Fighting Champion: The King of Fighters '98 vs Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo

[Strange]

In my mind there are only two "Real" fighting games ever made: The King of Fighters '98 and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. The two clear cut best in class. I'm just wondering of the two which do you prefer?

I love both to the core but I would have to give the edge to KOF98. The presentation is just ridiculous and the gameplay so satisfying and fun. Super Turbo's pros is that the fighting mechanics are more straight forward and to the point while KOF is more flashy with an emphasis on big combos.

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

Wouldn't it be more fair to compare two games of similar age? KOF 98 must be a few years newer than Super Turbo.

 

[SonGohan]

Maybe Third Strike would be a better comparison, but both ST and TS are better than KOF 98, regardless.

 

[wataru330]

RB2>98.

Hell, Breakers Revenge is more fun than 98.

 

[Strange]

Maybe Third Strike would be a better comparison, but both ST and TS are better than KOF 98, regardless.

Third Strike is very much an acquired taste. It's far too divisive to be considered the creme of the Street Fighter enchilada. I just don't like that game. Weird characters, awkward parry system, to the generic rap music sewed into it's presentation. The art style is awesome tho. But Super Turbo is just that classic Street Fighter shit we all love. And SF4 is just a modern average Capcom fighter being carried by a strong proven brand. There is no soul to that game.

Aesthetically KOF is a work of art. The magic really is in the details. Incredible dynamic stages. Characters with strong personality. Awesome soundtrack. Combat system focused on fun as much as practical mechanics. That KOF 98 high pitched announcer is just charming as hell, I never get sick of her. Strong diversity in a three character setup.... To me the presentation of KOF 98 is as important as the core gameplay, which is why I love it so much. You can just want people play KOF 98 and have a great time. With new characters always being introduced, the backgrounds changing, the music incredible, the game very much is a dance. Very unique fighting game experience.

 

[SonGohan]

Third Strike is very much an acquired taste. It's far too divisive to be considered the creme of the Street Fighter enchilada.

The point I was trying to get across was that ST came out in 1994, KOF 98 came out in 1998, and TS came out in 1999. I believe fighters before 95 and fighters after 95 are in two different eras. That's why I chose TS as a comparison. I still think both games are better than KOF 98. You may not like TS because of it's weird characters (which, to me, means "new characters that weren't in the SF2 or Alpha games"), but the game play is pure art. I'd hardly call parrying "awkward" in TS. It really is seemless, and feels very natural to the game system. A lot of thought went into refining it from the first two games. The music is really good, too. Listen to Ryu's stage, for example. Or Dudley's stage. Ibuki's stage has great OST, too. Urien's is rockin', and Q has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Yeah, there's that cheesy rap at the title screen, and in between fights, but it hardly overshadows the awesome tracks that are present in the game.

Don't misinterpret my choice of those two Street Fighter titles over KOF 98 as a knock against KOF 98. I like the game a lot. It has tons of character. You could also hurl criticisms for it's roster, such as Chang, Choi, the whole American team, the Psycho Soldiers, etc, though. You'll never convince me that the announcer is "charming as hell", either. It's a fun game, and I think it's a great KOF. I just think it's overrated (I prefer KOF 95 and XIII).

 

[Strange]

I just re-downloaded and played TS on Xbox Live right now, yeah I don't get that game. It's all based on taste I'm sure, the rhythm of the TS combat is just not for me. The game feels very technical and not fun. I would be generous and rate the game 7/10. In contrast I would give KOF98 a perfect 10/10 and Super Turbo and KOF2002 each excellent 9/10 ratings. Every other fighting game I've played falls below the 9 rating.

Top 3 Fighting Games Ever (IMO)
1) KOF 98 (the "King" of fighting games)
2) Super Turbo
3) KOF 2002

... and yes, I don't care much for the remakes of 98 and 2002. Shameless unnecessary cash ins.

 

[SonGohan]

There's no way you can distill what TS has to offer in a 20 minute re-visit of the game. The game requires a deep understanding of not only the combat engine, but also your opponent and their habits. It's beautiful when it comes together. TS is a lot like Virtual Fighter in that it takes time, patience, and dedication to really appreciate what it offers. It's definitely not a one player game, or a hop on and play for 5 minutes, then bolt. You can do that with KOF 98, for sure, and maybe that's what you like about it.

My top 3 fighting games list would look like this (in no order):

Fatal Fury Special
Super Turbo
Samurai Shodown II

 

[Strange]

My top 3 fighting games list would look like this (in no order):

Fatal Fury Special
Super Turbo
Samurai Shodown II

Why Fatal Fury Special and not Mark of the Wolves???

P.S~~ I recently downloaded Virtua Fighter 2 on XBLA. Love the art style... Love the music... Love the stages... but that gameplay... YIKES!!!

 

[SonGohan]

I'm more of a pre-95 gamer. Fatal Fury Special is the pinnacle of Neo Geo goodness to me. MOTW is fun, but everybody felt the same. Everything about Fatal Fury Special is perfect.

Some great matches illustrating my opinion:

EDIT -- 2:48 - 2:58 is amazing, and takes an extreme amount of skill to pull off

 

[complexz]

try VF5 final showdown(which is on sale dirt cheap on 360 right now) VF2 is a lil dated at this point (still awesome but it's not the game people are talking about when they reference VF's depth in general)

I too love FFS, it's like a crazy street fighter 2 with a totally different cast and a bunch of more progressive features and mechanics.

 

[ViolentStorm]

Street Fighter III 3rd Strike is better then those two games put together! Hell, it's even better than Garou MOTW

 

[alec]

Super Turbo smokes any KOF for breakfast, and for that matter most all games. 98 is the best in the series, and one of my favorite games on the system. KOF just feels a lot more spammy with the super short hops and CD knock downs to compare to Street Fighter II. The link combos have always been really cool and the game is fun as shit. Chris and Ralph are almost always on my team, a literal mountain of cool characters in that game.

 

[bradtemple87]

Super Turbo
MOTW
Third Strike

 

[Strange]

The T.O.P. aspect of MOTW has always been something I could never get passed. It messes up my balance, when it's activated do I start using that special move? Do I not? It's running out, I got to do something... That T.O.P. has never felt natural to me. I've always been very mixed with MOTW, it has always seemed to me the go to cult fighting game for Neo Geo enthusiasts than for fighting game enthusiasts...

What do you guys think of Tekken 3? I havn't played it in years but I remember it as the greatest 3D fighter which I'm not particularly fond of...

 

[dspoonrt]

Tekken 3 is a great game. It expanded the roster and added a lot of modes/features. I also love Tekken Tag Tournament and TTT2 which came out not too long ago.

For me, though, SoulCalibur and SoulCalibur II are the greatest 3D fighters out there (definitely the best weapons-based 3D fighters). VF4: Evolution and VF5: Final Showdown are top notch, too.

If I had to pick, my top three 3D fighters would be (in order):

SoulCalibur II
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution

 

[Strange]

I can't believe Super Turbo is winning the poll (11 to 7 as of this post). I would have thought the general Neo Geo bias here would have propelled KOF to victory. I played both games yesterday to jog my memory and KOF just has so much more personality. As a whole I can't see SF being better than KOF even if you prefer it's gameplay. The gameplay indeed is the biggest component to a video game, but there is so much more... And I still think KOF is the funner game by a good margin.

 

[SonGohan]

The reason Super Turbo is winning is because it's considered to be the best Street Fighter 2 iteration (out of II, CE, HF, Super, Super Turbo). Third Strike is considered the best out of the III series. A lot of people will argue which is better between the two games, but they play so differently so it's a matter of apples and oranges. The problem with KOF is that they all play so similarly, with mild variances between them. Some people prefer 95, some prefer 96, some like 97 for the insane combos, some 98...I mean, the if you took a small poll on which was everybody's favorite KOF (which has probably been done on this site a dozen times), it would be pretty fragmented all across the board, with maybe KOF 98 having a small bump in the lead. With the SF2 series and SF3 series, ST and TS are universally considered the best by a far margin, with the other games getting a small share of their hardcore fans for whatever reasons.

So, when you put up a game like Super Turbo, which is the best in it's class, which can also be (and is) argued as the best Street Fighter of all time, and put it up against KOF 98, you're going to get the opinions of some people who don't even put KOF 98 as their favorite. If you would've put ST up against KOF 2002, you might have a whole other group that would vote for it over ST.

So don't let this poll surprise you. We all do have a strong Neo Geo bias, but we all love different games on the system for different reasons.

 

[Atro]

The music is really good

Wes, are you on crack?

That one coming from you, makes me believe your account was hijacked!

 

[SonGohan]

Wes, are you on crack?

That one coming from you, makes me believe your account was hijacked!

People hate on Third Strike's music because all they remember is that dumb rapping. Listen to these tracks and tell me they aren't great:

and I could go on with posting the music for Urien, Akuma, Makoto, etc. The music, for the most part, is really good. It has a lot of drum n bass influence on it. I like heavy metal guitars as much as the next guy, but good music is still good music, bro.

 

[Tacitus]

KOF '98 sucks.

In fact, it's banned at my place. You can ask anyone who has come to my get togethers.

 

[Tacitus]

2i Music and Backgrounds > 3s Music and Backgrounds.

They're both great, but 2i pounds it into submission.

 

[evil wasabi]

KoF95 > ST.


unless you guys are rating games based on what the "tournament scene" approves of.

 

[SonGohan]

I hate the parrying in 2I

Loved that version of Sean, though

 

[Strange]

It doesn't really matter which game is the best. Super Turbo and KOF98 compliment each other really well and are BOTH GREAT FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. I can essentially play these two fighting games exclusively every weekend, forever. They have that much replay value and charm. Masterpieces of their genre. The greatest Capcom game and the greatest SNK game hand n hand...

I think the big question with these games and the new emergence of online gaming, which is a fantastic marriage for competitive fighting games, is how relevant is the original hardware for these games anymore? Is playing Super Turbo online on GGPO or Xbox Live going to considered a subpar experience to a cabinet even when lag becomes less and less of a problem as time moves on? I play Super Turbo all the time with a nice fight stick on HD Remix in the Classic mode and love it. It's very convenient and always have enough competition. It's getting harder and harder to justify having a 300 pound candy cabinet hanging around to have a "true" fighting game experience...