KOF odd vs even - an odd coincidence?

LoneSage

A Broken Man
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This is one of those random theories where the originator is so excited they might have had an interesting thought that they try to bend reality to fit the theory. Even if it's not a particularly original theory, this one being lifted from the Star Trek movies.
Mai Shiranui's name is inspired by My Sharona.

edit: for anyone who wants to see some Classic LoneSage Thread, possibly the first LoneSage and SouthtownKid convergence, as well with a surprise lachlan post: https://neo-geo.com/forums/index.php?threads/mai-shiranui-connection-to-the-knack.116914
 
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LoneSage

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KOF 96 is a very rushed game, it was SNK trying to meet their new yearly deadline to release a KOF
Thanks BBH for this big post. It definitely helps explain a lot. I'm one of those goofs who don't play competitively and only did single player on 96 and only played it for the first time in 2005.
 

@M

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Doom

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KOF95 introduced team edit so for that alone it was endlessly better than KOF94 in my book. Also KOF97 is excellent, it only seems weak because we have 98, (more characters, a complete bgm, fixed bugs etc). In of itself 97 was in most ways a step up, and I say this as someone who loves 96 too. 98 was 97 with everything dialed to 11, but back in the day prior to 98, 97 rocked. We should be grateful they were merciful with Orochi's AI, cause in human hands he's actually one of the most overpowered SNK bosses they had done yet.

99 and 2001 I agree are weaker entries. I respect 99 for trying new things with strikers and introducing some cool new characters like K' and Whip, among others, but it doesn't even try to be better than 98 so there's that against it (still a very good game imo).
 

Mr. Karate II

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Maybe this is a little too abstract of a question? I'll post it anyway.

Are the 10 KOF games on the Neo Geo kind of randomly good and bad, or is there a pattern like the even titles seemingly being better than odd ones?
These kinds of coincidences were generated indirectly by the development method that of the SNK employed.

Unlike the competition, 'The King of Fighters' has always been a series where the plot was a relevant factor, so, if you really want to look for a narrative algorithm within this franchise, SNK has always generated its sagas thinking of them how of the trilogies: to which however the company always added an additional chapter, which was completely disconnected from the point of view of the plot (therefore 3 + 1).

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Narratively the first chapter of a saga is basically the introduction, in the second the development takes place and in the third there is both the turning point and the conclusion: in the Orochi and in the Nest Saga the 'additional chapter' I mentioned before has been published as a gameplay perfecting, while in the Ash period the dream match episode has been a simply a 'accident' (the twelfth chapter), because they were basically planning 'KOF XIII', but they had spent all the money to create the new high definition graphics with their respective animations.

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At this point only 'KOF' 94' remains uncovered by the count, but according to the developers the latter was only a test bed to test the interest of the public, in fact, if it did not sell enough the project would have been suppressed: just like it happened with the small saga of 'Fūun' ('Savage Reign' and 'Kizuna Encounter'), in this regard, have you ever noticed that officially it is only 'KOF' 95' to be considered the first chapter of the of Orochi saga? (Not to mention that the latter is a simple revisited 'KOF' 94' [as if to indicate a new start on the part of the company]).

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In conclusion, the 'heavyweights' were released during the fourth release of a saga, which coincidentally were also of the even numbers, however, all of this it was a simple involuntary tradition, because this type of sequence has already been broken by the publication of 'KOF XIII', which despite being considered one of the best chapters is an odd number, moreover, even looking only the period of the NEOGEO, 'KOF '95' and 'KOF' 97' (odd numbers) have superior gameplay to the precursors 'KOF' 94' and 'KOF '96' (even numbers).

 
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joe8

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Are the 10 KOF games on the Neo Geo kind of randomly good and bad, or is there a pattern like the even titles seemingly being better than odd ones?
I don't think there is an odd/even pattern. Apart from 98 and 2002 UM, there isn't really one game that stands out from the rest.
Whichever game is the "best" is largely a matter of opinion, apart from 98 where there is a lot of consensus among many peoples' opinion, that it's the best in the series. If you are going to say some KOF games are better than others, there has to be reasons for saying that, where it's not just your own opinion.
 
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