Which KOF should I purchase First?

Have none in my collection yet. Give me your comments or ARE ALL MUST BUYS? Thanks for your input......... <img src="graemlins/drool2.gif" border="0" alt="[Drool 2]" />

Well, I only own KOF 94 and KOF 98 (mvs), but from what I've heard KOF 98 is the best (or at least was before 2001 came out), which is why I got it. KOF 98 is definitely a great Neo game, and it is fairly inexpensive (in context for Neo Games) on AES/MVS/CD.... It has alot of characters, great gameplay, and pretty nice graphics (not MOTW-good, but still nice).. Just my .02.

I haven't played 2k1 yet, but short of that, '98 gives you the most characters and the most versatility. There are even 2 versions of many of the characters as well, so you can play which version you like best. Pretty easy call, really.

I would start with '96 or '97. In single player-mode they are the most fun to play IMO.

I personally love King of Fighters 2000, gotta love there striker system.

KOF '95, '98 are good choices also.

get 94 first
then 95 - 2k1

98 or 96

96.
because thats when kof as a dedicated series really
starts for me.
still have love for 94-95 but kof 96 is great.

97, 2000

2000

the rest are all corpses it had to crawl over.

Go in order , start with 94 . That way you can see the improvments through the years and the screw ups with characters . 94 is real cheap game too , I paid $25 for it on Mvs ,

Well now that 2001 is out, get that first!

Presuming you haven't played any of them... start with '95 or '96. '95 is like Super Turbo and easy to pick up, and '96 is a pure fighter. Once you get a good feel for these, then worry about '98 or '97. And don't bother with the striker games (after '98) until you've gotten this far... the presence of the strikers will hurt your ability to pick up the fundamentals. <img src="graemlins/shame.gif" border="0" alt="[Shame]" />

'94 is good, but dated, don't start with it, treat it as a blast from the past and pick it up sometime later as a history lesson.

[ March 15, 2002: Message edited by: neojedi ]</p>

98

96 or 2000

Since I’m not a die hard or real expert in the King of Fighters area I usually break the games down like this: the ‘98-ers or the ‘97-ers. Just the different feels. Personally I like the feel of ‘97. Don’t ask me why but it just has a more edgy feeling to it, but I’m sure ‘98 is also great. To tell you the truth I usually enjoy games more if they have a higher Meg count. I’m not going lie and say that Meg count just doesn’t matter. No, in my opinion it really does. I personally like the improved graphics and animations of a higher Meg count game. So there you go, ‘97 is my pick.

Start at 99 since that is the beggining of the NEST's saga, then go from there on. Once you've finished that, grab 94-98. You will be glad you did.

Bryan

I've played 94, 98, 99, and 2k1. Personally, I think I like 99 the best, but 2k1 is really good too. Just thought I'd give some mad props to that game, since most people haven't said anything about it.

I would say get all of them and start from 94!

get any except 94 or 95

94 isnt that good and no team edit

95 sucks because the damage is way fucked up and its just way too hard to be enjoyable

96 and 97 are good

99 looks the best, but its kinda slow

2000 has strikers if youre into that sorta thing.

i never played 98 or 2k1 so my favorite that i have played is probably 2000 followed by 97

Whats cool about the kof series is that every installment is worth playing and better then 90 percent of the other fighters out there

gotta catch em all

KOF 96 ~ 98 are the best 1 player games. The CPU AI is better than those with the strikers. KOF 98 has the best gameplay, 96 and 97 are great because of bright and colorful backgrounds. Team mates are part of the background which is really cool. The art work is among the best in NeoGeo games.

Hmm, I didn't play KOF 2001 yet (I will probaly have to wait for about 2 weeks for it to arrive), so I can't offer any opinions on it. As for the others. Pardon, it's abit long:

94 is great, but as others suggested, abit outdated. The music is awesome, and it still plays decently IMO.

95 is abit harder to play. And the chrs do mucho dmg (esp super specials), making the matches really short--whether you are an expert or suck at the game.

From 96 up, the gameplay is more simplified--like w/ super specials & such, and more combo friendly.
Some ver has little tweaks, like addition or absence of rolls etc, but it's not really important, if you are just starting it out.

My fav is 96, because of aethestic background, music, and fairly decent gameplay.

97 is combo friendly. Everything is cool except some drab backgrounds & the fact that music is sparse here--bad.

98 is called Dream Match, because it basically has most of the chrs--except few chrs like the boss team--from the past KOF titles (and since it doesn't follow any storyline). This is what many people call their Favorite KOF title (so far). And, I wouldn't really disagree w/ their claim.

99 My second fav game. Some people dislike this title, but I like it. The game is easy to get into, and the sound (esp) & graphic is awesome.
Introduces Striker to the gameplay (ok, I don't really like this). And no More Extra (enables inf Supers at critical life) mode.

00 Prob my least fav, because of unbalanced gameplay--esp w/ infinte combos. Not bad once you get into it though. Music, once again, is awesome here.

And yes, IMO, all are MUST buys--even though I didn't particularyly like KOF 2000, it eventually warmed up to me.

98!

Barry - depends which route you'd like to take.

If you're not bothered about seeing how the games have developed and experience the different moves and charging systems of the earliers games go staraight to '97 or '98 as they're without doubt the best two of the series so far.

If you really want to "experience" the KoF series start at '94 and work your way up.

Despite not having team edit '94 is a top game and has some of the best backgrounds and music in the series and is still a solid fighter.

'95 is a bit dodgy in my opinion. Graphicaly it's very very good for its time but it's wickedly hard and this spoils it for me. Definitley the weakest in the series.

'96 is brilliant. The characters really start to evolve move wise and it's a lot deeper than the other two and includes the superb "Boss Team" of LWK, Geese and Mr Big.

'97 is even better (and the best imo). The lack of true bgm on some stages is disappointing, but the presentation is outstanding!! More moves too and a very solid fighting system especially with the new power-up gagues. You can't go wrong with '97, it's superb from start to finish and Orochi is not as cheap as pervious bosses (but still no push over).

'98 is as good as '97 in terms of fighting but the overall game seems to be lacking something over '97. Loads of teams to choose from so plenty of team editing to be had. Many argue this is best of the series, but I feel '97 edges it (just). Rugal is cheap as fuck and a real bastard to beat.

'99 is a disapointment. The new characters are lame as fuck with exception of Whip, who is great if you've got the patientce to master her. Fantastic graphics and some really good backgrounds. However, SNK messed around with a lot of the familiar moves on the more popular characters (not good) and there aren't as many fighters to choose from. The Strikers system is a new innovation, but is fairly pointless and doesn't add a lot to the game.
Krizzalid is a bit of an arse to best, specially when his energy is low, but he's not as bad as '98 Rugal. They ruined Terry in this game.

2000 - improves on '99, but more of the same, the Strikers system is better but still pointless imo. The only real improvement is K', but I don't really like him anyway. I would strongly advise not to start with 2000 or '99.

2001 - Not played it, so I don't know what to say. Looks good, but that doesn't mean it IS good.

Hope this has helped you out Barry.