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The title almost reads like a statement of intent. King of Fighters 95 is SNK's second crack of the whip at creating their ultimate 2D fighting game. King of Fighters 95 culls its warriors from a broad range of SNK titles, including the Garou Densetsu, and Art of Fighting series. Although bettered by its sequels, 95 represents an interesting addition to anyone's collection.

Overview
Rugal is back, with added cybernetic goodness. Oh and he's pissed off. Players take control of a 3-man (or woman for that matter) team, with 8 teams in all to battle through. Success means a showdown with the tournaments organiser Rugal, and his mysterious teammate

Graphics 7/10
Due to the constraints of the MVS hardware, that SNK uses, King of Fighters 95 fails to match the level of graphical flair on display in its closet CapCom contempory; Street Fighter Zero. Such things are largely irrelevant though, KOF 95 has charm in spades. Character designs are largely unique, largely rejecting CapCom's template of martial arts stereotypes. From the Freddy Krueger mini-me, Choi Bunge, to the new romantic, goth, punk, Iori Yagami, SNK presents an extremely original rogues gallery. Character sprites are also a marked improvement over the 94 edition. Hero characters, such as Kyo Kusanagi, display a whole new level of detail. Again unlike Street Fighter Zero, KOF's rejects exaggerated anime stylings in favour of more realistic character interpretations. The characters seem tailored to wider Asian tastes, rather than simply pandering to the Japanese market.

Background and level designs are excellent throughout. Players are treated to short animation sequence that serves as an introduction to every level. Each of the stages manages to be distinctive, whilst also perfectly complimenting the team they represent. Of special note are the Korean stage, which takes place during a rain storm (a lightning struck tree burns moodily in the background) and the Ikari team stage. You fight on a clanging iron bridge, while a downed helicopter smokes in the background.

King of Fighters 95 is an excellent looking game, the more you play, the more, tiny, graphical details are revealed to you. My personal favourites are Terry Bogard losing his hat when beaten (it floats away in the water on his stage), and your teammates, present during each bout, reactions when you win or lose. It is these small touches that boost the graphics score. Although certainly not bothering the cutting edge, polygonal graphics of the era, KOF 95 exhibits a level of attention to detail that can only come from developers familiar with their hardware. Whilst most shifted to the 3D cash cow, SNK remained true to their platform, and the results are impressive.

Gameplay/Controls 7/10
Most importantly, King of Fighters 95 is an extremely fun game to play, especially with a 2nd player of comparable skill. There are however several problems that conspire to drag the score down. Firstly, the damage level is set far too high. This will certainly put off the casual player. One mistake, or missed special leaves you wide open for a combo. This is of course fairly standard fighting game procedure, however one or two mistakes and your energy bar will be completely wiped out. The high damage level seems a fairly logical response to the 3-man team match-up, and a need for expediency, less the game get bogged down. However it does irk when you lose ¾ of your life bar for one false move. Such high damage means you don't really have a grace period to feel out your opponent's tactics, you cannot afford to take any stray hits. This I feel harms the flow of the game.

KOF 95's AI plays an extremely cagey, technical game. Those hoping to bombard the CPU opponent with fireballs in order to win will be disappointed. Your attacks will be dodged, and mistakes will be exploited. This level of CPU efficiency, coupled with the high damage levels can leave many players feeling a little ripped off, after their brief trouncing. You are afforded no easy early runs by SNK, and you can't help but feel that some characters are overpowered. Kim Kap Hwan's Comet Cruncher in particular, dominates, and punishes any attempt at a jump in game. Heidern's Neck Roller seems to have insane priority. Cruising through almost any move when the CPU employs it.

The execution of special moves is not as intuitive as I would like. Too many start or end in a diagonal position. It feels as if SNK are trying too hard to move away from CapCom's standard Shoryuken motions, and quarter circles. The motions whilst not as taxing as some of in the early Garou Densetsu games, sometimes still feel remarkably awkward, almost a chore, rather than a natural response. Thankfully, this issue was addressed in future years of the King of Fighters tournament.

SNK should be admired for such a move; they are forging ahead with their own play style rather than just reiterating CapCom's. This means you start learning KOF's from scratch, you can't rely on skills learnt elsewhere. Again this only serves to put off those with little time, or patience to dedicate.

Sound/Music 8/10
Music is excellent throughout King of Fighters 95. From the funky wah wah guitar, Hammond organ fusion of the Japan stage, to the low-key drums and wind instruments of the Korea level. The music matches the levels superbly, and therefore synchronises with the characters perfectly. The music (and level design) feels like an extension of SNK's characters, rather than being beautiful, but peripheral. The way it should be.

Sound effects are also a solid addition to the package. The effects that denote contact are excellent throughout, and bring to mind the classic 'hit a melon with a hammer' vibe of 70's kung fu flicks. Hits have a good, solid crunch sound to them, which accentuates the impact. You genuinely feel the force of the onscreen characters blows.

Replay Value 7/10
There seems to be a tendency of late, to make games easier, and therefore more accessible for a wider audience. To this end, many 3D fighting games have gone so far in this direction, that a relative newcomer can hammer away at a cabinet and enjoy success. Not so here. SNK have never been one for trends, and employing a tactic of button bashing will get you schooled. King of Fighters 95 features 24 standard characters, and 2 Boss characters, available with a code. That means 26 characters to master, each with around 6 or 7 special moves to perfect. The truly dedicated will find themselves rewarded with literally years worth of gameplay.

A new feature for KOF 95 is the team edit option, allowing almost infinite customability. This allows the 2 player mode to breath in a way that the 94 edition never could, with its allotted team constraints. As mentioned before, should you locate a second player with equal skill, you will be rewarded with almost endless replay value.

One player mode offers a significant challenge in itself, and it will take time to complete the game with all the default teams, and earn all the endings.

Overall 7/10
King of Fighters 95 distinguishes itself admirably. It offers a genuine alternative experience to CapComs current beat 'em ups. Unlike many other examples of the genre, the King of Fighters series weaves a storyline around its gameplay.

95 marks the debut of a character, synonymous with the King of Fighters titles, Iori Yagami. In Iori, Kyo, the main focus of the series, finds an eternal rival. Iori represents a sort of cross between Ken, and Sagat's relationship with Ryu, in the Street Fighter canon. This small move, for me, deepens the mythology of the series; it sets up archetypes, and storylines that future instalments will exploit. Rather than say the update relationship that Street Fighter 2 Dash shares with its predecessor, King of Fighters 95 is a further instalment of the title, as opposed to a tweaked, but essentially similar version.

King of Fighters 95 marks a franchise finding its legs. 94 was fundamentally a disappointment, it felt unfinished. 95 by comparison is a more complete experience, and marks several key steps towards the rightful success the series would come to enjoy. The difficulty and lack of immediate gratification will ultimately put many people off, but persevere and you will be rewarded with one of finest examples of the fighting game genre.

- by Chris Ready