[King of Fighters] 96 vs. 97

[steveold]

Which one is funner? Which one is more "pure"? Which one is more serious? Which one overall, is better?

It seems like many like both of these versions very much and I was wondering which one every KOF fanatic here likes more.

[NeoTurfMasta]

96 by far! It just feels better to play then 97. Also the background music in 96 is bad ass, some of the best IMO. 97, however has very little music in the game, only a few characters theme songs, to me it takes away a lot from the game. If you wanted something similar to 97 but better, get 98. But between the two I'd say 96!

[Iori]

'96 don't hold a candle to '97, the BGMs that are present in '97 are some of the best in the whole series. And there is an alternative to the godawful charge bar. Oh and did I mention that gameplay is a bit more fluid in '97? Go with '97.

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[NeoTurfMasta]

Heres a link to a previous discussion that may help...

http://www.neo-geo.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000058.html

[Neo Rasa]

It depends on what you're looking for in a KoF game, if you like atmophere, personality, and aesthetic details go with '96, if you want something closer to the '98 style gameplay get '97.

I personally like '96 more because while it has some questionable gameplay, I think it has the most changes of any KoF sequal so in a way SNK took a big risk with it.

[Yojimbo]

Kof96:- Has disgusting controls worse of any Kof.Gameplay is fundamentally bad.System is crap because rolls are to short and u get knocked out of them all the time.Over abundance of cheap high priority moves Leonas Cheezeballs etc. Most dire Kof ever.

Kof97:- Oversimplified control system allows plenty of short cut motions to be used resulting in superior gameplay and fun factor.Tons more combos over Kof96.Two gameplay modes mean more choice than 96.Just the better game by miles.

[Master Terry Bogard]

KOF 96 is still my favorite KOF series. Personally, I feel that 97 has better game play (intuitive control, combo friendly, etc), though 96 is no slouch either. Other than that, KOF 96 has the goods. Sure, some of the KOF 97's background has great sounds and stage--but so do most games. Whereas majority of 96's sound & backgrounds are awesome (most likely that's where the aethesics and atmosphere comes from as Neo Rasa said).

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"Come on, get serious!"

[NeoGeo2k2]

Kof96 by far for me, besides is the only game where you can select the BIG G.

[darkkyo]

96 had the soundtracks and backrounds. pratically every backround looked awesome with detail everywhere. 97 however, had the story, a somewhat better engine, and the whole "tournamnet" feel to it.

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[antisyst3m]

I prefer 97...however, it'd be nice if they included more character music.

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[YeldellGW]

Control wise...KOF97. I couldn't combo for shit in KOF96. The dodges weren't all that useful either; not to mention just hitting AB resulted in a retreating dodge (Still messes me up to this day.). KOF96 was more challenging though, thanks to Chizuru.

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"Don't be scared! I'll only cut off one of your heads! Guess!"

[Ali Jones]

Hey 97 was always better than 96 though the orochi characters bugged me a little bit but the game system is just awesome and you know how Goro the killing machiene handles orochi characters <IMG SRC="smilies/smirk.gif" border="0">