Zero Satori
Jaguar Ninja
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2006
- Posts
- 2,009
First and foremost: Yes, I know that "King of Gladiator" is a bootleg game. It's an unauthorised hack of King of Fighters '97 and '98. I don't personally own it, and I play it at a local pizza restaurant which has had it for over a year. I don't endorse bootlegging, but I'm willing to give credit where credit is due.
"King of Gladiator" is my favourite version of the King of Fighters series for a number of reasons. Off the top of my head, it begins with having a very cool KOF'97-ripped theme of "King of Fighters as the ultimate spectator sport" and every fight takes place in front of a bunch of fans and in venues from around the world--far more exciting, in my opinion, than simply fighting in alleyways or in exotic locales without any purpose for fighting there (like a mansion, for instance). The pre-fight screens and post-fight profile pictures are similarly in-tune with this.
The character list is beyond the norm, having (to the best of my recollection) every fighter from KOF'97 plus an extended list of old versions of King, Athena, and Mai as well as '94 "original" versions of the Team Japan (Kyou, Benimaru, Daimon). The inclusion of Orochi versions of Iori and Leona are also a welcome plus, and though they are rather off-balancing to the game, they make VS-CPU fights rather fun compared to just playing regular versions.
While it's not exactly necessary, a number of the female characters get naked during some of their attacks. Why this was included is beyond me, as it doesn't change gameplay at all, but it's humourous at least to see Mai Shinranui busting out of her "there's no way that outfit would ever stay on in real life" outfit she always wears.
Characters can be selected multiple times per team, and all five buttons (A, B, C, D, and START) have different outfit colours for them. While I personally wouldn't decide to say, select Clark three times for my team, it's nice to get an alternate outfit without having to face another Clark. It's the same excitement that came with the advent of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition; no, wait, it's actually more like Super Street Fighter II. In any case, it's a welcome change which not all "official" KOF games have.
Finally, the best thing King of Gladiator has over other KOF games is SPEED. In today's day and age, going back to King of Fighters '97 speed is like the same drop between SF2 and SF2: Turbo or MK and MK2--it just feels too slow to play some of the old fighters, and King of Gladiator is still a blast to play. As simple of a change as it is, it makes a big difference; the game just isn't as boring or aggravating as it's slower official brethren, and that's a very good thing.
All of these things make "King of Gladiator" my favourite King of Fighters-related game to play--it takes all of the good stuff of the past and makes it better. Sure, it's a bootleg, but it's a damned good one. The addition of the Orochi characters throws-off gameplay balance, but not enough to start fights about, so they just add to the already-exciting cast of characters which is probably somewhere around fifty percent bigger than KOF'97. Though I enjoy how SNK's official hype-up, "Dream Match 1999," (on Sega Dreamcast) handled this same approach, there's something more exciting about playing the game on MVS. Bootleg or not, I recommend everyone give "King of Gladiator" a try at least once.
"King of Gladiator" is my favourite version of the King of Fighters series for a number of reasons. Off the top of my head, it begins with having a very cool KOF'97-ripped theme of "King of Fighters as the ultimate spectator sport" and every fight takes place in front of a bunch of fans and in venues from around the world--far more exciting, in my opinion, than simply fighting in alleyways or in exotic locales without any purpose for fighting there (like a mansion, for instance). The pre-fight screens and post-fight profile pictures are similarly in-tune with this.
The character list is beyond the norm, having (to the best of my recollection) every fighter from KOF'97 plus an extended list of old versions of King, Athena, and Mai as well as '94 "original" versions of the Team Japan (Kyou, Benimaru, Daimon). The inclusion of Orochi versions of Iori and Leona are also a welcome plus, and though they are rather off-balancing to the game, they make VS-CPU fights rather fun compared to just playing regular versions.
While it's not exactly necessary, a number of the female characters get naked during some of their attacks. Why this was included is beyond me, as it doesn't change gameplay at all, but it's humourous at least to see Mai Shinranui busting out of her "there's no way that outfit would ever stay on in real life" outfit she always wears.
Characters can be selected multiple times per team, and all five buttons (A, B, C, D, and START) have different outfit colours for them. While I personally wouldn't decide to say, select Clark three times for my team, it's nice to get an alternate outfit without having to face another Clark. It's the same excitement that came with the advent of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition; no, wait, it's actually more like Super Street Fighter II. In any case, it's a welcome change which not all "official" KOF games have.
Finally, the best thing King of Gladiator has over other KOF games is SPEED. In today's day and age, going back to King of Fighters '97 speed is like the same drop between SF2 and SF2: Turbo or MK and MK2--it just feels too slow to play some of the old fighters, and King of Gladiator is still a blast to play. As simple of a change as it is, it makes a big difference; the game just isn't as boring or aggravating as it's slower official brethren, and that's a very good thing.
All of these things make "King of Gladiator" my favourite King of Fighters-related game to play--it takes all of the good stuff of the past and makes it better. Sure, it's a bootleg, but it's a damned good one. The addition of the Orochi characters throws-off gameplay balance, but not enough to start fights about, so they just add to the already-exciting cast of characters which is probably somewhere around fifty percent bigger than KOF'97. Though I enjoy how SNK's official hype-up, "Dream Match 1999," (on Sega Dreamcast) handled this same approach, there's something more exciting about playing the game on MVS. Bootleg or not, I recommend everyone give "King of Gladiator" a try at least once.
