The King of Fighters 2003

The King of Fighters 2003 (commonly abbreviated KOF 2003) is a competitive fighting game produced by SNK Playmore for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms in 2003. It is the tenth game in The King of Fighters series and the last one released for the Neo Geo, which served as the primary platform for the series since the very first game. It was ported to PlayStation 2 and Xbox, was released in North America as a two-in-one bundle with the preceding game in the series, The King of Fighters 2002.

Gameplay

The 3-on-3 Team Battle Format is applied in the game once again, just like the past editions. It also uses a Multi-Shift format that allows players to change characters during the middle of battle. When the "Change OK" sign is displayed above the Power Gauge, the player can do a Quick Shift and change characters immediately, or perform a Switch-Off Attack against the opponent that will consume one Power Gauge stock.

The game also features a Tactical Leader System, in which one of the members of the team is designated as the Leader. The chosen Leader can have an access to an exclusive move known as the "Leader Super Special Move" (in addition to the regular "Super Special Moves"). However, this usually requires two Power Gauge stocks to be able to perform it.

The King of Fighters '96

The King of Fighters '96 is a 1996 fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles. It is the third game in The King of Fighters series, following The King of Fighters '95. Like its predecessor, the game was ported to the Neo-Geo CD, as well as the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Unlike the previous game, the PlayStation and Saturn versions were released only in Japan, with a language setting allowing the player to set the game to English. It is also part of the compilation The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii. It was also released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on February 15, 2011, in North America on July 12, 2012 and in the PAL region on November 22, 2012.

The game made a few changes to gameplay such as new techniques, various changes of some teams, with a few of them introducing new characters. The plot follows a new King of Fighters tournament created by Chizuru Kagura, the heir of Yata Clan who wants to find and recruit Kyo Kusanagi, who defeated the previous KOF host, Rugal Bernstein, to ask him and his bitter rival, Iori Yagami, to help her in the sealing of the Orochi demon. The new boss is one of the servants from Orochi, Goenitz, who appears after Chizuru is defeated.

KOF: Maximum Impact 2

KOF: Maximum Impact 2, released in North America as The King of Fighters 2006, is a 3D competitive fighting game produced by SNK Playmore and released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. It is also released for the Arcades under the title The King of Fighters 2006: Regulation A. It is the sequel to The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, which itself was a spinoff of The King of Fighters series.

Plot

Many contended that the illegal fighting tournament in Southtown was sponsored by the gangland syndicate "Mephistopheles" to achieve the annihilation of their rivals and procure some operating capital. After its "King," Duke, suffered defeat at the hands of Alba Meira in the finals, he and his organization vanished from Southtown. Meanwhile, the media, firmly under Duke's control, released a fusillade of sensational exposés based on information from confidential sources regarding their former oppressors. In spite of this new torrent of "information," almost no one knew that an even larger entity had been pulling Mephistopheles' puppet strings.

The King of Fighters 2001

The King of Fighters 2001 is a 2001 competitive fighting game produced by Eolith for the Neo Geo. It is the eighth game in The King of Fighters series and the first game produced following the closure of the original SNK. The game was produced by the Korean-based company Eolith and developed by Brezzasoft, a company formed by former SNK employees. The game was ported to the Sega Dreamcast in Japan only and Sony PlayStation 2. The stand-alone Sony PlayStation 2 version was released in North America and Europe in a two-in-one bundle with the preceding game in the series, The King of Fighters 2000. Both the original Neo Geo version and the Sega Dreamcast version were included in The King of Fighters NESTS Hen compilation released for the Sony PlayStation 2 in Japan.

Gameplay

Like in the previous game, the battles are once again between teams of four. Instead of a strict "three fighters and one striker" format, this installment introduces the Tactical Order System, which allows the player to select which characters will they control in combat and which characters will serve as strikers. Before each match, the player can form a team configuration of four fighters and no strikers, to one fighter and three strikers. The number of strikers in one's team will affect the length and number of stocks of the player's Power Gauge. Teams with no strikers will have a longer Power Gauge to fill and can carry only one stock, while a team with only one fighter and three strikers will fill their Power Gauge quicker and carry up to four stocks. One stock can be used to summon a striker, perform a guard or super cancel, a blow-away attack, or a Super Special Move. MAX-level Super Special Moves requires two stocks to perform. Players can now cancel an attack into a Striker Summon with use of a Cancel Striker, while some characters now have Wire Whip techniques which will send an opponent flying into the air and arrive at the other side of the fighting area.