Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Jin Twins! Gato! Yamazaki! Rock Howard!)

Post by Jabroniville »

And thus concludes 12-13 days of Fatal Fury builds! Once again, I'm stunned by the sheer SIZE of that cast. Having to go back through YouTube for playthroughs to see how to specifically stat out there moves (since my prior bios unfortunately did not contain much of that information) made it a bit more of a slog. But up next... the set that's been literally a half-decade in the making: THE KING OF FIGHTERS!!!
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Jin Twins! Gato! Yamazaki! Rock Howard!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Rating the Designs of The Fighters:
Since it's inevitable for me to compare & contrast the various fighters' qualities in terms of characters, I figured I'd put them up against each other to see what happens. I wrote this out in like 2014 or so, but I figure it's worth a re-post.

The Art of Fighting:
Awesome Characters:
1) King
2) Yuri

Good Characters:
3) Mr. Big
4) Robert Garcia
5) Kasumi Todoh
6) Takuma (ends up a bit generic, as he's Another White Gi Guy, but the whole weird Mr. Karate thing and his strange intensity make him stand out a bit)
7) Lee (ended up looking kinda cool eventually)

Half-Decent Characters:
8) Ryuhaku Todoh
9) Rody

Poor Characters:
10) Eiji (generic Ninja Guy)
11) Jack
12) Sinclair
13) Ryo (a horrible rip-offm, but at least has personality)

Bad Characters:
14) Wyler
15) Lenny
16) John (a horribly generic character)
17) Mickey (just a Balrog rip-off)
18) Temjin (possibly the plainest clothing in Fighter history)
19) Wang

-So unsurprisingly, Art of Fighting produces a shockingly-bad roster, with only 2 great ones out of 19, and five good characters (many of whom are still plain). Poor & Bad Characters make up TEN, more than half of the total roster.

Street Fighter II:
The earliest game in the series was a minor blip compared to its sequel, so it's quite easy to simply disregard a lot of it- poor characters like Mike, Joe, Retsu & Geki don't really bring down the series, as they were easily ignored since Capcom just dropped them. Just looking at the important characters of Cacpom's first BIG Fighter, we see something interesting.

Awesome Characters:
1) Sagat (one of the most dynamic characters in fighting, with an iconic look)
2) Ryu (the reason Gi Guys exist- one of the most-ripped-off characters ever)
3) Vega (a unique combination of elegance, terror and power)
4) Chun-Li (an iconic gaming female)
5) Ken (a simple design, but really effective- the red gi REALLY makes him stand out from most Gi Guys)
6) M. Bison (really just a knock-off of a recurring character type- their are like FIVE GUYS who look like Bison in prior media in Japan)
7) Akuma (another Headswap Gi Guy, but REALLY made cool via his moves and Mirror Image type to Ryu)
8) Cammy (an iconic Teen Girl Character, and one of the few I actually like)
9) Guile
10) Blanka

Good Characters:
11) Zangief
12) Dee Jay (a lot of people hate him, and Capcom Japan is embarassed, but it's a solid look)
13) E. Honda (the only non-iconic Sumo)
14) Fei Long (a great fighting style, but just a Bruce Lee Clone)
15) Balrog (similar to Fei Long)

Poor Characters:
16) Dhalsim (skinny and silly-looking)
17) T. Hawk (despite his size, it's a weak design)

-This is the brilliance of Capcom's design right here- even the WORST characters aren't that bad, and the Generic Guys (Balrog, E. Honda) at least stand out a bit from their many imitators (almost all other Boxers are forgettable, and never mind the Sumos). THIS is what makes SF II a more interesting game in terms of characters than most SNK games, which are often populated by hordes of nobodies. TEN of the Seventeen are Awesome Characters, while only two are poor.

Street Fighter Alpha:
-Alpha vastly improved upon some old designs, and added a few newbies to the cast.

Awesome Characters:
1) Sagat (one of the most dynamic characters in fighting, with an iconic look)
2) Ryu (the reason Gi Guys exist- one of the most-ripped-off characters ever)
3) Vega (a unique combination of elegance, terror and power)
4) Chun-Li (an iconic gaming female)
5) Ken (a simple design, but really effective- the red gi REALLY makes him stand out from most Gi Guys)
6) M. Bison (really just a knock-off of a recurring character type- their are like FIVE GUYS who look like Bison in prior media in Japan)
7) Akuma (another Headswap Gi Guy, but REALLY made cool via his moves and Mirror Image type to Ryu)
8) Cammy (an iconic Teen Girl Character, and one of the few I actually like)
9) Guile
10) Blanka

Good Characters:
11) Zangief
12) Charlie
13) Rolento (a bit plain in terms of costume detail, but his moves are sweet)
14) Guy
15) Adon
16) Gen (one of the better "Old Master" designs out there)
17) Dan (both as a Joke Character and as a personal "F**k You" to SNK)
18) Dee Jay (a lot of people hate him, and Capcom Japan is embarassed, but it's a solid look)
19) R. Mika (actually a solid look- if they covered up the obvious Uber-Fanservice Bits, she'd actually be a solid, respectable fighter)
20) Cody (a bit plain)
21) E. Honda (the only iconic Sumo)
22) Fei Long (a great fighting style, but just a Bruce Lee Clone)
23) Balrog (similar to Fei Long)

Poor Characters:
24) Sodom
25) Dhalsim (skinny and silly-looking)
26) Birdie
27) Rose (her design just kinda bugs me)
28) Sakura (really hate the Teen Girl thing)
29) T. Hawk (despite his size, it's a weak design)

Awful Characters:
30) Karin
31) Juli & Juni (Cammy didn't really need Headswap Rip-Offs)
32) Ingrid (just an awful Mary Sue)

-Some interesting changes, largely in how they filled out the ranks of Good Characters- no newly-introduced (or fixed SF I guys, like Adon, Gen & Birdie) were overly-amazing, but they all definitely fit into the franchise, many of them doing so quite well. However, it also added a handful of crappy characters into things, especially once they started churning out Teen Girls. At this stage, a mere thirty of the characters are Awesome, and a total of EIGHT are Poor or Awful.

Street Fighter III:
-SF III was to me a major disappointment- if you're going to throw away a HORDE of iconic, excellent characters, then you better make the new ones GODDAMNED GOOD, not a bunch of losers.

Awesome Characters:
1) Ryu (the reason Gi Guys exist- one of the most-ripped-off characters ever)
2) Chun-Li (an iconic gaming female)
3) Ken (a simple design, but really effective- the red gi REALLY makes him stand out from most Gi Guys)
4) Akuma (another Headswap Gi Guy, but REALLY made cool via his moves and Mirror Image type to Ryu)
5) Elena (HHHHNNNNSSSSSKKKKKK)
6) Alex
7) Makoto

Good Characters:
8) Yun & Yang
9) Sean (I could have gotten behind him, but he's overshadowed by the other Gi Guys)
10) Urien

Poor Characters:
11) Remy (not a bad design inherently, but a bit too much "Generic SNK Character" in him)
12) Gill (a bit too odd-looking)
13) Hugo (I really find him dreadfully dull)
14) Ibuki
15) Dudley (he stands out a bit, but I find him goofy)
16) Q

Awful Characters:
17) Necro
18) Twelve
19) Oro (in my opinion the single-worst design Capcom ever made)

-So they added in some more Awful Characters, while removing most of the Awesome ones, leaving SFIII very weak overall, almost cutting the roster exactly in half with Good & Bad Characters. A VERY poor ratio for a Capcom fighter.

Street Fighter IV:
The earliest game in the series was a minor blip compared to its sequel, so it's quite easy to simply disregard a lot of it- poor characters like Mike, Joe, Retsu & Geki don't really bring down the series, as they were easily ignored since Capcom just dropped them. Just looking at the important characters of Cacpom's first BIG Fighter, we see something interesting.

Awesome Characters:
1) Sagat (one of the most dynamic characters in fighting, with an iconic look)
2) Ryu (the reason Gi Guys exist- one of the most-ripped-off characters ever)
3) Vega (a unique combination of elegance, terror and power)
4) Chun-Li (an iconic gaming female)
5) Ken (a simple design, but really effective- the red gi REALLY makes him stand out from most Gi Guys)
6) M. Bison (really just a knock-off of a recurring character type- their are like FIVE GUYS who look like Bison in prior media in Japan)
7) Akuma (another Headswap Gi Guy, but REALLY made cool via his moves and Mirror Image type to Ryu)
8) Elena (HHHHNNNNSSSSSKKKKKK)
9) Alex
10) Makoto
11) Cammy (an iconic Teen Girl Character, and one of the few I actually like)
12) Guile
13) Blanka

Good Characters:
14) Zangief
16) Guy
17) Adon
18) Rolento (a bit plain in terms of costume detail, but his moves are sweet)
19) Gen (one of the better "Old Master" designs out there)
20) Abel (would be cooler with a more iconic, less-generic design)
21) Dan (both as a Joke Character and as a personal "F**k You" to SNK)
22) Dee Jay (a lot of people hate him, and Capcom Japan is embarassed, but it's a solid look)
23) Cody (a bit plain)
24) E. Honda (the only non-iconic Sumo)
25) Yun & Yang
26) Fei Long (a great fighting style, but just a Bruce Lee Clone)
27) Balrog (similar to Fei Long)
28) Juri
29) C. Viper
30) Hakan

Poor Characters:
31) Seth
32) Dhalsim (skinny and silly-looking)
33) Hugo (I really find him dreadfully dull)
34) Gouken (I find his survival silly, and his look a bit boring)
35) Ibuki
36) Rose (her design just kinda bugs me)
37) Sakura (really hate the Teen Girl thing)
38) Dudley (he stands out a bit, but I find him goofy)
39) T. Hawk (despite his size, it's a weak design)
40) El Fuerte (who makes a LUCHADORE look boring?)

Awful Characters:
41) Rufus

-As basically the "Final Game" in the series so far, SF IV compresses all the various SF games into one package, much like King of Fighters did for SNK. This leaves a fairly large bunch of Awesome Characters, and a fat chunk of Good ones also- the good SF III characters are now not as held down by crap designs & concepts like Necro, Oro & Q. All in all, 75% of the roster is AT LEAST good, and there's only one Awful Character (Up yours, Rufus! You f**kin' suck!). Unfortunately, most of the new characters are a bit "bleh" overall to me, lacking the impact of the older ones.

Fatal Fury:
Once SNK REALLY started trying, they got pretty good with Fatal Fury- many of the games rival Capcom's in terms of quality characters.

Awesome Characters:
1) Geese Howard
2) Tizoc
3) Terry Bogard
4) Yamazaki
5) Billy Kane
6) Kim Kaphwan
7) Duck King

Good Characters:
8) Marco
9) Blue Mary
10) Raiden
11) Gato
12) Rock Howard
13) Joe
14) B. Jenet
15) Kain
16) Kim Dong Hwan
17) Kim Jae Hoon
18) Andy
19) Mai Shiranui
20) Grant
21) Tung Fu
22) Rick
23) Sokaku (could have been better with some development)

Poor Characters:
24) Freeman (not BAD so much as derivative-looking)
25) Wolfgang Krauser
26) White
27) Franco Bash
28) Axel Hawk
29) Hwa Jai
30) Xiangfei
31) Toji
32) Kevin
33) Alfred

Awful Characters:
34) Jubei
35) Hotaru
36) Tsugumi
37) Bob Wilson
38) Hon Fu
39) Laurence Blood
40) Chonrei & Chonshu
41) Hokutomaru
42) Michael Max
43) R. Meyer

-Uhhh... or not. See, SNK threw in WAY too much crap in this series, resulting in a roster that's actually largely-awful in many games. Some of their BEST characters match Capcom's best (Geese & Tizoc are FREAKING EPIC), but a whole lot of them are filler or just "some guy in regular clothes" and simply do not work. There's some half-decent designs later on that bring things up to "Good", but many of them are mere one-shot characters, whereas Capcom & Midway repeated all their good ones. I mean, the Kim Twins, Rick Strowd & Marco never moved on, and instead we had to deal with a bunch of teenage characters. I mean, only a little over half the total roster is what I'd call good, which is about Street Fighter III level. At least you can forgive them for some of the early characters, since they never moved on to other games (Meyer, Max, etc.), but even the mid-level games introduced some weak acts (Axel Hawk, Laurence Blood) that never went anywhere.

Mortal Kombat:
Awesome Characters:
1) Goro
2) Scorpion
3) Sub-Zero
4) Shang Tsung
5) Raiden
6) Kung Lao
7) Reptile
8) Kintaro
9) Kitana

Good Characters:
10) Shao Kahn
11) Kano
12) Sonya Blade
13) Liu Kang
14) Mileena
15) Noob Saibot
16) Sheeva
17) Jax
18) Johnny Cage
19) Baraka
20) Sektor
21) Cyrax

Poor Characters:
22) Smoke (Human & Cyborg)
23) Jade
24) Motaro

Awful Characters:
25) Kabal
26) Sindel
27) Nightwolf
28) Ermac
29) Rain
30) Chameleon
31) Stryker

-MK actually ends up a bit more solid than I would have thought, but that's only because I only used the first three games as a reference. Two-thirds of the roster is at LEAST Good, many of the Palette Swaps hold up, and the Top Six in this series are EASILY as good as the very best characters from Capcom OR SNK! Best of all, almost every character in here is IMPORTANT in some way- Capcom & SNK are pretty bad about this, generally only making the hero and a side character or two worth anything to the overall story.

Adding in ALL the sequels throws the entire system out of whack, as poorly-thought-out minor characters end up taking over, glutting the roster with piles of crap.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Jin Twins! Gato! Yamazaki! Rock Howard!)

Post by catsi563 »

nearly read my mind was going to ask you if you had a listing of the various fighting game builds by PL specifically the Street fighter AOF KOF tekken and VF builds and such like that. working on my own SF game via the WW system trying to put my rules into play.
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Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab’s Builds! (Jin Twins! Gato! Yamazaki! Rock Howard!)

Post by Jabroniville »

catsi563 wrote: Wed Nov 20, 2019 7:27 am nearly read my mind was going to ask you if you had a listing of the various fighting game builds by PL specifically the Street fighter AOF KOF tekken and VF builds and such like that. working on my own SF game via the WW system trying to put my rules into play.
My second page has my overall PL list on it, and most of the Fighting Game guys are listed separately.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The King of Fighters

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE KING OF FIGHTERS:

-So now, FINALLY, we come to probably the most long-awaited set I'd never done- The King of Fighters!

The KoF series got its start with an odd cameo- SNK had numerous Fighting Games on the market, but they'd barely interacted. But 1993's Fatal Fury Special brought in Ryo Sakazaki from Art of Fighting, thus crossing over the two games! This apparently went so well that SNK decided to create ANOTHER franchise, combining the two games together. The game took its name from the tournament at the heart of Fatal Fury, called the "King of Fighters". And because of the huge rosters involved, SNK didn't want to just make another one-on-one fighter, so instead they came up with the brilliant idea of TEAM BATTLES. Instead, King of Fighters '94 would feature three-person teams, organized along game and storyline divisions, and then fight in Elimination-style battles, where you'd have to defeat all three of your opponents in order to move forward. This went over REALLY WELL, with this gameplay trick enabling long battles (so no more "you lose three rounds and you're done" quarter-munchers).

To make up the game's roster, the creators didn't simply throw in all the big names and call it a day- weirdly, they combined the REST of SNK's history together to round out the roster. So big-name FF and AoF fighters were dumped (many never, ever making a KoF appearance), and in were the psychic warriors from the game Psycho Soldiers, led by Athena Asamiya! And a trio of military-themed guys with Heidern, Ralf & Clark from Ikari Warriors! And SNK's sports titles allowed for a strange trio of American Sports fighters! Fatal Fury's Kim Kaphwan was also given a strange team comprised of him and two criminals of tiny and huge size, allowing for the series to shake up its character sizes. Initially, you could only select the entire team as one unit, not switch up characters.

And... most controversially for the time... Terry Bogard NOR Ryo Sakazaki was the main hero. Instead, we were introduced to a NEW trio of heroes, in Kyo, Daimon & Benimaru! This was apparently quite angering for fans at the time to see the ultra-popular Terry dumped so soon into his tenure (he was only a three-year-old character at the time!), especially since Kyo more or less copied the "Standard SNK Hero" moveset (Sliding Floor Blast, Upwards Move, Dashing Move), but Kyo ended up being so integral to the story that he stuck around. And to top it all off, the game threw in one of SNK's most memorable bosses, the great RUGAL! The snappily-dressed rich man went over extremely well, leading to one of those "Geese Howard" situations where he had to appear all the time, despite the storyline moving on past him.

The early games would later be thought of as "The Orochi Saga", as it would turn out that the monstrous Orochi would attempt to slay all humanity every 1800 years, culminating with KoF '97.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS '94:
Roster:
"The Hero Team"
1) Kyo Kusanagi- Japanese schoolboy and part of a family meant to fight Orochi.
2) Benimaru Nikaido- Kyo's best pal, dressed and acting like a stereotypical flamboyant homosexual (but because it's Japan, that means he's a ladies man!).
3) Goro Daimon- A large Judo specialist.

"Fatal Fury Team"
4) Terry Bogard- The Main Hero of Fatal Fury.
5) Andy Bogard- Blond Ninja.
6) Joe Higashi- Muay Thai Weirdo.

"Art of Fighting Team"
7) Ryo Sakazaki- The Main Hero of Art of Fighting.
8) Robert Garcia- Ryo's best friend.
9) Takuma Sakazaki- The boys' trainer.

"Woman Fighters Team"
10) King- AoF's male-dressing female and love interest for Ryo.
11) Yuri Sakazaki- Ryo's little sister. Annoying teen.
12) Mai Shiranui- Fatal Fury's busty Miss Fanservice fan-tossing ninja.

"Ikari Warriors Team"
13) Heidern- Military boss. The series constantly tries to get rid of him.
14) Ralf- Powerhouse grappler. Young & hungry.
15) Clark Still- Powerhouse grappler. More calm and stoic.

"Psycho Soldiers Team"
16) Athena Asamiya- Psionic warrior. Gets a new outfit/sprite every single KoF game as a running gag.
17) Sie Kensou- Dumpling-eating weirdo. Loves Athena.
18) Chin- Psionic mentor.

"Korea Team"
19) Kim Kaphwan- Fatal Fury's TKD specialist, out to reform a pair of crooks. By beating them every time they try to commit crimes.
20) Choi Bounge- Diminutive Freddy Krueger-clawed killer.
21) Chang Gentsei- Enormous fat bearded guy with ball & chain.

"American Sports Team"
22) Lucky Glauber- Basketball player.
23) Brian Battler- Football player.
24) Heavy D!- Boxer.

"Final Boss"
25) Rugal Bernstein- Mysterious rich man and snappy dresser. One of the cheapest bosses of all time.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS '95:
* The enormous success of the first game would immediately supercede any AoF or FF games, and a sequel was soon announced. The entire roster from before returns (and in fact, would largely ALWAYS return, minus a couple elders who disappear occasionally), minus the American Sports Team in a running gag that sees them beaten up and losing their spots to others. Rugal returns as the boss, now cybernetic and empowered by another, mysterious agent. This game went over really well despite the minor updating, simply because now you could pick and choose your team from all the assembled fighters.

"The Villain Team"
26) Iori Yagami- The new recurring Rival character to Kyo- a rock star-looking guy with weird hair and dark powers. Tied into the Orochi Saga because his family betrayed the Kusanagis in the past.
27) Billy Kane- Geese Howard's #2 man from Fatal Fury, here to investigate Orochi.
28) Eiji Kisaragi- The ninja from Art of Fighting, because we needed an extra guy. Very, very sporadic in the series from this point.

"Sub-Boss"
29) Saisyou Kusanagi- Kyo's father, railroaded into being your Sub-Boss by Rugal.

"Final Boss"
25.5) Omega Rugal- An upgraded form of Rugal.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS '96:
* A new version of the game alters the roster somewhat, as old men Takuma & Heidern are dropped, along with Eiji & Billy (who were savagely beaten by Iori in the last tournament for unknown reasons). Saisyou also disappears, pretty much for good. Their replacements went over MUCH better, especially since you could now play the three Bosses of SNK's other two key fighters. Rugal, unfortunately, is dead.

30) Leona Heidern- Heidern's replacement, his stoic, unemotional adopted daughter.
31) Kasumi Todoh- A random character from Art of Fighting 3, replacing Yuri in the Woman Fighters Team, as she replaces her own father.

"Boss Team"
32) Geese Howard- Fatal Fury's Big Bad, the evil businessman is now investigating Orochi in person.
33) Wolfgang Krauser- Geese's half-brother and would-be replacement, now here for his own amusement.
34) Mr. Big- The Big Bad of Art of Fighting and Geese's agent.

"Rival Team"
35 & 36) Mature & Vice- Rugal's secretaries with dark powers, now teaming up with Iori after he beat his last teammates.

"Sub-Boss"
37) Chizuru- A third family to the Kusanagis & Yagamis, hers is a more mystically-inclined one. Acts as a stoic aide.

"Final Boss"
38) Goenitz- The man behind Rugal's empowerment, and an SNK Boss in his own right.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS '97:
* The finale of the Orochi Saga, as the story culminates with the KoF tournament being a huge success that creates arenas the world over just for hosting fights. Most of the previous game's fighters return, adding Billy to things again, while losing Kasumi, Geese, Mr. Big & Krauser, along with Mature & Vice (who were slaughtered by Iori in the previous game), and Goenitz (died fighting the Hero Team). The wildly-popular "New Faces" team appears, acting as a rock band with fighting capabilities- fans immediately fell in love with them because SNK rocked the house with their designs and theme... so of course the game reveals that they're mere plants for Orochi himself, killing them off for good! This game allowed you to choose a style: based off of the previous game (fast attacks), or the first two (defensive, Special Move-based gameplay).

This game went over INCREDIBLY well, and is arguably the high-water-mark of the series in terms of fan interest and love of the storyline. The New Faces Team, Orochi, the whole arc... it all came together here, and other games have been kind of attempting to match that general feeling.

"New Fighters"
39) Blue Mary- Terry's love interest from Fatal Fury, hired by Geese to investigate Orochi again.
40) Yamazaki- Psychopathic madman from Fatal Fury, thrown in with Mary & Billy.
41) Shingo Yabuki- A humorous Kyo Fanboy who becomes a popular recurring character ("Shingo KIIIIIICK!").

"New Faces Team"
42) Chris- A young boy with mystical powers.
43) Shermie- A tall woman with hidden eyes and wrestling moves.
44) Yashiro- A muscular platinum-blonde guy with a rock star's open shirt.

"Final Boss"
45) Orochi- Demonic being come to destroy all humanity.

KING OF FIGHTERS '98:
* With the Orochi Saga finally at an end, the 1998 edition of the game tried something different- they made it a non-continuity "Best Of", brilliantly bringing back popular characters who'd been exiled! Takuma, Heidern & Saisyou (they form the "Old Man Team")! Mature & Vice! Rugal! The AMERICAN SPORTS TEAM! Even Geese, Eiji, Mr. Big, Krauser, Kasumi & Goenitz return in remakes for the PlayStation and other systems. Adding all the versions together, you end up with everyone who'd ever been in a KoF game- a huge roster of 45 names.

Despite doing nothing for story advancement, this "Dream Match" set-up ended up becoming the most popular game in series history, as you could play the "dead" characters, add the Bosses of various games to the roster against the New Faces, and more. Even years later, KoF '98 was still being played- it never got more popular than this.

KING OF FIGHTERS '99:
* And now suddenly we enter a new era- Kyo and his "Hero Team" are no more the main characters- they THEMSELVES have been replaced, creating controversy all over again! Now it's the Kyo clone, the dark & brooding stereotypical anime hero known as K' ("Kay dash"). The new story is the "NESTS Saga", as a Generic Anime Evil Business is the new Big Bad with some cartel (funny how a nation so based around mega-corp Zaibatsus has media that's so anti-corporate. A backlash from their own culture?). And shockingly, the "Three-Man Team" concept, core to the KoF series, is thrown out- we now have FOUR-MAN teams! The teams are still for three main fighters, but a "Striker" is added who can be called in whenever. This shakes up everything, as groups now pile on members, some have to add fourths new to continuity, and more. This was a bit controversial, as it fundamentally changed gameplay, and unbalanced the "highest-level" competition in arcades. Game balance as a whole suffered under a lack of consideration over these changes, too.

The roster is thrown about a tad- DAIMON, a major guy in the Hero Team, is now gone (the new "Hero Team" is actually Benimaru & Shingo teaming with newbies K' and Maxima). Heidern is gone once more. All the previous Bosses are dead, and the American Sports Team never returns. Also gone: Billy, Eiji, Saisyou, Geese, Mr. Big, Krauser, Chizuru, Mature & Vice, The New Faces Team & Yamazaki- a big swath of dudes. Replacing them are:

46) K'- Bad-ass clone of Kyo Kusanagi. Looking for his place in the world or whatever. Our new Main Character.
47) Maxima- A large cyborg dude and friend of K's.
48) Whip- Whip-using character who joins the Ikari Warriors.
49) Bao- Little boy with psychic powers- joins the Psycho Soldiers.
50) Li Xiangfei- Fatal Fury's Chun-Li knockoff joins the Woman Fighters Team.
51) Jhun Hoon- A white-haired Korean TKD fighter who joins in Kim's quest to reform Choi & Chang on the Korea Team.

An enhanced edition of KOF '99, titled King of Fighters '99: Evolution, was released for Dreamcast in the year 2000. The Dreamcast port included new striker characters and a few new stages. The new strikers, include: Athena Asamiya (in her school uniform), Fio Germi, Gai Tendo, Vanessa, Syo Kirishima, Alfred Airhawk, Kyo, Goro Daimon, Billy Kane, Yamazaki, Seth & Chizuru Kagura. KOF '99: Evolution can also be connected with the Neo Geo Pocket Color title, King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise. If you actually owned both games, you could transfer your points from Battle de Paradise to KOF '99: Evolution which would speed up the leveling process for Extra Strikers.

"Final Boss"
52) Kryzalid- A NESTS goon with a long cloak. There turns out to be a lot of those.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2000:
* 2000 continues forth the 4-Man Teams & NESTS Saga, with Zero setting off a "Zero Cannon" kill-satellite that threatens the globe. The "Striker" system was further modified to also allow for "Special Strikers"- characters from all over SNK history, many Joke Characters, and more. Since all they needed to do was hit one attack, they didn't need full characters done. The game went over okay (it's the Fighters Generation guy's favorite in the series), but the graphics were REALLY long in the tooth by the year 2000 (Street Fighter Alpha, from 1995 or so, looked MUCH better!), which helped turn SNK's fighters into the "only popular with longtime fans/hardcore" types in terms of appeal. Which helped kill the company, as SNK as a real company ceased to exist around this time.

Only Bao, Xiangfei & Kryzalid are dropped from the previous game, and we added a new team of heroes to investigate the NESTS cartel.

53) Hinako- Tiny sumo wrestler.
54) Vanessa- MILF Boxer avenging her dead husband against NESTS.
55) Seth- Black dude with white hair, joining Vanessa's quest.
56) Ramon- Luchadore.
57) Lin- Weird villain.
58) Kula Diamond- Strange ice-powered waif. Ends up the most popular of these.

"Final Boss"
59) Zero- Another cloak-wearing NESTS goon.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2001:
* Another NESTS game, seeing some re-used designs with Original Zero & Igniz, but ending that particular story. NESTS operatives have entered the scene (K9999/Angel/Foxy), too! The leader, Nests, is himself slaughtered by Igniz, who becomes the new commander- he reveals that important characters K', Kula, Whip, K9999 & Kryzalid were all genetic creations in laboraties, made for his own personal entertainment.

This game stands out for being done by the Korean company Eolith, comprised of former SNK staff, as the company itself had gone bankrupt after KoF '00. Eolith offered up a new gameplay style, as you selected four fighters as always, but could take four straight-up combatants and NO strikers, or any combination that included at least one actual fighter- if you took Strikers, you'd get more power for your Special Moves and stuff- this wasn't overly popular as an addition, unfortunately. Kasumi & Jhun Hoon are dropped, and Zero is dead. Returning to the roster are Daimon & Heidern.

60) K9999- One of the more on-the-nose rip-offs ever, an obvious knockoff of Tetsuo from Akira. A NESTS operative.
61) Angel- Miss Fanservice personified.
62) Foxy- Evil NESTS agent.
63) May Lee

"Bosses"
64) Original Zero- ... they didn't like the first Zero, so made up a new guy and called him the "Original". That's it.
65) Igniz- New NESTS goon, and who turns out to be their new leader.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002:
* This game is another "Dream Match", like KoF '98, and even tried to lure in fans by dumping the unpopular "Striker" system and returning the games to their 3-on-3 roots. A new theme is "teams that represent each year of the KoF series". You can now use your Power Gauge to counterattack or evade certain moves, altering the system a little bit.

King, Heidern, Shingo, Hinako, Lin, Foxy, Original Zero & Igniz are dropped, but return in an updated edition on another system. Returning are Rugal, Billy Kane, Chris, Shermie & Yashiro. "Updated Edition" returning characters are Geese, Goenitz, Kasumi, Bao, Xiangfei, Jhun Hoon, Kryzalid & Zero. All in all, 44 characters are selectable.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2003:
* A new story begins! The much-beloved, not-at-all-franchise-breaking "Ash Crimson" story starts here! This game allows the person chosen as "Team Leader" to unlock an additional Super Move, and also allows for TAG TEAM gameplay between the characters!

So now both Kyo & K', or previous main characters, take a back seat, while a new kid named Ash takes over as the Main Character, with his feminine appearance breaking the American fandom. Oh, and a crapton of old characters are dropped- Gone are Takuma & Heidern again, joined by Choi of all people, ANDY BOGARD, Sie Kensou & Chin from the Psycho Soldiers, Billy Kane, Geese, Mature & Vice, The New Faces Team, Kula, Kasumi, Bao, Xiangfei, Kryzalid, Vanessa, Seth, Ramon, Lin, Kula, both Zeroes, Angel, Foxy, May Lee & Igniz. Chizuru makes her return, though.

66) Ash Crimson- Feminine-looking white-haired Main Character.
67) Malin- Villainous poisoner.
68) Tizoc- Luchadore, soon to join Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
69) Gato- Kung Fu guy, also turns heroic in Garou.
70) Duo Lon
71) Shen Woo- Evil boxer.

"Bosses"
72) Adelheid Bernstein- Rugal's Son & Sub-Boss.
73) Maki Kagura- Chizuru's dead sister in "shadow form" created by the Yata Mirror.
74) Mukai- Earth-powered powerhouse.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS XI (2005):
* This game replaces the yearly numbering of the series with standard-issue numbers, as they skipped a year as well. The Ash Crimson story continues, with him having drained Chizuru of her powers. Gameplay alterations include being able to change characters in mid-combo, tag people out while they're being hit, and more. Console versions even added stuff like sprite-editing, allowing you to make guys with black flames! This game, while not ending the Ash story, turned out to be the end of an era, however- it was the FINAL game released with the old-school Neo*Geo-quality character sprites! It was also the last King of Fighters game released for four years.

For the roster, Daimon leaves again, this time joined by Joe Higashi (leaving Terry alone on the main "Fatal Fury team"), Chang (joining Choi in exile), Leona, Jhun Hoon, Yamazaki, Hinako, and Mukai. Eiji makes his return, along with Mr. Big, Kasumi, Vanessa, Ramon & Kula.

75) Sho Hayate- Guest Character from Savage Reign.
76) Bonne Jenet- Another Garou character- a lovable pirate queen.
77) Elisabeth Blanctorche- A new major character, a prim & proper lass.
78) Momoko- A new Psycho Soldier using Capoeria.
79) Gai Tendo- Guest Character from Buriki One.
80) Magaki
81) Shion- Feminine male.
82) Silber
83) Jyazu- Guest Character from Kizuna Encounter.
84) Hotaru- Updated edition only. From Garou.
85) Tung Fu Rue- From Fatal Fury, off-and-on. Terry's mentor.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII (2009):
* This game is by far most notable for its massive restructuring of the game and its roster, owing to what fans had been hoping for for years... NEW CHARACTER SPRITES! In fact, King of Fighters now had the prettiest Fighting Game on the market, as ugly 3D graphics and character animations were now the norm, leaving sprites a thing of the past... until KoF completely re-did theirs, giving us some of the most-detailed 2D graphics out there! This, however, had a catastrophic effect on the roster, which had to dump a huge chunk of the old guard in order to give proper respect to the all-new things they'd have to create for long-timers like Kyo, Terry & Iori. Now, the game has a paltry 22 characters, which is now actually less than what Capcom was typically offering for a Street Fighter game. And worse, many of them have LOST MOVES between editions, as there simply wasn't enough time, most likely. This ends up leaving the game feel rather unfinished, especially to old fans- everyone was just hoping for the sequel.

More Ash Crimson! And Iori's now had his powers stolen, too! Gone now are big names like King, Mai & Yuri, along with Adelheid, Eiji, Mr. Big, Kasumi, Shingo, Blue Mary, Maxima, Whip, Vanessa, Ramon, Kula, Tizoc, Gato, Malin, Hayate, B.Jenet, Momoko, Gai, Magaki, Shion, Jyazu, Tung Fu Rue & Hotaru. A lot of big names return, including Daimon, Andy, Joe, Leona, Kensou, Chin & Mature. Unusually, however, there is no Final Boss!

86) Raiden- The big wrestler from Fatal Fury.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII (2010):
* As expected, a new KoF came out the following year, completing the "Ash Crimson Arc". Sadly, this would be the final game to use these incredible graphics- all that work on all those characters, and they only got two games out of them. Ash has now drained Kyo Kusanagi of his powers, too, leaving the entire Orochi-stopping trio with just their basic attacks. The Final Boss, Saiki, reveals that his plan is to use the winning team's power to fuel a trip through time, but his minion, Ash, was self-serving and intends to use the powers he's gathered for himself! In the end, however, Ash sacrifices himself to stop the villain. The game went over really well for its graphics, and the Fighters Generation guy liked it, but apparently it suffered from a poor online mode- this was DEATH in today's day and age, and a requirement for any competitive game. This meant that the game fell into obscurity almost before it got started, and it never recovered.

Takuma, Mai, King & Yuri are back, as are Billy Kane, Vice, Maxima & Kula.

87) Hwa Jai- A crazy deep-cut, all the way from the first Fatal Fury game!
88) Saiki- The Final Boss.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV (2016):
* The most recent game upgrades things with 3D graphics, allowing for a good "Best Of" roster, but sadly dumping the 2D graphics that will inevitably hold up better than any of today's 3D stuff (just look at how much better late-generation SNES games look than even PS2 games these days). This game boasts an enormous roster of FIFTY characters, and oddly adds a full NINTEEN newbies to things- this is probably a big mistake, as debuting all of those characters at once inevitably leaves most of them unfinished and unmemorable- there's just no chance for any one of them to gain traction with fans when it's a big shiny new graphical system for EVERYBODY, and we instead add a ton of totally new characters nobody's ever seen before. It's like DC's "New 52" all over again- there's no chance your quirky side books are gonna be successful when you released Action Comics #1 at the same time, and dump 20 all-new titles at once, too. That said, releasing a game with so many characters at launch is a real slap in the face to every company that released unfinished garbage and incomplete rosters with the promise of "Future DLC", like Capcom did with the disgusting failure that was Street Fighter V.

In the new story, the billionaire Antonov has called for a new tournament, declaring himself the "Original Champion".

For the roster, Takuma leaves again, as does Yuri. K', Seth, Angel & Tung Fu Rue come back. Choi & Chang return as part of a new criminal team. Heidern, Blue Mary, Whip, Vanessa, Oswald & Orochi return in one version.

89) Shun'ei- The new Main Character- a hipster-dressing teen with aquamarine hair.
90) Meitenkun- Shun'ei's best friend, a sleepy kid with great hidden power.
91) Sylvie Paula Paula- One of those goofy "Idol in silly costume" characters.
92) Kukri- Dark-dressing assassin.
93) Mian- Acrobatic Chinese Masked Dancer.
94) Luong- A seductive TKD fighter on the Korea Team.
95) Gang-Il- Kim's short, stocky, ladies' man mentor.
96) Nelson
97) Mui Mui
98) Bandeiras Hattori
99) Hein
100) Xanadu- Evil criminal who joins Choi & Chang's new team.
101) Alice
102) Love Heart
103) Zarina
104) Antonov- A new Final Boss, who declared a new tournament.
105) Verse
106) Najd
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KoF Posting Order

Post by Jabroniville »

The Posting Order:
-Determining the all-important Posting Order is ridiculously hard for games like this- there are so many factors to take into account:
1) Not putting too many important characters close together (this tends to kill commentary or focus on any one), or putting too many lesser-known characters together (because people get bored of all the nobodies).
2) Putting related characters together- it's best to put people on one Team together, to make the stories a little easier to read. This often counteracts #1 (Hero Teams are typically comprised of important characters). So the Psycho Soldiers, Ikari Warriors & Korea Team mostly get put together.
3) Rivals are often best posted close together, as are related characters (there's about a dozen people close to Kyo, for example).
4) When to post the Bosses? I felt like putting most of them, as they are VERY similar, close together, allowing myself and others to take not of them as a whole. Again, this can mess with #1.
5) Giving some credence to the order the characters appeared in (so I'm not posting KoF XIV characters right at the beginning), while also not dumping all the less-known characters at the end.
6) More than one side-game that introduces MORE new characters, thus filling things with a glut of awful, forgotten characters.
7) Add in three different sets of "Hero Teams", legions of newbies introduced in the most-recent game.

It took me a few go-overs to come up with a posting order I'd be happy with- ultimately, you'll see the first Hero Team sooner rather than later, most of the Teams posted in clusters together, and with the newbie KoF XIV types interspersed throughout. The other two Hero Teams are near the middle and the end of the order, and the KoF Maximum Impact and EX characters will be posted in a big dump right at the end, so as to not bore everyone.
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American Sports Team

Post by Jabroniville »

THE AMERICAN SPORTS TEAM:
-Among the more famous examples of characters just getting dumped from a Fight Game series are the "American Team" (and believe me, THAT designation is deliberate), which has turned into a running gag. Brian Battler, Lucky Glauber and Heavy D! were a trio of sports stars who represented the U.S. in the King of Fighters tournament, but were easily defeated. And then, in subsequent games, some upstarts would run in and destroy them to take their invitations- first the "New Faces" team (Chris, Yashiro & Shermie) in '97, and the Vanessa/Ramon/Seth team in 2000.
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Brian Battler

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

BRIAN BATTLER
First Appearance:
King of Fighters '94
Game Appearances: King of Fighters '94 & '98 only (14% of series)
Role: Joke Character, Simple Fighter, Abandoned Fighter
PL 7 (83)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+4)
Athletics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+10)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Football) 7 (+7)
Intimidation 7 (+7)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Brian Tornado), Improved Critical (Hyper Tackle), Improved Critical (Rocket Tackle)

SNK Fighting Style: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Brian Tornado" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Multiattack 4) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Affliction 4 (Toughness; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (6) -- [9]
  • AE: "Tiger Driver" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit if Opponent Parried Last Turn) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
  • AE: "Hyper Tackle" Strength-Damage +2 (Inaccurate -1) (1)
  • AE: "Anti-Air" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit Jumping Opponents) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Special Moves +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Brian Tornado +10 (+4 Damage & Affliction, DC 19 & 14)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Hurting People)- Brian has a history of violent behavior, and finds pleasure in tackling his opponents.
Weakness (Predictability)- SNK Characters cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time they try the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, they will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 3 + 11 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 15 (83)

-Battler is a top-heavy, Caucasian player of American Football- he was meant to be from the SNK game Football Frenzy, as most KoF characters were meant to come from other SNK games. His design is... ludicrously simple. He's just some big dude in regular clothes with some weird piece of armor on his shoulder, presumably to make his dumb football stuff come off better.

-Battler's Football-themed fighting style is actually somewhat similar to Balrog and other dash-happy strikers. His moves are actually REALLY cool, though- he fires out a TIGER DRIVER (Mistuharu Misawa's finisher) as his Grab, his Brian Tornado is a spinning shoulder tackle, he has an Anti-Air, and more. People have said that the American Team, despite being jokes, are just as devastating as anyone if played correctly. No tricks required.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Yamazaki! Rock Howard! Kain! The King of Fighters!!!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Big, broad upper body, single shoulder pad...were all the 90s comic book characters American Football players all along?
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Yamazaki! Rock Howard! Kain! The King of Fighters!!!)

Post by M4C8 »

I just looked up the 'Tiger Driver' move :shock: 'kin-ell' it looks dangerous.
'A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it'
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Lucky Glauber

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

LUCKY GLAUBER
First Appearance:
King of Fighters '94
Game Appearances: King of Fighters '94 & '98 only (14% of series)
Role: Joke Character, Simple Fighter, Abandoned Fighter, Basketball Fighter
PL 7 (98)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+11)
Expertise (Basketball) 7 (+10)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Persuasion 2 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Basketballs) 6 (+10)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Death Bound), Improved Critical (Death Dunk), Improved Critical (Cyclone Break), Ranged Attack 4

SNK Fighting Style: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Death Bound" Blast 4 (Feats: Ricochet 2) (Reduced Defenses -2, Diminished Range -1) (5) -- [8]
  • AE: "Death Dunk/Death Toss" Blast 4 (Reduced Defenses -2, Diminished Range -1) (3)
  • AE: "Cyclone Break" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Multiattack 3) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Affliction 3 (Toughness; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (5)
  • AE: "Death Wheel- Jumping Knee" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit Jumping Opponents) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
"Lucky Vision"
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion, Improved Defenses [2]
Enhanced Dodge 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Death Wheel +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Cyclone Break +11 (+3 Damage & Affliction, DC 18 & 13)
Death Bound/Dunk +10 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Fun)- Lucky mostly joined the tournament on a lark, and isn't that disappointed by his team's loss.
Weakness (Predictability)- SNK Characters cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time they try the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, they will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done. However, Lucky may use Blasts indefinitely.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 9 + 11 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 14 (98)

-Joining the team full of stereotypes, Lucky Glauber is possibly the silliest King of Fighters character- at least football and boxing are violent sports. Lucky is just a tall, athletic basketball player. Now, the NBA has produced some real badasses (witness Will Reed fighting the entire Los Angeles Lakers by himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsOvUc3FGMk), but these are outliers- Lucky is said to simply have dabbled in karate and joined the tournament on a lark, enjoying his life outside of fighting as well. So this guy is just wearing his friggin' basketball uniform with a sports jacket and getting into fights. Then you add him throwing around a basketball as a Ranged Weapon and you've got a world of snark headed your way. So there's a reason this guy and his team were unpersoned from the franchise so quickly, appearing only in the first game and the "Everyone Gets In" 1998 edition.

-It's suggested that Lucky is based off of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's character from Game of Death, but others suspect that he had something to do with SNK Dunk Dream game, inspired by the popularity of basketball in Japan (where Michael Jordan was a big name, and the Slam Dunk manga became a smash hit, with the team openly aping the then-popular Chicago Bulls with their uniforms.

-Despite being snark-worthy, Lucky and his team were actually very solid in play, and can be nightmares to beat if you fight them late enough and the game has amped up the difficulty level. Lucky in particular has NUMEROUS kinds of blasts, which can make him a horrendous opponent- the purpose of a ranged attack in a Fighting Game isn't necessarily pure damage- it's about holding the opponent off or "zoning" them- guys with a single Blast can be tricky, but generally predicted. Lucky's sheer variety of moves means that the Blasts come from all over the place, meaning there are many places you're not safe- the Lob shot can catch you jumping in, and the Death Bound has a tricky hitbox as well. This means that he doesn't suffer from the "Predictability" problem other fighters do, at least with regards to his Blasts (which inexplicably produce a never-ending series of basketballs from nothing). He's also somewhat versatile, possessing an Anti-Air (to REALLY punish jumpers) and a Multiattack. There's also a "Lucky Vision" technique devoted entirely to evading energy attacks.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Yamazaki! Rock Howard! Kain! The King of Fighters!!!)

Post by Jabroniville »

M4C8 wrote: Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:57 am I just looked up the 'Tiger Driver' move :shock: 'kin-ell' it looks dangerous.
Japan is FULL of insane moves.

Check out Manami Toyota's Victory Star Drop and try to figure out how both women wrestled into their late 40s:

Image

Misawa had an UPGRADED Tiger Driver, too- the Tiger Driver '91:

Image
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Yamazaki! Rock Howard! Kain! The King of Fighters!!!)

Post by Ares »

It kind of takes away from the idea that the King of Fighters is this elite collection of the best fighters in the world when a trio of sports athletes show up to take on guys with decades of martial arts training, real world combat experience and most of whom have some kind of chi powers.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Yamazaki! Rock Howard! Kain! The King of Fighters!!!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Ares wrote: Thu Nov 21, 2019 3:35 am It kind of takes away from the idea that the King of Fighters is this elite collection of the best fighters in the world when a trio of sports athletes show up to take on guys with decades of martial arts training, real world combat experience and most of whom have some kind of chi powers.
Which is why it makes sense that they'd quickly lose and end up failing to re-enter. Though given some of the weird characters that show up later..
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Heavy D!

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

HEAVY D!
First Appearance:
King of Fighters '94
Game Appearances: King of Fighters '94 & '98 only (14% of series)
Role: Joke Character, Simple Fighter, Abandoned Fighter, Boxer
PL 8 (87)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+11)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Persuasion 2 (+4)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Ducking Combination), Improved Critical (Blast Upper), Improved Critical (Soul Driver)

SNK Fighting Style: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Ducking Combination" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Multiattack 4) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Affliction 4 (Toughness; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (Inaccurate -1) (6) -- [8]
  • AE: "Blast Upper!" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach, +2 to Hit Jumping Opponents) (Inaccurate -1) (3)
  • AE: "Soul Driver- Heavy Punch" Strength-Damage +2 (Inaccurate -1) (1)
"Shadow"
Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Limited to Temporary Boosts) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Soul Driver/Blast Upper +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Ducking Combination +10 (+4 Damage & Affliction, DC 19 & 14)
Shadow Unarmed +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Shadow Soul Driver/Blast Upper +9 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Shadow Ducking Combination +10 (+5 Damage & +4 Affliction, DC 20 & 14)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Reputation (Dangerous)- Heavy D! badly injured someone during a fight, and as expelled for it. He now keeps his skills sharp by street-fighting.
Weakness (Predictability)- SNK Characters cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time they try the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, they will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 4 + 11 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 15 (87)

-SNK really, REALLY suffers from a lack of imagination when it comes to Boxing-themed fighters. They tend to just throw whatever they have into boxing trunks and say "okay, that's good enough". So you end up with forgettable garbage like Mickey Rogers, Michael Max, and Axel Hawk... and then Heavy D! here. Three out of four of these generic designs is just "a black guy" (though this guy actually adds a more interesting haircut and some snappy threads instead of "shorts"), which tells you all of what you need to know about what Japan thinks of heavyweight boxing. A guy who actually uses a martial art should theoretically be competitive in the King of Fighters tournament, but nope- Heavy D! gets trashed just as easily as every other fighter on his team.

-Heavy D! is simple on the whole- a basic striker with a big punch, an Anti-Air, and a Multiattack. Very generic... but then they add that weird "Shadow" move that temporarily boosts the power of his punches. This can only really be classified as a PL-breaking damage upgrade in M&M, so Heavy D! ends up being PL 7.5, but only for a short time. Otherwise, in-game he's a solid "poker"/combo-themed fighter.
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