98 = balanced, a fallacy?

beelzebubble

beelzebubble

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98 balanced?

yeah its a great game but i think it has some pretty clear tiers with those at the top being quite a bit stronger than those at the bottom.. nothing serious enough to break the game for competitive play but definitely there are some very obvious top tier choices, i dont think 2k2 has near as much range from the top to the bottom tier wise...

the reason i bring this up is recently ppl have been mentioning the awesome balance of 98 here and there...

if you were going to pick a top team then it would definitely have chris and orochi yashiro right?

so what do others think?
 
Spike Spiegel

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My top team would be Terry (reg version), Takuma and.... well, anyone. Goro, maybe?

I just dont' know, so many chars are so strong in this one, that I can't say that there's one real god tier. I guess O Yash is strong, but so are the others.

I'm interested to see what others here have to say about it.
Spike
 
Mushiki

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It's pretty balanced, I would say more than 2002.

Regarding a top team... I would say Orochi Yashiro, Chris (or maybe Orochi Chris) and... hmmm Daimon? There are too many good characters in KOF98. Most of them are "top tiers", I would call that balanced.
 
beelzebubble

beelzebubble

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yeah im not saying it isnt balanced.. comparatively speaking it is.. i just think 98 is a distant 2nd after 2k2...

maybe something like:

2k2
.
.
.
98
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
all the rest...
 
The_Chosen_One

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I'd say it's well balanced with a few straglers either way, I think top tier would definately have Clark, Goro, and Orochi Yashiro. I can counter Chris rather quickly so I wouldn't count him. I'd say there's the weak side as well with probably 3 or so people, that's a lot harder for me to pick out though, Saishu has a lot of lag it feels like after he does moves leaving him open, and he's not real fast at pulling them off either making the timing window for his counters etc. a lot smaller than most so I'd say he's a weaker one. But the point is I feel most characters are on an even level and the few that are above or below that aren't far above or below it.
 
Mushiki

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2002 has some really cheap characters, that is the problem.
 
K

kiun

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other top tiers not mentioned:

Alternate Ryo: His dragon punch has a huge priority.
Blue Mary: deadly super jump
 
Mushiki

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The_Chosen_One said:
Saishu has a lot of lag it feels like after he does moves leaving him open, and he's not real fast at pulling them off either making the timing window for his counters etc. a lot smaller than most so I'd say he's a weaker one.
Click to expand...

Saisyu weak? Sure, his hits feel a little laggy, but he practically lacks of recovery time!
 
The_Chosen_One

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Mushiki said:
Saisyu weak? Sure, his hits feel a little laggy, but he practically lacks of recovery time!
Click to expand...

The 3 moves that come to mind are the 1 or 2 qcb a or c which both leave you pretty wide open at the end, his dp c which feels laggy probably because it's slower than Kyo's, and it travels farther out which is both good and bad I suppose but I dislike it and would rather it go straight up as the traveling out leaves you with a bad crossup if you miss (ie back to the enemy), and the dp b or d move is slow to come out so it's easy to block quickly and although I think it has good recovery time, because it misses the majority of the time it still leaves you open. But I don't get too much competition out here just 2 or 3 of us that play the Neo so maybe I just suck or haven't seen anyone good with him. I still wouldn't say he's shitty or anything, just a tad weaker than the rest.
 
Mushiki

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His HCB+A/C (x2) move isn't that slow, looks pretty slow, but his DP+A is so quick that if you perform it right after it the opponent will most likely get hit.

Still, what I really love from Saisyu is the speed of his QCB, HCF+A/C DM, it comes out extremely fast, has incredible range, great damage and practically no recovery time.
 
beelzebubble

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Mushiki said:
2002 has some really cheap characters, that is the problem.
Click to expand...

yeah i agree with you but [cheese] doesnt really break games.

[cheese] is just laziness.

[overpowered] is what breaks games imo, why well...

when you have a strong arcade scene with tournaments for a game then ppl are going to start playing to WIN not for fun, sure you can play kof2k3 at home for fun, shit you can play one of the brokest fighters ever (svc) at home for fun. but when you roll into a competitive arcade (monte carlo:osaka, more:tokyo, maybe shgl:cali, china town fair:nyc) then you are going to face endless duolons, ppl trying to get streaks.. thats exactly what happens at monte carlo here. 70% of ppl at least are using duo teams. 10 out of 12 teams in sbo2 have duolon.

the game isnt balanced well if one or a small group of characters become staples becoz they are [overpowered], [cheese] on the other hand doesnt affect the competitive community in that way, sure choi and k9999 for example can be played [cheesy] in 2k2 but it doesnt mean you see a lot of them in the arcades.. i have faced as many vanessas, sies, kyos, clarks in 2k2 as i have chois or k9999s....

my take on it anyways :)
 
Mushiki

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Yes, I know what you mean, and I play competitively as well. I agree in the difference between cheap and overpowered, Doulon is overpowered, not cheap, but most characters have potential to be used cheaply.
 
Takumaji

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98 balanced? Not really, but that's no prob for me because it makes winning with middle/low tiers even more interesting and fun.

Goro, Shermie, Clark, O.Chris, O.Yash, Tak, Terry, Kyo, Joe, Ryo, Heidern, Billy and Yama - the top tiers. If you have MASTERED them and are a regular tournament player, your opponents have to be EXCEPTIONALLY skilled if they want to win against you with a team like Chin-Lucky-Athena, etc.

This isn't the case in a friendly-play situation, but if you play competitively, you'll soon find out that for ex. a skilled grappler user has big advantages because SNK made the command throws in 98 so powerful. Just take Goro, some standing and crouching C's, then a few timed Ura Nages (hcb,f+K) and normal throws + df+C comboed into Kirikabu Gaeshi (hcf+C) and your opponent will be history, and then you haven't even started to (ab)use Mr Daimon's frightening "bug combo" potential...

Heh, I love the big guy...! :)
 
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Mushiki

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Shermie... I almost forgot about her, such a powerful character, she is simply great, I don't use her much unless I am playing competitively, or I am playing against Robert/Daimon, hahaha, I love that bug.
 
beelzebubble

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Ilovejapangirls said:
beelze i bet you played against Fran ;)




I use O Yash Clark and Shermie now for 2p play
Click to expand...

yeah i did, him and his m8 whos name i could never remember are top blokes! but.. dont sit down to a game of kof98 with them coz its all fuckin chris, shermie and o yash... they just about whored the whole top tier the fuckers :D
 
Ilovejapangirls

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Lol i know they are very very great^^

i m going to play with him and Edo in a few days^^

Edo has a MASSIVE goro i heard^^
 
Takumaji

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Heh, forgot Iori and Ralf on my top tier list...

I have no prob with top tier players and cheap tacticts. The more top tiers and shotos my opponent has in his team, the more off-broadway my team lineup becomes - Chin, Kensou and Choi against Yash, Ralf and Iori... I just love it. I mean, who says bottom tiers couldn't be played cheaply. :D
 
E

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A random but related question about KOF '98

And I'll remind the floor that im KOF illerate.

Does Iori have his super special whateverwhatzit move where he maniacally laughs and throws a blue, smoky beam right at you (like in SVC)?

I need a KOF, and want to start with '98 so that's why I ask.

Thanks.
 
M

Magnaflux

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Electroman said:
A random but related question about KOF '98

And I'll remind the floor that im KOF illerate.

Does Iori have his super special whateverwhatzit move where he maniacally laughs and throws a blue, smoky beam right at you (like in SVC)?

I need a KOF, and want to start with '98 so that's why I ask.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
he does not.

starting with '98 isn't the greatest idea. I'd start with '95 to be honest, allthough purists will tell you '94 (which is a great game as well, however '95 = :drool: )
 
Takumaji

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Magnaflux said:
he does not.

starting with '98 isn't the greatest idea. I'd start with '95 to be honest, allthough purists will tell you '94 (which is a great game as well, however '95 = :drool: )
Click to expand...

Totally agreed.

94 and 95 may be older games but it's much more than just nostalgia that still makes them well worth playing. KoF95 is such a great game despite the heavy damage, and graphics are so damn cool... just like in 94. Bao Bao Cafe, the jungle, the nice Italy background with all those cool cameos, etc.

And the best: Both games are damn cheap.

I mean, actually it's really hilarious, for the money you'd have to blow on one new SNKP game you could buy KoF94, 95, 98, FF3, FFS and RBFF... makes you think, eh...
 
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