Polygon - How King of Fighters has survived for 27 years (Article)

[Gremlin]

An interview was just posted on Polygon about the history of King of Fighters with two staffers from mid-90s SNK, including a peek at at early design documents of KOF 94:

How King of Fighters has survived for 27 years

KOF overseers Yasuyuki Oda and Eisuke Ogura talk us through the history of the series

www.polygon.com

It's an short but interesting article, I highly recommend giving it a read
Clark sans sunglasses!

 

[Neo_Mike_81]

Nice read, thanks for the link.

 

[KGRAMR]

An interview was just posted on Polygon about the history of King of Fighters with two staffers from mid-90s SNK, including a peek at at early design documents of KOF 94:

How King of Fighters has survived for 27 years

KOF overseers Yasuyuki Oda and Eisuke Ogura talk us through the history of the series

www.polygon.com

It's an short but interesting article, I highly recommend giving it a read
Clark sans sunglasses!

View attachment 49654

Same here. Thanks for the link! This was a good read about KOF.

 

[Mr. Karate II]

Polygon is truly one of those few resources that always brings valid and unpublished content.

At the moment the details of this interview that struck me the most have been these 6 elements:

It was ulteriorly confirmed that in origin Kyō was called Shō Kirishima.

The sprite of Athena Asamiya utilized in the concept art still had the caricature look deriving from the style of 'Psycho Soldier' and had not yet fully embraced the realistic the aspect of the final version of 'KOF '94'.

The street stage where Athena and Kyō are fighting is completely unseen and has never been utilized in the actual game.

A team of 'Samurai Spirits' (Nakoruru, Haomaru [Haōmaru], and Galford ['GALFORDO!']) was been actually projected with regard to 'KOF '95', but at the time of the planning of this chapters there wheren't still of the precise data on the popularity of these characters, so, they were not included, because there was no the certainty that they would have been able to effectively increase the sales of the game.

For Geese, Krauser and Mr. Big, there was the prototype idea of having them participate already starting from 'KOF '95'.

There is a manual on the planning of 'KOF '94' (dated the June 21 of the 1994), which is composed of 22 pages, but it is all in Japanese.

 

[KGRAMR]

Polygon is truly one of those few resources that always brings valid and unpublished content.

At the moment the details of this interview that struck me the most have been these 6 elements:

It was ulteriorly confirmed that in origin Kyō was called Shō Kirishima.

The sprite of Athena Asamiya used in the concept art still had the caricature look of 'Psycho Soldier' and had not yet fully embraced the semi-realistic look of the final version of 'KOF '94'.

The street stage where Athena and Kyō are fighting is completely unseen and has never been utilized in the actual game.

A team of 'Samurai Spirits' (Nakoruru, Haomaru [Haōmaru], and Galford ['GALFORDO!']) was been actually projected with regard to 'KOF '95', but at the time of the planning of this chapters there wheren't still of the precise data on the popularity of these characters, so, they were not included, because there was no the certainty that they would have been able to effectively increase the sales of the game.

For Geese, Krauser and Mr. Big, there was the prototype idea of having them participate already starting from 'KOF '95'.

There is a manual on the planning of 'KOF '94' (dated the June 21 of the 1994), which is composed of 22 pages, but it is all in Japanese.

For me, that recent X-Men: Children of the Atom oral history was a pretty dope read! The interview Polygon did in regards to Samurai Shodown is also a cool read I recommend as well.

 

[yagamikun]

Just saw this myself. Nothing that stood out for very long-time fans, but I did find it interesting to learn about the dropped teams from 95. I had read way back in the past about the Bosses Team originally being planned for 95, but I had no idea the SS team was also planned then dropped. Neat to see early illustrations of those teams.

While far from perfect, use the Google Translate camera for the design docs if you can't read Japanese. Not groundbreaking stuff, but worth it to look into what planning was like back at classic SNK.

 

[@M]

Cool read. Nakoruru did make it into Gameboy KOF '95, and, while cool, she also feels "wrong" and out of place. Having a SS team would have changed the flavor of KOF, and I'm not sure for the better.

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

Thank you for sharing this interview. There was definitely a few interesting things in this interview that shed additional light on some previously known but unexplored details on the omissions from kof95.

The kof94 document scan didn’t really have any new information, but it was really interesting to see and I’m glad the team at SNK have increasingly been sharing more past documents like these.

The details on kof95 is really cool. The cutting of the sports team from kof95 was mentioned in an early issue of Neo Geo Freak and although many thought that the team was simply cut due to lack of popularity, the devs mentioned that the sports team was cut along with a few other teams due to lack of time. It is very interesting to find out years later that the cut teams were the boss team (that would eventually appear in kof96) and a planned samurai spirits team.

The scanned document mentions that the samurai spirits team was not simply going to be a regular team, rather they were intended to be faced as a stronger hidden team after clearing the game under certain conditions along the same lines as Ryo in Fatal Fury Special or Kuroko in Samurai Shodown 2. Additionally, they would have been playable via a secret code along with Rugal, though the document mentions Rugal would have been restricted to team edit mode (perhaps implying that the hidden samurai spirits team would have had a unique ending unlike Rugal who would have simply just been an “edit” character).

The intended but ultimately dropped idea of adding the samurai shodown team to kof95 as hidden combatants now completely explains the seemingly odd (at the time) inclusion of Nakoruru as a hidden boss in the gameboy release of Nettou King of Fighters 95, as also mentioned by M in the post above. Nakoruru ended up being an extremely popular character after the release of Samurai Spirits in japan and her inclusion in the gameboy version seems like a neat remnant of her intended inclusion from the arcade original.

Side note: Iori appeared in the gameboy version of Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special as a hidden opponent as well, perhaps his popularity could have led to his intended but ultimately dropped inclusion in the arcade version of that title as well? Hmmm…

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

Cool read. Nakoruru did make it into Gameboy KOF '95, and, while cool, she also feels "wrong" and out of place. Having a SS team would have changed the flavor of KOF, and I'm not sure for the better.

What’s up M. I dunno I always thought that since kof was ultimately a celebration of SNK franchises, that it would have made sense to include at least a few from the Samurai Shodown series. When kof debuted, the characters from Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier would have seemed out of place since those were simply shooters at that point. Back in the day I was super excited to see the inclusion of characters from Robo Army, Burning Fight, Last Blade, and Metal Slug as strikers way back in kof2000.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Nakoruru included in kof95 and her return in kofxiv definitely seemed warranted after they also decided to include characters from the comparatively lesser known and out of place charcoal from SNK pachinko games such as Mui Mui, Alice, and Love Heart.

 

[@M]

I guess KOF just feels more grounded in contemporary reality to me (ignoring fantastic things like people flinging fireballs and stuff of course)--sticking SS or LB characters that lived hundreds of years ago in a modern setting doesn't work for me in the context of KOF. I love that in NG Battle Colosseum though.

 

[awbacon]

cause KOF was always good? lol

kidding. Read the article. Good writing

 

[k'_127]

Another new NeoGeo article / interview (feel free to make a new thread if it's worth):

When the arcade came home: a short oral history of the Neo Geo

Sega and Nintendo stole the headlines in the 90s, but SNK stole the imaginations of a generation with its exquisite Neo…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

I guess KOF just feels more grounded in contemporary reality to me (ignoring fantastic things like people flinging fireballs and stuff of course)--sticking SS or LB characters that lived hundreds of years ago in a modern setting doesn't work for me in the context of KOF. I love that in NG Battle Colosseum though.

You mean people don't usually throw fireballs and get cursed with the orochi blood?

 

[@M]

Women get cursed with the monthly blood and that's practically the same thing.

 

[Neo Alec]

Also, Eurogamer just posted a new feature about the Neo Geo and interview with Naoto Abe, Nobuyuki Kuroki and Kazuhiro Tanaka:

When the arcade came home: a short oral history of the Neo Geo

Sega and Nintendo stole the headlines in the 90s, but SNK stole the imaginations of a generation with its exquisite Neo…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

Women get cursed with the monthly blood and that's practically the same thing.

Is that why Shermie couldn't get cursed by the orochi blood?

 

[KGRAMR]

Also, Eurogamer just posted a new feature about the Neo Geo and interview with Naoto Abe, Nobuyuki Kuroki and Kazuhiro Tanaka:

When the arcade came home: a short oral history of the Neo Geo

Sega and Nintendo stole the headlines in the 90s, but SNK stole the imaginations of a generation with its exquisite Neo…

www.eurogamer.net

At this point, someone is going to learn Akio and Kozo's true names to interview them XD

 

[Mr. Karate II]

Cool read. Nakoruru did make it into Gameboy KOF '95, and, while cool, she also feels "wrong" and out of place. Having a SS team would have changed the flavor of KOF, and I'm not sure for the better.

It is very interesting to find out years later that the cut teams were the boss team (that would eventually appear in kof96) and a planned samurai spirits team.

The scanned document mentions that the samurai spirits team was not simply going to be a regular team, rather they were intended to be faced as a stronger hidden team after clearing the game under certain conditions along the same lines as Ryo in Fatal Fury Special or Kuroko in Samurai Shodown 2. Additionally, they would have been playable via a secret code along with Rugal, though the document mentions Rugal would have been restricted to team edit mode (perhaps implying that the hidden samurai spirits team would have had a unique ending unlike Rugal who would have simply just been an “edit” character).

The intended but ultimately dropped idea of adding the samurai shodown team to kof95 as hidden combatants now completely explains the seemingly odd (at the time) inclusion of Nakoruru as a hidden boss in the gameboy release of Nettou King of Fighters 95, as also mentioned by M in the post above. Nakoruru ended up being an extremely popular character after the release of Samurai Spirits in japan and her inclusion in the gameboy version seems like a neat remnant of her intended inclusion from the arcade original.

The Game Boy version was realized from the Takara, so, it would be interesting to understand if the inclusion of Nakoruru was a directive imposed from the SNK or a simple will of Takara to complete the project initially conceived in this document: since what happens inside this portable version is completely conform with what translated by BlackaneseNiNjA.

Indeed, in this conversion Saisyu, Rugal and Nakoruru/Mamahaha are not immediately available as playable characters.

To unlock them legitimately they exist two methods: the first is to complete the normal and difficult modes, the second is to press a certain sequence of times the 'select' button when the Takara logo appears during the introduction of the game (three times for Saisyu and Rugal and twenty to unlock Nakoruru and his falcon) [if successful you will hear of the confirmation sounds].

Unfortunately, there wasn't much room in the Game Boy cartridges, so Haōmaru, Galford, and the originally planned ending, at the end were again completely cut.

I guess KOF just feels more grounded in contemporary reality to me (ignoring fantastic things like people flinging fireballs and stuff of course)--sticking SS or LB characters that lived hundreds of years ago in a modern setting doesn't work for me in the context of KOF. I love that in NG Battle Colosseum though.

Probably, In '95 Nakoruru's sprite would have been similar right to what we saw with 'Neo Geo Battle Coliseum'.

Although it would hardly have stand up to comparison with the version realized for 'SamSpi 3'.

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

The Game Boy version was realized from the Takara, so, it would be interesting to understand if the inclusion of Nakoruru was a directive imposed from the SNK or a simple will of Takara to complete the project initially conceived in this document: since what happens inside this portable version is completely conform with what translated by BlackaneseNiNjA.

Indeed, in this conversion Saisyu, Rugal and Nakoruru/Mamahaha are not immediately available as playable characters.

To unlock them legitimately they exist two methods: the first is to complete the normal and difficult modes, the second is to press a certain sequence of times the 'select' button when the Takara logo appears during the introduction of the game (three times for Saisyu and Rugal and twenty to unlock Nakoruru and his falcon) [if successful you will hear of the confirmation sounds].

Unfortunately, there wasn't much room in the Game Boy cartridges, so Haōmaru, Galford, and the originally planned ending, at the end were again completely cut.


Probably, In '95 Nakoruru's sprite would have been similar right to what we saw with 'Neo Geo Battle Coliseum'.

Although it would hardly have stand up to comparison with the version realized for 'SamSpi 3'.

Hey whats up Mr. Karate II, regarding the gameboy release of Nettou KOF95 that is a great point. I’ll also add that in addition to being selectable via code input in the gameboy title, Nakoruru will also appear with a bit of dialogue and challenge you as a powerful hidden boss in that version (further matching to original design document) accompanied by Rugal’s boss theme music.

Additionally, the other gameboy SNK titles also have unique characters, moves, and extra/hidden content just like this. i.e. Mr. Karate is playable in nettou kof 96, Iori in Real Bout Special on gameboy, etc

The Takara gameboy fighting games in particular are extremely well done and this possible connection to cut content from the source neo geo game makes me love them even more lol

 

[@M]

What really bothers me about Nakoruru in GB KOF '95 is that several characters that are supposed to be in the game were cut, and instead of putting one of them back in, they did Nakoruru instead. Same thing with Nettou '96, it's stupid putting Mr. Karate in that instead of, say, Vice. GB Samurai Showdown, they added Kuroko, Courier Man, and Amakusa as playable characters, but, it wasn't at the expense of any of the main twelve. Don't get me wrong, I love Nakoruru, but, I would have much rather have had Choi, Chang, Andy Bogard, Robert Garcia, Clark, etc. instead.

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

What really bothers me about Nakoruru in GB KOF '95 is that several characters that are supposed to be in the game were cut, and instead of putting one of them back in, they did Nakoruru instead. Same thing with Nettou '96, it's stupid putting Mr. Karate in that instead of, say, Vice. GB Samurai Showdown, they added Kuroko, Courier Man, and Amakusa as playable characters, but, it wasn't at the expense of any of the main twelve. Don't get me wrong, I love Nakoruru, but, I would have much rather have had Choi, Chang, Andy Bogard, Robert Garcia, Clark, etc. instead.

Sup M, that’s definitely fair. Takara did put some of those aforementioned characters in the followup gameboy game (Andy, Robert), but I understand what you’re saying about main roster members not making it on the cartridge due to the memory constraints. To be fair to Takara though, Nakoruru was a break out popular character for SNK at the time and her inclusion in the gameboy version would have been a pretty cool unique selling point for their port.

 

[LoneSage]

I never liked children characters in Sam Sho to begin with. Good idea for a thread there.

 

[sirlynxalot]

Can anyone tell me why KOF XIV on Steam is still $59.99 for the base game? Honestly, I haven't gotten around to playing it anywhere else, and I'd be in the market for the PC version, but spending that money for a 4 year old downloadable game seems ludicrous.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

I feel like Takara could have been working closely with SNK when porting stuff to the game boy, as they did a lot of SNK conversions back in the day.

Off-topic, but I always thought this was amusing:

you can't see that "4 mega shock" gag on the actual game because it was removed... someone at Takara probably got their ass chewed by SNK for that.

 

[Mr. Karate II]

Side note: Iori appeared in the gameboy version of Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special as a hidden opponent as well, perhaps his popularity could have led to his intended but ultimately dropped inclusion in the arcade version of that title as well? Hmmm…

Additionally, the other gameboy SNK titles also have unique characters, moves, and extra/hidden content just like this. i.e. Mr. Karate is playable in nettou kof 96, Iori in Real Bout Special on gameboy, etc

Digging in the official novels of 'The King of Fighters '96', I noticed that the special meeting between Iori Yagami and Geese Howard was something strongly wanted: at this point it would be necessary to see if it was an idea foreseen by the original project of 'Real Bout Fatal Fury Special' or a simple fantasy that many fans of that period really wanted to see.

For pure casualty, now that SNK is trying to relaunch their own merchandise, the selected protagonists for some of the new novels and comics were Iori and Geese themselves.

As for Mr. Karate I's talk, in 'The King of Fighters '96' him actually appears in the epilogue of the 'Art of Fighting team' (Ryō, Robert and Yuri) and it would have been great to challenge him in a secret match (the same way Kyō meets Iori after beating Orochi in 'The King of Fighters '97'), but the yearly cadence of that period may have ruined everything yet again.

But then BlackaneseNiNjA, is the character in this prototype seen with Billy and Eiji really Iori?

The official Japanese transcription (八神 庵, Yagami Iori) doesn't seem to match what's written on this sheet, also, did you notice it too? The PG in this draft is basically Rody Birts a few years before he debuted on 'Art of Fighting 3'!