooth animation, and stellar sound design. If you made a fighting game in the mid-90's it must have had the chops to really stand out from the crowd, and the King of Fighters 95 was poised to take the genre and the hearts of gamers by storm. The King of Fighters 95 is the game the solidified the King of Fighters IP as SNK's most popular and long running franchise.

Disclaimer: If you're not already familiar with the basic gameplay elements of KOF 94/95, I recommend you read the KOF 94 review prior to reading further. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy. 

The King of Fighters 95 follows the first game in the series by roughly sticking to the same formula: teams of three duke it out in matches that can last 3-6 rounds with your teammates watching from the sidelines. Rather than have un-editable teams like in the prior year's entry, 95 allows you to choose the members of your team from the cast of 24 fighters (26 with the bosses if you enable them via cheats). New characters include the introduction of fan favorite Iori Yagami, as well as Eiji Kisaragi from Art of Fighting, and Billy Kane from Fatal Fury. Gone is the ridiculous USA Sports Team.

In another move away from King of Fighters 94, 95 introduced the first story arc in the series known as the Orochi Saga. Kyo Kusinagi and Iori Yagami are part of two families that protect ancient artefacts which seal an ancient demon known as the Orochi. While both families are needed in order to protect these artefacts from falling into the wrong hands, a bitter rivalry has grown between the Kusinagi and Yagami clans over the centuries. In the true ending for the game, Iori is possessed by the Orochi power and violently attacks his team-mates Billy and Eiji, and almost murders them in his uncontrolled rage. The Orochi Saga is continued on in King of Fighters 96 and culminates in a bombastic ending in King of Fighters 97. While the main SNK universe that embodies the cannon storylines of Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting is more down to earth and personal in nature, the King of Fighters alternative universe is full of truly evil beings and supernatural elements that set it apart from the more subdued stories of the latter.  

Gameplay is largely the same as King of Fighters 94, but SNK added some new mechanics to the mix to flesh out the options available to the player. King of Fighters 95 retains the A+B dodge from 94, but added the ability to press a button after the dodge to do a quick attack (which is punishable on block). Super jumps were also added to the mobility options to give the characters more momentum on jump ins, which helps to mitigate long-distance projectile matches. Additionally, most characters were given command normals that open up more combo and footsie options as well. Key frames of animation were tightened up across the board and hit/hurt boxes were retooled to give the player better feedback on impact which helps this game feel much more refined than King of Fighters 94 as result. 

To help temper expectations if you've played the more modern King of Fighters games before playing 95, there are some key mobility differences you should be aware of. There are no hop jumps, the forward dashes are low to the ground hops that you cannot attack out of, and you cannot safe fall, dodge roll or tech out of throws. The King of Fighters 95 is a much more grounded and methodical game than subsequent titles in the series. So while there are some similarities, gameplay elements that modern gamers would be more accustom to won't be introduced until the 1996 entry in the series.

While the King of Fighters 95 is more polished than the prior year's entry, it also comes with its own brand of jank. Aside from the terrifically challenging AI algorithms, 95 isn't the most balanced of games and skilled players can take advantage of numerous glitches to open up some truly terrifying tech that has become a staple part of the meta in the modern era. Like most fighting games, though, casual players need not worry too much as anyone can jump in and have some fun. Just, if you're playing alone, play on AES difficulty until you get your head around the mechanics and the way the game moves as MVS difficulty and above can be quite challenging. 

Returning characters from the King of Fighters 94 saw numerous updates in animation cycles due to the larger cartridge size and having about the same number of characters. The updated animation really flesh out the characters' move sets, and everyone looks great! Many of the animation cycles created for this game carried the series well into the future. For example, Terry's walking animation cycle didn't change until 2003 when he finally got a complete sprite overhaul and new costume! While the characters look and animate much better this time around, the backgrounds are really the standout of the show here. They each have a level of sophistication and interest that is lacking even in today’s modern fighting game scene. Classic SNK backgrounds are known for their impeccable attention to detail, and King of Fighters 95 is one of the crown jewels in their line-up in this writer's opinion.

To compliment the game’s good looks, the King of Fighters 95 has a stellar soundtrack with music that fits the team and background themes very well. The smooth, acid Jazz of Iori's theme, the killer bass drop of the menu music, or the excellent subdued rhythm of the Art of Fighting theme are just three examples of the varied soundscape that awaits you on each screen. The soundtrack, especially the arranged soundtrack, is well worth a listen outside of the game. This is one of my top five fighting games soundtracks of all time - it's that good! Sound effects are largely unchanged from King of Fighters 94, which isn't a bad thing. All characters received updated voice over work as well, with the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters retaining their updated voice work from the most recent games in their respective series. 

The King of Fighters 95 takes everything that was good about the prior year's entry and fleshes out and refines the experience into something I can only describe as classy. While SNK would go on to experiment a bit with King of Fighters 96 before settling on some core gameplay mechanics that are still used in modern King of Fighters games, the King of Fighters 95 is not only a reminder of what came before, but stands tall on it's own merit as a true classic. It's still played today the world over in various tournaments and has always been a fan favorite.

As another great bang for your buck title on AES on the modern era, a good conditioned CIB Japanese copy can be found for less than $150 USD. The US version, though, will set you back over $5000. This ridiculous 330% markup in value between regions is not only due to the rarity of the US variant, but also because US versions of all AES games have become investor trading commodities in the years since the 2020 pandemic. Thankfully, the MVS and CD markets are more forgiving and you'll find a copy on either hardware variant for less than $50. 

There were a number of ports, and all of them were quite good. The Sega Saturn port uses a proprietary cartridge that houses background and other game data that helps the console cut down on load times and ensure that there are no significant compromises to sprites and animation. It's the best true port of the game. That said, the Playstation version, which got a rare US release (2D games didn't get much love on the US Playstation), was quite good with only some muffled voice overs and long loads. Not to be outdone, though, the humble Game Boy also received a port which has gone down in time as one of the best fighting games on the little handheld. In the modern era, though, there really is no reason to play these ports because you can easily grab the game on the excellent Arcade Archives series on all modern platforms for $8 or less for spot on emulation with no compromises. The caveat is that these games run in MVS mode only, so you do not have access to some AES specific features. Additionally, it's included in all of SNK's mini-console variants. That said, the best way to play this classy game is on classy hardware, and there is no classier hardware than the Neo-Geo AES. 

So, aspiring AES collector, when should you grab a copy? Anytime! As I said before, the King of Fighters 95 is an excellent bang for your buck pick up with tons of replay value, excellent sound and presentation, and solid gameplay and mechanics. King of Fighters games are generally some of the most affordable titles on the AES due to the sheer number of them produced. So, as long as you're not after US variants, the Japanese values have plateaued in recent years and due to the currently weak Yen, I wouldn't look for prices to increase in the near future.