The King of Fighters '95

Sviluppo: SNK
Pubblicazione: SNK
Data pubblicazione: Giappone 1995, Stati Uniti 1995,
dell'Europa 1995
Genere: Picchiaduro
Piattaforma: Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD, Sega Saturn, Playstation


The King of Fighters '95 è un videogioco di tipo picchiaduro ad incontri prodotto dalla SNK per il Neo Geo arcade e, in seguito, convertito per svariate console casalinghe.

Seguito diretto di The King of Fighters '94 e secondo gioco della serie The King of Fighters, è stato il primo gioco della serie Neo Geo ad essere convertito per il Neo Geo AES e Neo Geo CD, versioni casalinghe della stessa macchina: è stato convertito anche per PlayStation e Sega Saturn nel 1996.

La versione per Playstation è stata pubblicata in America ed Europa dalla Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., mentre la versione per Saturn (necessitaria di un paccheto di un megabyte aggiuntivo per il corretto funzionamento) dalla SNK stessa.

Una versione per Game Boy è stata rilasciata come omaggio alla piccola console Nintendo.

Storia

The King of Fighters '95 annuncia l'avvenire dell' Orochi Saga, con il suo continuo in KOF '96 e KOF '97. L'unico elemento della presenza dell'Orochi come essenza ultra terrena, in questo capitolo, è Iori Yagami ed il ritorno in vita di Rugal Bernstein grazie ai geni di Orochi.

King of Fighters '95 ha come Boss finale Rugal Bernstein, benché fosse deceduto nell'esplosione della sua fortezza marina nel gioco precedente, invitando i partecipanti del precedente torneo più altri firmandosi come 'R'.

Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber e Brian Battler, il team americano, a causa dell'invito loro rubato da Billy Kane, Eiji Kisaragi e Iori Yagami sono gli unici a non partecipare a questa edizione del torneo. I tre sono diretti sfidanti di Kyo,Benimaru e Goro.

Dopo essere stati narcotizzati con gas soporifero, l' Hero Team si risveglia in una casa abbandonata, all'oscurità, dove intravedono Rugal, ancora vivo, divenuto Cyborg impiantatosi parti meccaniche nel corpo (detto anche 'Omega Rugal'), presentandosi e risvegliando il padre di Kyo, sigillato nella sua mente.

Sconfittolo, rimangono Benimaru e Goro, esausti ed incapaci di poter combattere ancora contro il mostruoso Rugal. Solo Kyo rimane in piedi, costretto a finire in tutti i modi possibili Rugal, che comunque si rivela assai superiore al giovane, dati i suoi nuovi poteri.

In seguito, durante la battaglia, Terry Bogard ed Athena giungono in soccorso di Kyo. Rugal, durante il combattimento, implode, dovuto all'eccesso accumulo di potere nel suo corpo, incapace di reggerne oltre un certo limite.

Giocabilità

Il gamemplay di King of Fighters '95 è basicamente rimasto lo stesso di King of Fighters '94, aggiungendo come unica feature la possibilità di scegliere i personaggi desiderati dal roster, senza quindi l'obbligo di scegliere un team preformato.

In più, molti dei personaggi già apparsi ritornato, ma senza essere associati ad una determinata nazione, tratto che rimarrà tale per tutto il corso della serie. Lo Sports Team è stato sostituito dal Rivals Team, formato dagli avversari principali dei protagonisti, ovvero Iori Yagami,principale nemico di Kyo Kusanagi, Billy Kane(da Fatal Fury) ed Eiji Kisaragi (da Art of Fighting 2).

Personaggi

Hero Team

* Kyo Kusanagi

* Benimaru Nikaido

* Goro Daimon

Fatal Fury Team

* Terry Bogard

* Andy Bogard

* Joe Higashi

Art of Fighting Team

* Ryo Sakazaki

* Robert Garcia

* Takuma Sakazaki


Ikari Team

* Heidern

* Ralf Jones

* Clark Steel

Psycho Soldier Team

* Athena Asamiya

* Sie Kensou

* Chin Gentsai


Women Fighters Team

* Yuri Sakazaki

* Mai Shiranui

* King

Korea Team

* Kim Kaphwan

* Chang Koehan

* Choi Bounge

Rival Team

* Iori Yagami

* Eiji Kisaragi

* Billy Kane

Boss

* Saisyu Kusanagi (Sub-Boss)

* Omega Rugal (Main Boss)

* Nakoruru (Boss Nascosto - versione Gameboy, dopo i crediti)


Versione Game Boy

Sviluppat dalla Takara e pubblicata dalla Nintendo, oltre ad essere compatibile con il Super Gameboy, aggiunge come personaggio segreto Nakoruru, la giovane samurai da Samurai Shodown.


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Introduction:

After the great King of Fighters '94, I was really looking forward to this one! I had very high hopes for it, and thankfully I wasn't disappointed. While it might not be a totally new game (how many sequels are?), it is still very enjoyable, and a definite step up from the last game.

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of new stuff in KOF '95. There are still 8 normally selectable teams, which means 24 fighters altogether. However one of the first things you will notice is that the old USA Sports team has been removed, as most people didn't like them very much in KOF '94. In their place comes a great new team that consists of Billy Kane (Geese's henchman from Fatal Fury), Eiji Kisaragi (the Ninja from Art of Fighting) and a new character Iori Yagami (Kyo Kusanagi's deadly rival).

One of the most important changes to this game (and probably the first thing you will notice) is the "Team Edit" option. Team Edit allows you to select any three characters to make up your own team, instead of being stuck with set combinations of characters, like in KOF '94. Quite why SNK didn't include this option in KOF '94 remains to be seen, but at least we have it now!


Character Roster:

As I mentioned above, there aren't many changes to the character line up from KOF '94, but here is a full rundown of all the teams that are in the game:


Japan Team

This team is once again made up of Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikkaido and Goro Daimon. All three characters have learnt a couple of new special moves and have had a couple of tweaks to their normal moves.

The Japan team stage is set in front of the Neo Geo Land arcade in Japan. A very cool stage and I like hearing the crowd cheer when someone gets knocked down, although the music is a little on the cheesy side. It isn't too bad, but it was something of a disappointment for me, especially after the GREAT music this team had in KOF '94.


England (Womens Team)

The sexy womens team is back, consisting of King, Yuri Sakazaki and Mai Shiranui. As with pretty much all the characters, they have had a few moves tweaked/added, but there are no real surprises here.

This team fights inside Kings bar - this is a nice looking stage that features a lot of cameos from other SNK characters like Duck-King. As with the Japan stage I am not a big fan of the music though... it isn't too bad, but can get a little annoying after a while.


USA (New Team)

The only new team in this game, and also a very good one. Billy Kane (the pole wielding guy from Fatal Fury) is here, along with Eiji Kisaragi (the cool Ninja from Art of Fighting). My favourite member of this team has to be Iori Yagami though, who is one of SNK's coolest ever characters... and an enemy of Kyo Kusanagi!

The USA stage has to be one of my favourites from this game. It is set inside some sort of chemical factory and looks very good indeed, with a hell of a lot of detail to it. The laid back music on this stage is superb too - who'd have thought that a saxophone could sound so good in a fighting game? :-)


Italy (Fatal Fury Team)

The Fatal Fury team is back, but with a few new tricks up their sleeves (e.g.: Terry now has his Power Dunk move). The Fatal Fury Team is once again made up of Terry and Andy Bogard as well as Joe Higashi. Again, exactly what you would expect, but still very cool.

Their stage on this game is another of my personal faves! At the start of the fight the fighters jump off the pier and into the water in the foreground. One thing that I always liked about this stage is that whenever Terry throws off his hat, instead of it just landing on the floor like it normally does, it actually floats off on the water... the same goes for King when she throws her handkerchief down. I thought this was a nice touch, and it shows that SNK are the kings of small graphical details :-) The Fatal Fury Teams music is also good - very catchy!

Mexico (AOF Team)

The Kyokugenryu team from Art of Fighting... not a lot has changed here since 1994, but that doesn't stop them from being a cool team Their lineup consists of Ryo and Takuma Sakazaki, and Robert Garcia.

The AoF team's stage is also great! At the start of the fight you are on an elevator that is moving upwards, meaning that for the first few seconds you are in a very closed in space. When the elevator reaches its destination, the stage opens up properly. This stage looks very nice and the dramatic music that plays on it really adds a lot to the atmosphere.

China (Psycho Soldiers Team)

Chin Gentsai, Athena Asimaya and Sie Kensou all return to the Psycho Soldiers team, and they bring some good new moves with them (e.g. Athena's Psycho Sword).

The Psycho Soldiers stage looks very nice. There are some waterfalls in the background, and every now and then water shoots down in the foreground (in front of the fighters). The music on this stage is also pretty good, but I do prefer the Psycho Soldier theme tune that was used in KOF '94.

Brazil (Ikari Warriors Team)

Heidern is once again joined by Ralf Jones and Clark Steele on the Ikari Warriors Team. None of the members of this team have a great deal of new moves, but they have been tweaked a little bit. Another minor difference is that Clark and Ralf now have different standing poses; in KOF '94 they both looked the same, but now they are slightly different.

Their stage is set on top of a bridge quite high up, with a crashed plane in the background. Apparently this stage is taken from the Ikari Warriors game. One nice little detail is that when you hit someone with a powerful move (like a throw), rocks fall from the top of the screen. As far as the music goes, this stage is one of my least favourites... I like it more than their music from KOF '94, but it still gets on my nerves after a while.

Korea Team

Kim Kaphwan is back, along with Chang Koehan and the annoying Choi Bounge. I really like Kim (he's one of my favourite characters actually), but I never really understood why he was paired with Chang and Choi. Admittedly, those two have grown on me over time and I don't mind them now, but I've never been their biggest fan. Thankfully we have the team edit option in this game, which solves the problem ;-)

This stage is set out in a field, which appears to be a training ground for the team (there is some martial arts equipment in the background). This is quite a dark and moody stage; there is a tree on fire in the background and it is also raining. The music here isn't too bad either; it is not the best track in KOF '95, but it's perfect for this stage and is definitely better than their KOF '94 music.

Sub Boss: Saisyu Kusanagi

With the surname "Kusanagi", there are no prizes for guessing who this guy is related to. That's right, this is Kyo's father, who was thought to have been killed... but it seems he has been resurrected (and brainwashed) by Rugal. Predictably enough, he plays like a supercharged Kyo, and can be quite hard to beat when you have the game set to a higher difficulty. Still a cool character though.

His stage is set inside some kind of missile base, and looks fairly cool. The music on his stage is also quite good, and it suits this boss encounter perfectly.


Final Boss: Omega Rugal

Yep - Rugal is back, and badder than ever. Omega Rugal has some new powers, along with Cyborg implants (see his arm), although for some reason I don't find him as hard to beat as in KOF '94 (some might disagree though). Omega Rugal is a bit crazy too - check out his win pose where he makes cuts across his chest with his metal fingers. Like I said, he's crazy! :-)

Rugal's stage is practically the same as Saisyu's, although while you are fighting Rugal, the elevator platform you are standing on begins to move upwards. A very cool place to fight, with some great music that suits this final fight of the game very well.



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