In a retrospect of twenty years, KOF 99 wasn't so bad

city41

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99 is without a doubt the best post 98 KOF. It's a beautifully polished game like most late SNK games as far as interface, animation, presentation, etc goes. In single player mode it's fun, never really played it two player myself. Too bad some of the backgrounds are a bit blah.

2000 starts the "mugen" feel that infected the rest of the NG KOFs. Even though it's made by SNK proper it feels like a SNKP game. 2000 on just totally blow IMO.
 

Heinz

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2000 starts the "mugen" feel that infected the rest of the NG KOFs. Even though it's made by SNK proper it feels like a SNKP game. 2000 on just totally blow IMO.

I really don't see it that way at all, in fact 2000 is my favourite KOF bar '95,'96 and '98. It's a send off from SNK proper and it has style to match and the strikers which were introduced in '99 but improved on in 2000 with historic additions is a plus. Ultimately 2000 is what '99 wanted to be but never was, I kinda feel like '99 and 2000 could've been one game though.
 

heihachi

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99 is without a doubt the best post 98 KOF. It's a beautifully polished game like most late SNK games as far as interface, animation, presentation, etc goes. In single player mode it's fun, never really played it two player myself. Too bad some of the backgrounds are a bit blah.

2000 starts the "mugen" feel that infected the rest of the NG KOFs. Even though it's made by SNK proper it feels like a SNKP game. 2000 on just totally blow IMO.

Agree with this. ‘99 feels like the last real SNK KOF largely due to having the best aesthetics in the series. 2000 onwards it just nosedived.
 

donluca

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2000 starts the "mugen" feel that infected the rest of the NG KOFs. Even though it's made by SNK proper it feels like a SNKP game. 2000 on just totally blow IMO.

Have to agree, I had the exact same feeling when I tried out the 200x ones.
 

evil wasabi

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The worst thing to happen to SNK was emulators not because people pirated their work, but because emulation led to better sprite ripping and mugen that would inspire their progression into new games.
 

Gamefan

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BRO


RAIN STAGE BRO

BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


RAIN STAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

This is the only redeeming item about KOF 99. When I first saw the rain stage, my jaw dropped!
 

DevilRedeemed

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20 years already? Fuck! The earth should have exploded 15 years ago. When 2d sprites fell off, so did everything else.
99 was the last kof I owned on aes, and it was fucking boring. Stylish with some great things about it, but waaay too sober and clean.
In that sense it contrasted a lot with 98 which is the opposite but I agree with Wasabi, was not too great at the time of release.
SNK never looked after their franchises the way Capcom did, at least not past 1997. A shame.
 
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Azathoth

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To me '99 was the first disappointing entry, looking back at it I can it as sewing the seeds for some of the more annoying shit in later entries. I don't have any issues mechanically or gameplay, but aesthetically shit starts going downhill. SNK played it (mostly) straight in previous years. Here is where it begins with the goofy kids, robots, and schoolgirl characters instead of a group of bad asses culled from all their flagship games. Here begins generic backgrounds that have nothing to do with the teams or characters and you end up with a wooden shoe.

I guess this was the time frame that Capcom and every other developer also decided that backgrounds could just be any old random scene and didn't need to tie into the story or characters. CvS 1/2 and SvC might as well had a cross hatch pattern for backgrounds.
 

LoneSage

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SNK never looked after their franchises the way Capcom did, at least not past 1997. A shame.

SNK failed to adapt to the times. They tried with the Hyper 64 but failed. They tried some 3D games on the PS1 that failed compared to Tekken. They tried competing with the Game Boy but failed. So they clung desperately to the carcass of 1990 arcade hardware, which by 2000 had become kind of a joke by most gamers.
 

DevilRedeemed

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To me '99 was the first disappointing entry, looking back at it I can it as sewing the seeds for some of the more annoying shit in later entries. I don't have any issues mechanically or gameplay, but aesthetically shit starts going downhill. SNK played it (mostly) straight in previous years. Here is where it begins with the goofy kids, robots, and schoolgirl characters instead of a group of bad asses culled from all their flagship games. Here begins generic backgrounds that have nothing to do with the teams or characters and you end up with a wooden shoe.

I guess this was the time frame that Capcom and every other developer also decided that backgrounds could just be any old random scene and didn't need to tie into the story or characters. CvS 1/2 and SvC might as well had a cross hatch pattern for backgrounds.

Good post. I agree, though backrounds where being fucked with as of 97. 98 backrounds where quite bad in my opinion. 99 backrounds though... dead.
And I agree about all the goofy stuff that was inbound as of this entry. Though K is a fantastic character, maybe the best original creation since 94.
 

max 330 mega

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Good post. I agree, though backrounds where being fucked with as of 97. 98 backrounds where quite bad in my opinion. 99 backrounds though... dead.
And I agree about all the goofy stuff that was inbound as of this entry. Though K is a fantastic character, maybe the best original creation since 94.
But K isn't really original, he's pretty much just a refinement of one of the daraku tenshi characters.
 

evil wasabi

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But K isn't really original, he's pretty much just a refinement of one of the daraku tenshi characters.

Pretty much, although Cool or Ku-ru or just K wasn’t the only character they lifted from DT. You also have Harry, and years later Haiji.
 

DevilRedeemed

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But K isn't really original, he's pretty much just a refinement of one of the daraku tenshi characters.

Good to know. Though I stand by what I say in so far as how he fits into the franchise. I will correct my statement and say K isn't the best creation since 94 as Iori appeared in 95. But to me those two characters are 94 level greatness. For all the refinements that came after it, it wouldn't be far fetched to say that KOF 94 might be the most ''important' in the series as it kicked things off in a grand manner
 
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ysselcneogeo

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Kof99 is great. The rain stage is amazing and it in general has awesome music and stages. I mean it has way better stages than any kof on the neo after it. It also introduced K' who's just excellent.
 

LoneSage

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I'm kinda surprised at all the K' love in this thread, I didn't think he had so many fans.

I remember the first time I played KOF2000 and saw his walking back animation I actually laughed out loud. But, as it turned out, angsty emo kids dressing in dark clothing became a thing for that time period.
 

DevilRedeemed

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I'm kinda surprised at all the K' love in this thread, I didn't think he had so many fans.

I remember the first time I played KOF2000 and saw his walking back animation I actually laughed out loud. But, as it turned out, angsty emo kids dressing in dark clothing became a thing for that time period.

The way he plays is dynamic, he has a range not seen with most other playable characters. Reminds me of Ken somewhat in what he represents within the roster. And he is cool to boot.
(Edit: I am really shit at kof. Was only ever half competent using Heidern and Ash further down the line. The Ken reference is based on superficial observation. The swinging moves compared to Kyo/Iori to me are like Ken's compared to Ryu's. K was a lot of fun to use, just wish he had debuted around 96. Newcomer to that game where not to my liking much)
 
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Gaston

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ur cruisin for a bruisin, brother

I can respect the risks they were taking when they made it

Explain further GASTON

They pissed on the franchise with 99. And sure I get why a company tries to do other things but -apart from gameplay differences that Bninja describes well- the tone threw off many fans, myself included. To each their own.
 

SouthtownKid

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I don't mind the tone. I like the new characters. I was glad to be done with the played out Orochi stuff.

But '99 is clunky and plays like shit. Also, armor mode is baloney.

2000 was an improvement. But it wasn't until 2001 that strikers actually became functional. I was still glad to see them gone in '02, though.

If any of those later SNK games was underrated, it was 2000. 1999 was and is still overrated, mostly due to that fucking rain stage everyone always brings up. As if a rain stage can somehow magically make up for shit gameplay.
 

DevilRedeemed

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I don't mind the tone. I like the new characters. I was glad to be done with the played out Orochi stuff.

But '99 is clunky and plays like shit. Also, armor mode is baloney.

2000 was an improvement. But it wasn't until 2001 that strikers actually became functional. I was still glad to see them gone in '02, though.

If any of those later SNK games was underrated, it was 2000. 1999 was and is still overrated, mostly due to that fucking rain stage everyone always brings up. As if a rain stage can somehow magically make up for shit gameplay.

2000 has always been a guilty pleasure for me. I love the production values. There's something about it which reminds be of alpha 3 in terms of production, and the sense that the game was not fully cooked when releaed. But that may just be me. Graphically the game was nearing 96 era excellence
 

Neo Alec

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I have great memories of splitting the $90 cost of a '99 MVS cart with my brother around the time when 2000 was coming out (sometimes buying last year's KOF was my version of keeping up with the times). The first appearance of K', unlocking Iori and original Kyo. The backgrounds and music were gorgeous. It all had a new sheen on it compared with previous entries.

2000 starts the "mugen" feel that infected the rest of the NG KOFs. Even though it's made by SNK proper it feels like a SNKP game. 2000 on just totally blow IMO.
Gameplay-wise maybe, but in terms of presentation it definitely feels like real SNK. The graphics and sound took a definite hit in 2001.
 
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@M

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The biggest problem I have with KOF 99's plot is that NESTS had cloning technology and they went with Kyo instead of Mai. Complete and utter fail. Any secret evil organization that fucks up a no-brainer like that is doomed from the start.
 
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