King of Fighters Retrospective - Part 2 - The NESTS Saga - Fighting Game Retrospectives
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2024
- In Part 2 of our look back at the history of King of Fighters we jump into a bold new world of heroes and shadowy dangers... and that's just the stuff that went on at SNK.
If you missed Part 1 then check it out here - • King of Fighters Retro...
Title Card Art made by - / dopelenny
Follow us around the web at
Twitter - / thorgisarcade
Twitch - / professorthorgi
#KingofFighters #KOF
0:00 - Intro
2:13 - A Brand New Story
4:55 - Why Did KOF 99 Feel so Different?
10:42 - King of Fighters 99's Mechanics and Presentation
19:00 - King of Fighters 99's Story and Roster
41:30 - The Financial Trouble Behind KOF 2000
44:50 - SNK Purchased by Aruze
48:06 - King of Fighters 2000 Story and Roster
1:04:45 - King of Fighters 2000 Strikers
1:12:45 - Eolith and the Making of KOF 2001
1:20:39 - King of Fighters 2001 Story and Gameplay
1:23:20 - King of FIghters 2001 Roster
1:28:07 - Angel and K9999
1:37:46 - The End of the NESTS Saga
1:46:18 - King of Fighters 2002
1:55:07 - KOF 2002 Unlimited Match
2:03:58 - Reforming SNK - เกม
![[FULL EP.14] เซียนหรั่ง สอน มาร์ชจุ จับปูนา ฮากระจาย | เฮ็ดอย่างเซียนหรั่ง | One Playground](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/M8mPjd_T2lo/mqdefault.jpg)
For anyone wondering K' is a math pun. ' is the symbol for a mathematical derivative, so basically K' is the derivative of Kyo. ' is typically pronounced as prime, which is where the K Prime name came from, but it can be pronounced as dash, hence K Dash.
It is also of note that this was not the first time a fighting game series used "Dash" in such a manner.
Because the Japanese name of Street Fighter II Championship Edition is Street Fighter II' (read as "Street Fighter II Dash).
It's in the logo! I'm sure nobody paid attention to the logo for Champion Edition, but there's an apostrophe there.
I’m mad that i’m old enough to understand this calculus reference
@@dariousforbes3427 I had a surprising semester in college Calculus when they taught me how to graph the prime and the maxima of a formula.
@@PaganElements Jesus these math puns are killing me lol
The Japanese Name from Echo Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is Dash Fighters (ダッシュファイター ) and are represented with a Prime simbol (') than an Epsilon (ε) referencing that the fighter is a derivative of another one.
"Is this the end of loveable igniz" is just one of those lines that sticks in the back of your head until you're reminded of it again and start laughing. It's just such a weird line.
The thing is, K9999's name is canonically pronounced "Kay-four-nine", because Ángel says "Kei fo nain wa mada kodomo dakara nya" in their special intro. I take it that he was supposed to be called Kay Nine Nine Nine Nine, but Ángel shortened it and he started answering to K Four Nine.
Also, 2002's max mode is way different from older max modes, as it adds special-to-special canceling, making it basically XIII before XIII. And weirdly, K9999 is in the Japanese PS2 version of 02UM, in the MVS mode, in 2009, well into the "K9999 dudn't real" times.
The way K9999 is pronounced is a normal thing when japanese are pronouncing a group of the same number in english. The famous manga/anime Galaxy Express 999 is officially pronounced "Galaxy Express three-nine".
A.K.A Tetsuo! 😁
@@NintenNessLucas64 K9999 is in 2002 UM? Can you tell me more about that? Is it only him or is Nameless also there for some reason?
@@juanca2567 the PS2 version of 02UM had a Neogeo mode that let's you play vanilla 02, which you know had K9999. Pretty sure it wasn't Japan only btw it was in all versions
"they are a religion in Mexico" Truer words have never been spoken dude. When I was a kid I fell in love with the series starting with 94. After school, some friends and I would go to a local arcade (a shop with 3 machines) and spend all of our lunch money there. We weren't the only ones. You'd see all these little shops full of kids in school uniforms, with backpacks all over the floor, fighting for next turn. We were the ones whose families couldn't afford video game consoles so this was it for many of us. Many friendships forged (and lost haha) back then with these games. Thank you for these retrospects. They're awesome!
I lived in a small town in Mexico during the KOF 94-2003 era, and while I can't speak for all of Mexico, the SF Alpha series kinda slipped past us unless you either bought the console games or saw them guest star in the Marvel VS Games. So I found it funny that when Capcom VS SNK came out there were probably plenty of American fans wondering who the hell Kyo and Iori were, there were people in my area that didn't know who Sakura and Dan were since they were newer characters that weren't in the OG SF2 games.
@@VideoGameMasters09 I guess it depends on how big the city is. Because I lived in a big city in the north, and Street Fighter was HUUUUGE, and I’m talking the pre-kof days. Kof didn’t even exist when people in my city were going crazy for SF2. When kof was already a thing, Alpha and the Marvel vs Series was already a big hit in the arcades, along with Mortal Kombat. Kof was a big success too. So yeah, at least where I lived, kof wasn’t the sole ruler of the fighting game scene.
@@RevengerPhoenix yeah, it was a smaller town and I only ever saw an Alpha or XMen vs SF arcade whenever I visited larger cities. Not many people actually owned gaming consoles but I did have a PS and we were playing the Alpha games on it.
@@RevengerPhoenix It depends where are you looking more than the city. Another factor about KOF being huge was due to piracy, and in the 90's and a chunk of 2000's was common to have arcade machines where your local grocery or pharmacy store was. And i really doubt those places were paying what an actual arcade was, and as said Neo Geo was easy to pirate, so much that later games specially 2003, had low sales since it was pirated day one. Thus KOF being the sole ruler among a certain population since the machines were accesible due to piracy (Capcom had some very harmful anti-piracy practices for later games like Alpha or MvC). But among the console market the thing was a little more even, hearing about SF3 and Alpha series until my older brother borrowed a Dreamcast from his friend in 2000.
@@ppprime98K not denying that Neogeo was a easy thing to pirate and spread everywhere. But Capcom machines were super common where I lived. Heck, I found an X-Men vs Street Fighter machine in the tienda de la esquina, which was super small. And I managed to even spot a SF3 machine too. So I stand by my original statement and say, it really depends on the city. I guess bigger cities got easier access to legit Capcom machines. But neogeo machines did spread fast in my city too. Just saying that the SF brand was very popular in my city, and SNK took a while to catch on. Probably until KoF 98 was when they became a legit competitor to the SF machines where I lived.
The development for these games sounds Legitimately Impossible. I don't know what demon SNK had locked up in their basement, but I REALLY want to meet the devs just to talk about their experiences.
Definitely some sort of demonic pact
@@feihtyt2063offering the burned souls of crunched developers.
"Killing Kyo, and making plans on killing Kyo."
*"Being a Bassist in a band is just my day job." - Iori, probably
"GNARLY! LET'S DO IT, DUDES." - Most definitely Iori
Iori pretty bad at killing Kyo, hasn’t succeeded once in 15 tournaments
@@gjfwang 14, unless you count not attending KoF94 his first faiulre.
@@gjfwang to be fair, i feel that neither of them are taking their rivalry that seriously at this point
The story behind Angel's creation might just be the best thing I've ever heard. This might just be my inner Mahvel fan speaking, but I kind of like strikers, at least the later versions. Sure they're not equally useful, but assists and characters in general rarely are. In theory, a character could be a good striker, but bad on point or vice versa.
Design out of a hustle.LOVE IT!!!
SNK
2000: It’s not our fault! Azure gutted us and we had strict schedule, so we couldn’t save Seirah, the continuity would have to be compromised, and we made a disappointing final boss that could’ve at least had the “SNK boss syndrome”. At least we could thank Mexico with Rámon.
2001: I… I …… I lost $5000 ….. and Diana.
By the way, what did the scene at the pool table come from?
@@juanca2567 Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Ña. Incluye el que te he . Mmnl
@@s3studios597 Thank you! I might be asking too much, but which season and episode?
1:33:01 WHAT?! K9999 and Testuo have the same voice actor!? I knew K9999 was based on Testuo, but I didn't know he had the smae voice actor as Testuo!
56:58 I know what they were actually going for, but Zero calling Heidern a simp with modern day knowledge is hilarious
hearing about how eolith wanted their first proper kof to be a return to form reminds me of how XIV ended up being a lot of old faces and simpler gameplay to ease people into the new management. it's like poetry, it rhymes
[Harry Plinkett has entered the chat]
...The reason Angel exists is quite possibly one of the greatest video game stories I have ever heard. Oh my good lord.
...*After* the various Kawasaki stories.
SNK
2000: It’s not our fault! Azure gutted us and we had strict schedule, so we couldn’t save Seirah, the continuity would have to be compromised, and we made a disappointing final boss that could’ve at least had the “SNK boss syndrome”. At least we could thank Mexico with Rámon.
2001: I… I …… I lost $5000 ….. and Diana.
By the way, what did the scene at the pool table come from?
@@juanca2567 I think it was the fresh prince of bel air
@@morbiusv5857 Thank you! I might be asking too much, but which season and episode?
@@juanca2567 Episode 22 season 1 «Banks Shot»
Here is a fun story, i actually didnt watch akira until way after i had played kof, so when i saw it i seriously thought it was a movie about k9999
same but i looked it up and apparently it was an homage i couldn’t believe it cz i loved kof as it was the first video game i ever played on the arcade machines and akira was one my favorite movies(tho i hated tetsuo in the beginning). but after playing kof2001 and watching the movies…… fuck man it was so cool . even tho the devs hate k9999 i loved his character, moveset, and his super he was my go to on kof2002. i just wished they had kept his original design 😔
1:40 LMFAO!!! "You're out here playing KOF, he's playing GUILTY GEAR"! They are my two favorite bosses in KOF.
Fun Fact: Vanessa's design is what HEAVILY inspired the design for Adell in the Disgaea franchise.
If that's true, that's freaking awesome.
:o
And C Viper in street fighter IV
What!
Love hearing how Angel character was design out of a hustle.
So up until his inclusion in KoFXV as Krohnen, the company was pretty much singing:
“We don’t talk about K9999”
What about singing? Is that allowed?
@@Ephraim225 it's a joke on a song from Enchato, a recent Pixar film
@@misterjersey5460 Encanto is a Disney film
@@Ephraim225 r/woooosh
“I had to keep the lie going for years.”
Fun Fact: The voice actor for Angel in 2002 is the same VA for Haruko from FLCL. Going to watch that anime was kinda surreal since Haruko basically uses the exact same voice for 2002 Angel and even sorta acts in a similarly playful manner (though it's probably vice versa since FLCL came a year earlier). I recognized her instantly cause of how familiar I am with 2002 Angel and seeing her supers so, so many times.
Also, I got a feeling that "Dream Match/Finale game that abandons the concepts and characters set forth in the saga itself" is gonna be something said word-for-word the next time we visit KOF.
Also *also*, my god this saga for SNK was insane. I only had a vague knowledge that SNK went bankrupt at this time and came back somehow, but seeing them die, have their corpse looted, be revived with only an arm and a leg, then slowly outlive both their reviver and killer both through sheer happenstance and insane planning (I feel bad for Eolith though. They seemed like a swell company, especially in comparison to Aruze). They started 2003 practically in the same position they ended 1999, with all the staff back under their umbrella and their properties re-owned, almost stronger than ever. Things are looking great for them (from this video at least, I know we got another bankruptcy and pachinko hell coming up).
That story about SNK losing at their own game and agreeing to let what amounts to some professional KOF fans put their own OC in 2001 (who became a mainstay down the line) was also super funny, especially since _they_ were the ones who put the bet up after acting all cocky.
Wow that kula ending with her asking why candy keeps calling her friend then being told to give her a hug was surprisingly heartbreaking.
The music is what makes it so memorable.
who asked?
@@benjaminvalencia1017 Who asked for your existence?
@@dantelawrence4676 how is that a comeback? Hahaha
@@benjaminvalencia1017L+ratio
about the popularity of KOF in Latam, I also think another thing is important: SNK games have Spanish and Portuguese translation and this is something that we usualy don't have. So not only was easier to find SNK cabinets in any place, we could (sorta) understand what was happening, something rare. Even today many games dosnt have portuguese translation
I’m from Mexico and I’m confirming that as a kid in the 90’s and even early 2000’s king of fighters was huge in the arcade machines! The funny and ironic thing was that Ramon wasn’t even popular lol he was almost looked down upon Angel instead was the most popular one 😂 at least where I’m from though, I don’t know about the rest of the country lol
Reason why i don't play KOF compeitvely - aside from work - eventhought i'm still really good at it - gotta love Shermie and Chris - is because of her lol. Angel AngeL ANGEL everywhere.... ugh
@@xm_heecka.laddder.job_mx5962 lol I just came back from visiting my dad in Mexico a week ago, and I can 100% confirm that in the small arcade in the town close to where I’m from KOF it’s still huge, it’s still as popular as it was when I was a kid 🥹🥲
K' and Kula were the ones who defeated Igniz, not the hero team. He completely wrecked the hero team after which Kula came to K' aid and they overpowered him. This was another throwback by Eolith, when in older KOF games main characters would unite to defeat the main villain.
don't forget Kyo and Iori also helped K' and Kula to defeat Igniz
With regards to K's memories, I'm pretty sure the original JP line is 'now that you *have* your memories.' IE: Now that he knows what his past is, even if he doesn't remember-remember it. Rather than Igniz giving them back, he's just saying that K' is stronger and more determined now that he knows the full truth.
When it comes to south town; it’s sorta implied they built a new one with blackjack and hookers. No seriously in garou the town is called “Second South” and in garou it’s supposed to be a celebration of the now crime ridden city finally having new life breathed into it. In the kof universe it’s hinted that south town was rebuilt and it’s called second south in remembrance of the tragedy that happened. It’s actually a pretty creative way to keep FF/AoF universe plot points relevant with the different plot of the kof timeline.
Between the ambition and all the shit they had to go through, you've given me a whole new level of respect and appreciation for SNK.
Best part was Aruze getting karmic justice & the entire premiere chat popping off lol
That's not even Karma. That's their own stupidity striking back. Seriously, the IPs are probably the only thing that interested them, why would they sell everything ? It's so dumb I would buy a conspiracy theory saying that they were sabotaged somehow.
I don't know why but... Aruze feels like a villain name tbh
@@My_cats_name_is_Meophine Aruze absolutely sounds like an SNK boss to me.
Here's what confuses me... why were they so hellbent on destroying SNK? Like... what was the point? Did they just suck at KOF and wanted some form of petty revenge? Were they just idiots? Because not even EA was/is stupid enough to IMMEDIATELY start destroying a studio they JUST bought...
They do it a few years later of course
@@NoahDaArk same reason Konamu became what it is today: once you see the insane amount of money Pachinko makes, you just want more and more. More franchises to make new machines, more companies to keep on sucking them from, and when the franchises are completely devalued, you just throw them away and go for the next one, like squeezing lemons for a lemonade. Except they kept on sucking even after throwing them away and got caught. Pachinko companies never gave a shit about any of the franchises they're making machines for, they just want the absurd amount of money they bring and that's it.
The "Nests" saga was probably the most nostalgic to me because KOF 99 was my first KOF when I played the PS1 port. It also became a major turning point for me in my youth because It got me fascinated with Asian cultures and wanting to learn the language just so I can understand the special pre-battle intros and the context to why these interactions are supposed to matter. KOF games in the USA were a bit scarce during the '90s/early 2000s. So for sheltered people like me at the time who didn't own a Neo Geo but wanted to play all the KOF games, it was a "take what you can get" scenario. (I didn't even discover the joys of emulators until 2006. lol)
KOF 99 was my first KOF as well, so it’s definitely nostalgic for me too.
if u can find it, play the last blade series, one of the greatest neogeo release.
MEANWHILE in that country just below the US. KOF and SNK series were practically Relevant Culture. Yup, you were missing out
1:10:33 G-Mantle actually dropped Terry off in a taxi in the first Fatal Fury game intro and I can't help but laugh that Terry would get in a effing car with someone who could clearly be a maniac/murderer.
Even better, he actually dropped him off
Mexican here. This makes me very nostalgic, i remember playing KOF 2001 outside of highschool, sometimes skipping boring classes going to a "papeleria" (School supply store) where they had KoF and Metal Slug arcade machines and waste away hours. And of course all mexicans love Ramon and Angel, 2 very non stereotypical fighters.
NESTS saga was great, lots of unexpected twists and turns both inside and outside the games, so glad SNK managed to pull through.
I love how K9999 is just an second antagonist for the main hero, that just exists for the sake of being an cooler and more threatning than the other rival from the last game
Did you know that the logo of KOF 2001 has K9999's colours?
Just compare that logo with one of K9999's official artworks
That punk was the face of KOF 2001
Man: "The Rumble Fi-"
Woman: "The Rumble Fish!"
Man: "I WAS TALKING!"
I am quite serious when I say that I find the behind the scenes events here incredibly inspiring. It is very tough to imagine what they could have been going through during that moment, and seeing how they managed to not just pull through in the end, but also continue is simply amazing. I ended up finding that story more interesting than the games themselves.
Maxima was also named after a character from an old SNK game called Robo Army.
In the 90's or 00's you were able to find at least 1 arcade KoF cabinet in every neighborhood in Brazil.
Everybody played that. KoF is huge in Brazil to this day
My guess for K9999 aka Kronen getting wiped is possibly a story thing too. So maybe they thought, story wise, Kronen wanted to be forgotten until he wanted to reveal himself proper.
OK, I've settled myself after watching this a couple more times, so Here we go again - It's trivia time;
1) What actually happened at the end of KoF97 is - after Kyo and Iori went unconscious by sealing off Orochi, Chizuru went out to call for help. and that's when NESTS agents showed up to abduct the duo. While they succeeded in claiming the Kusanagi, Iori woke up in between, killed all the NEST agents around him and went to search for his abducted rival. Chizuru returned to find Kyo and Iori missing, and also dead bodies of unidentified people lying around.
1-1) Or there is an alternative timeline that Iori and Kyo went Isekai. but let's leave that non-canon for the moment.
2) like said, KoF99 had new ideas to apply changes and some were mixedbags. one was ditching the back dodge and changing it with backstep-frontstep motion. it was suppose to give the player to dodge than counter immediately, but it only made players confusing since there was no way to move away from the opponent. this system was straightly removed and never seen again.
3) While most of the KoF fans puts 99 in the 'bad lineup' of the series, they all agree on one thing though - the soundtrack. The SNK sound team, known as "Shinsekaigakkyokuzatsukidan" did their finest job in 99 and the new arranged version of Esaka, newly titled "Tears" is one of all time fan's favorite.
4) While K' is a (sort of) new character, Maxima is a renewal character from SNK 1991 beat'em up "Robo Army". in that game Maxima was a soldier named Leon Cruz who was fatally wounded and became a cyborg named Maxima.
5) The clone Kyo in 99 while in first look resemble Kyo from 94 and 96, they played totally differently. while Kyo-1 was interesting and had his own fanbase, Kyo-2 was almost unplayable that nobody played him.
6) The icon of the NESTS saga - The Striker system. while it was almost meaningless in 99, its upgrade in 00 and 01 made the series broken. for example in 00, Joe striker was able to wake up the down opponent leading to almost infinite as long as you have the Striker bomb. in 01, you could summon all 3 strikers at once and could perform an instant kill combo. the most favored Strikers were Goro, Seth and Xiangfei. If you're wondering why Strikers were gone in 02 - That's why.
7) 99 was the last time that Kyo(The original) was considered as the top tier of the title. while he did manage to claim as high tier in the future, he would never get his finest day like he did with this and 95. 02 and 03 was the worst for him, along with SvC chaos making the 3 worst games to play as him.
8) Kula Diamond was first hinted at the Kof 99 Soundtrack CD as "Anti K'". when she made her debut in 00, like K' she had a serious tone and looks quite different from what she looks now. decision was made to give her a school girl attitude and more of a heroine figure since 01. She now is one of the few fan favorites that doesn't reveal herself like Mai or Angel does.
9) Eolith, yes they claimed the KoF license and funded Brezzasoft to make 01 and 02. yes they did have their own ideas applied to the game. what they didn't do however is to have May Lee fight like a sentai hero(aka Kamen rider), and didn't check the design of the Korean stage in 01 so the Korean ppl in that background wears nothing like they do in real life.
10) So what did Eolith did than? as said in the video, Eolith wanted to have a female character representative of their country. Not to mention Jhun Hoon wasn't a popular character even in Korea. so they ordered to have a new female character for the 4th member of the Korean team - which became May Lee. Another certain thing Eolith did was they looked at the design of the final boss (who that time was the NESTS leader) and told to have a younger, beautiful looking male character as the replacement. Brezzasoft wasn't happy about this, but Eolith kept demanding and they had no other choice so they made Igniz but kept the original setting of him so Igniz, while looking young and beautiful, was aged 56 and voiced by an actor who was 56 at the time.
few, that was long, but not over. will be back soon to add more trivias for anyone who read this long reply. Thanks if you're still reading.
11) Brezzasoft and Playmore were both companies specifically made to salvage SNK and its IP. with the original SNK being torn apart by Aruze, the company owner Kawasaki were desperate to do anything. so after things were settled down and was back on its business, the Two companies were united as SNK Playmore and now back to SNK.
11-1) But even with SNK resurrected, things were still grim though. lot of its core creators were gone, and their flagship arcade board was still the MVS. not to mention the mid/later 2000's were the declining moment of Arcade and fighting game market. not sure Thorgi will "touch" this subject for the future episodes, but SNK had to focus on Mobile games and Console exclusives to stay in business. some fans calls this era as the worst days of the companies history.
12) KoF was never known as a balanced fighting game, but 01 was the worst. The top 2 tier characters were May Lee and Foxy - while May Lee had an easy infinite, Foxy had an unblockable basic attack(down+b). comparing two is bit difficult, but Foxy is considered slightly higher since she is broken in offence & defense while ML is offensive character.
13) As a promotion for 01, there was a tournament held between Japan & Korea KoF players which was aired at the Korean eSports TV channel - OnGameNet. during the preparation, while both sides knew that Foxy was broken and was agreed to ban her, Japan didn't realize ML's potential and disagreed to ban her. as a result, Team Japan was demolished by ML at the live tournament and she was never aloud at a 01 event since.
14) like said on the video, Shinkiro - who was the face of the SNK art, left SNK after the release of KoF 00. where did he go than? Capcom. One of his 1st works at his new office was to draw SNK characters for Capcom's take on the SNK dream match - aka Capcom vs SNK. which is quite ironic, not to mention his art style still resembles SNK than Capcom. for example his take on Resident Evil's Albert Wesker more looks like John Crawley from AoF.
15) The replacemant artist for Shinkiro, Nona - was not received well when his works debuted. the reviews were so bad that console ports of 01 had the character victory arts replaced by their promotional pictures than the original. So not long after that he was replaced by Falcoon - which he also didn't stayed there for long but I'm guessing Thorgi's got his own opinion about him for the future so I'll wait for that before saying mine, but Nona did stay in SNK and got better as time went by. while the main artist of SNK changed for quite some time and now is currently done by Tomohiro Nakata, Nona did few more works til XIII. his style has changed so it's a bit tough to recognize it's his work.
16) with the exception of Athena, KoF 02 was the first in the series to have a character'(Rugal)s voice changed(Fyi, Athena's VA kept changing since 94 to 98). It was due to the original actor being aged and was having tough time reenacting the same role. So he was replaced by the actor who did the voice of Igniz in 01. you might have realized that the same actor also voiced Vega/M.Bison in CvS, and Johnny from Guilty Gear.
That's it for now. Again love this retrospective and can't wait for Part 3. thanks to Thorgi and everyone who read this.
I actually thing is kind of cool that Igniz looks so youngful but has such a deep voice, it tells how much of a success his experiments were, and making him believe he was now a god. A true god needs to be something to be admired and worshipped, a being that is transcended beyond logic and nature, they need to be... "lovable".
@@kojiroh30 Great comments
@@kojiroh30 I would rather read ur comments than sit through a long a... vid did u do trivia for the first part? if so I will go to the vid and watch those
@@addyred1861 Yes I did made trivia comment on part 1, feel free to check it out thanks!
I came here for the lore but I'll have to say the story about SNK bankruptcy is so interesting that I just can't wait for the next part to find out more about behind the scene thing more than actual game lore lol
Same here.
The strikers in KOF 2000 really feels like a Super Smash Bros Ultimate celebration of their IPs. Which is funny since KOF 2000 game was made one year after Super Smash Bros 64. It reminds me of the spongebob episode where I imagine Sakurai looking at SNK saying, "you haven't changed a bit when I first lay my eyes on you" as SNK is still on fire but at least KOF IV put some of the fire out as Sakurai summons the firefighters for life support.
SakuraI was inspired by SNK, it also kind of comes full circle when Terry was able to fully join the roster, sure he was a fatal fury rep and not a KOF rep, but he did bring the KOF arena with him
Oh. Oh, fuck. I remember 2001, it was the one the bar near my place had! It was run by this retired football player and kids kept showing up there to play. Can confirm it was a big deal in Brazil.
I like how even if the Nest saga in convoluted a good part of it is pretty much a story about K' making a family of misfits
The NESTS saga was really quite something. Also, a wild ride for SNK
1:41:29
Would've been alot funnier if you mentioned or showed the footage of the Time when a player used Igniz in KOF 2002 UM and straight up Infinited Maximilian Dood LOL
I loved how in this saga they decided to drift apart of the mystical aspect of KOF universe and instead, it heavily relied on the science fiction concepts like cloning, space stations and so on. In my mind, both Orochi and Nest saga are on the same level.
Also, yeah, KOF and Metal Slug were (and still are) HUGE here in Mexico. The story of how Ángel was created is awesome.
One of the craziest things is that a good amount of the KOF manga, including the one you showed, was pretty much a Hong Kong audience focused manga drawn there. There was also a more teenager friendly manga, also drawn by a Hong Kong artist and serialized in the HK version of corocoro comics. Which all begs the question, why didn’t they prepare Japanese manga and just have them localized…?
Cheaper artists who would put in the same crunch time. Capcom did the same thing with Resident Evil Manga.
Because those mangas are not canon anyway, I mean I love Mai but there is not way that she can beat Kyo in a one VS one fight like in the manga
Love these retrospectives. I will always have a soft spot for vanilla 2002. I was unemployed for a few months with plenty of time to kill, I know it isn't the best one but that game (and SVC chaos) filled the depressing void.
Unlocking every character in time attack mode, rinsing arcade mode over and over, I even got good at beating Rugal 🤣
Kof 2002 was my therapy! 💪
This series is amazing! I never was interested in KOF before. I wasn't interested in SNK in general, but I decided to watch part one just for fun and I just love that and now this video. The editing and writing is amazing. I really appreciate how you carefully foreshadow moments in this franchise history. It's probably the most interesting development story that keeps me on the edge as if it some kind of epic anime.
And also I now really want to play KOF. After watching the gameplay, I really got to feel the style of this game and resonate with it and 2002 UM feels like a game that I may enjoy a lot. It looks like the smoothes 2D fighter I can ever play. I don't know what else to say. Just thank you for these videos!
Why didn’t you play kof
Because until watching part 1 I didn't care about it and I haven't looked in to it. Tbh I haven't played KOF still, but that's because I struggle with finding time(which is a problem I can solve) and means(this is a little bit out of my control) to play KOF
I was wondering when Throgi was gonna upload Part Two, and when I saw this in my feed I went “Oh-Kay I’m in the Pink Today Boi!”
W U B B A W U B B A
KOF 99 will always be my Favorite Game of all Time, it was also my 1st Time getting into the whole Series for not just the NESTS Saga, but for it's Well Thought-Out World and very Rich Lore.
Hi Thorgi, Love your work but here's some counter theories on your assumption of blaming Eolith on creation of K9999;
1) Akira was officially released in Korea at 2012 for the Manga and the Anime at 2017. While I can't deny there were fans due to pirated copies, it wasn't popular enough for Eolith to demand Brezzasoft to make an Akira-based character.
2) As you stated, it was SNK who were the core fans of Akira and designed Kyo and etc based on the Manga/Anime. it is very likely K9999 was their idea as well.
3) Even after SNK departed with Eolith, multiple attempts were made to put K9999 back in business. Along with the console ports of KoF 01/02 and in KOF02UM's original mode, he also made cameo appearances at Days of Memories - a dating sim based on SNK characters.
4) SNK Playmore once vaguely confessed that they apologized to Otomo for making K9999 without informing him. but with the original statement page now removed, I'll let you decide whether to believe me or not on this one.
5) If they hated K9999 for being forced to create him, Nameless or Krohnen wouldn't have happened either. or he might have gotten the "American Sports team" treatment.
Lot of KoF characters are homage or parody of Movie/Manga/Anime/etc, but none are extreme copycat like it did with K9999. My guess is that while it didn't lead to lawsuit involvements, it did make Otomo upset so SNK had to avoid it like plague until time calmed it down.
I feel like when he reads snk getting a lawsuit over a character etc it’s automatically Akira copy cat I don’t think he does enough research imo
I was just rewatching the first one, great suprise.
Bro yesterday i watched part 1 also and thought "when is part 2 coming out?"
Right?! This artwork though for K' and Kula~
Lol same here
@@jarelldavis31 I clicked when I saw that Kula art in the thumbnail
@@5spec Worth the wait!
That terry owns a monkey thing will never get old won't it
I know this may seem a little redundant now that we have Krohnen and all, but I kinda hope that someday Nameless can return. I thought he was kind of a cool character.
I mean, to me personally, now that Krohnen exists it has practically doomed Nameless’s fate as a noncanon character, as snk finally has the successor to k9999 they always needed without any direct association with tetsuo (Ik they’ve the same in lore, but in terms of design it’s a successor)
Honestly what with Krohnen taking some of Nameless' stuff and having a mechanical arm, Nameless is a perfect choice for an alternate costume for Krohnen. It would take by far the most work, needing a voice and all, but it's the perfect option there.
i really loved the old k999 design when i later found out about him being a homage /ripoff of tetsuo i was so fucking excited, it was the first time two of my favorite hobbies had merged. his moveset was the coolest to me especially when he would fly up and turn his right arm into a nuke and go kaboom.
Personally, I would like to see Nameless return just as an excuse to give him a new moveset instead of being "K9999 with a different MAX2 super".
@@dariogonzalez8989 That'd be a good idea too, they change Kyo's moveset all the time so why not Nameless's right?
It makes me appreciate the fact that SNK even exist today. SNK still may play fourth fiddle the likes of Capcom, Bandai Namco, & NRS, but they’re still kicking.
Correction: In the battle against Igniz the Hero Team actually lose and just as Igniz is about to kill K", Kyo, Iori and Kula who snuck aboard intervene and help in the fight. It is K", Kyo, Iori, and Kula who defeat Igniz in the end.
Only in the manga
Rugal and kof have something similar
No matter what
They don't go away
And just like Kyo, Kof devs will keep the fire burning with all that they can offer for this franchise.
I personally love the NESTS saga, and its cool to it get some attention from someone who knows more about what they are talking about and isnt trying to dunk on it like a certain Maximilian. I like the cyberpunk style tone and story, and a lot of my favorite characters are from these games. Vanessa, Seth, Kula, K', and Whip are all great and Krizalid is my all time favorite fighting game bosses. KOF 2000 is also one of my favorite fighting games and is one of the best KOF games.
Thorgi should be commended for going through every single KOF 2000 Striker in existence. It is so much appreciated. 👍
After going through the series from start to finish within the last year, KOF 2000 is my all-time favorite. Hands down, the best one. All the extra nods from SNK's past, the best implementation of the Strikers, and all the extra presentation elements just won me over completely.
Despite the Eolith era being the down period, 2002 ended up being the most well-known and iconic game in the whole KOF series, especially in key places like most of Asia and Latin America. Till this day, 2002 is widely remembered and even considered as the peak of the franchise.
I agree.
KOF 2002 is very popular in Mexico and South America (especially Brazil)
It is a fun game 😄
Not as great as 2002UM but still really fun
Man, these videos are seriously a high point for this channel. Don't get me wrong, Thorgi's had pretty much exclusively bangers for the past few years, but the KoF retrospective really showcases the growth he's had since starting BTR. Everything's firing on all cylinders, not even just in terms of video content. The writing feels informative, without worsening the pacing, the editing is snappy and entertaining, all in all it's just a massive achievement. Great work man.
The more i look at KOF and its overarching lore, the more i've starting to see a common pattern with how SNK implement two new characters for each story arcs.
First off, there's the fire-based fighter who is the hero of a story arc. Lastly, there's the rival who serves as a foil and counterpart to the aforementioned hero. Kinda sounds like Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, doesn't it?
To recap, here are the heroes and deuteragonists of each KOF story arc:
* THE RUGAL/OROCHI SAGA: Kyo Kusanagi (HERO) and Iori Yagami (RIVAL)
* THE NESTS CHRONICLES/NESTS SAGA: K' (HERO) and Kula Diamond (RIVAL)
* THE TALE OF ASH SAGA: Ash Crimson (HERO) and Elisabeth Blanctorche (RIVAL)
* THE SHUN'EI/VERSE SAGA: Shun'ei (HERO) and Isla (RIVAL)
Yep the rival always appears in the sequel, Benimaru must win at least one of the tournaments in each arc, and there usually is 3 games per story arc but if what the developers were saying was true then Verse Saga is done.
Basically there’s always the classic rival in the second game with an opposite ability use (Kyo’s purifying flames vs Iori’s tainted flames, K’’s vicious limited fire vs Kula’s carefree unlimited ice, Ash’s dark antics vs Elizabeth’s dutiful light, and Shun’ei’s controlling phantom powers vs Isla’s overuse of phantom powers). Then in the last game or before in the first game is a rival relating to a key character of the saga (the CYS Orochi team, Angel and K9999 of the NESTS team (made by NESTS last minute to counter the K’ team, meaning Kula was a bit more prevalent plus Foxy was already her caretaker), Adelheid (due to being related to KOF XIII’s host Rose), and Kukri (being related to Verse and Dolores). There was likely an original plan to have a proper enemy team in each saga. There was the Orochi and NESTS teams and XII was supposed to have a “Those from the Past” team. To bad no Verse team was tried, but it would have if things were different.
Nameless didn't betray nest he stayed loyal to them making him one of the few people that didn't betray nest.
Just going to add on this information for those who scrolled down far enough to read the above comment:
In the mobile game, King of Fighters All Star (KOFAS), Nameless did betray NESTs in the end, but it is not canon.
Which is ironic, giving a non-canon ending to a non-canon character from a non-canon game.
1:58:47 that might be the coolest and goofy move I’ve ever seen
This video makes the existence of KOFXV even more astounding
Thorgi you mad lad... you did it. Holy crap over 2 hours. You sir are a gentleman and scholar
great, Kusanagi played by Kaneda, so he can have a rivalry K9999 aka Testuo!
Jhun breaking his arm trying to reach for that athena poster is the most snk thing ever
You forgot one thing, Thorgi.
They cloned Kyo with a funnel.
Say what?
🤔
I feel like Southtown's destruction in 2000 would have been the perfect excuse to introduce Second Southtown into the KOF universe seeing as the series was subtly moving towards the Garou era in the otts. 00 is the first game to feature Garou content via Strikers, 01 introduces Rock Howard, and 03 would officially add characters from the game and even had Terry take on his Garou era look. And going along with what Aaron theorizing about the circumstances of Rock's adoption, this would been the perfect opportunity to if not kill off Geese, at least get rid of him for while. Especially since it would be nearly 2 decades before he'd make a canon playable appearance in another game.
I’m new to KoF, and I really dug Krohnen in 15. He’s my 3rd main. Then watching your video I was like, “oh dang. I like this K9999 character!”
You then revealed they are the same character. Haha! Neat. It was meant to be.
I like the idea that when they shot at South Town, they "destroyed" it by hitting the sea next to it assuming the tidal wave would destroy it but it didn't. It may have destroyed the docks and it may have destroyed a few buildings nearby but it didn't do much else.
Someone save Shadow Hearts from Aruze, I want a fourth game to that massively underrated JRPG series
"Losing your shirt in King of Fighters is the ultimate sign that you're serious"
Tell that to Yuri and King.
I read alot about SNK's history but this series still is super informative about what was going on both in the canon story and on the behind the scenes. Great job again, can't wait for part 3!
This was the KOF "saga" that I was introduced to and hopped into the series, so I didn't realize people had such a negative reaction to the gameplay lol. I'm kind of into the stiff feeling, but then again I find high level combos very intimidating so execution isn't really so important to me.
god these videos have been so amazing to watc. learnig more about SNK adn the shit they had to go through is insane. like my god. thanks for covering all of this.
I will never get tired of KOF history videos, no matter how long they are.
The whole thing surrounding the creation of Ángel has always been my favorite bit of KOF trivia, and as a native Spanish speaker I find it equal parts beautiful and bizarre that they stuck to the male version of the name and not its female counterpart (Ángela), which would have resulted in an even more bizarre outcome because Ángela Torres is a well-known pop singer/actress here in Argentina who kinda looked like the character when she dyed her hair silver.
the story of SNK's bankruptcy and subsequent reformation needs to be a documentary. thats an amazing story
Congratulations, my friend. You’ve done the one thing I knew you would do one day.
You made a video that broke the two-hour mark.
Now I'll say the same thing I said about Sakurai when Sora joined Smash: now take a break.
Vanessa is one of my favorite female characters too. She's one of the best boxing fighters in any game male or female. I also like that she is older, not jail bait in skimpy gear but still sexy (as a toon can be).
I allways love hearing Angel's creation story
But yours was the best one I've ever heard
Why am I only now realizing that "Krohnen" sounds like "K Nine", as in K9999?
Southtown was destroyed, but Terrence bouregard did his Just A Guy thing and helped rebuild it. That’s what I will forever think now, definitely didn’t make it up
1:53:32 Even if the Dreamcast can already do 3D stages with Dream Match 1999, '99 Evolution and Capcom vs. SNK 2, SNK didn't add 3D stages to the Dreamcast version. As a result, the Neo Geo stages were used instead, meaning that the Neo Geo Omega Rugal stage is present on the Dreamcast version, alongside PS2 and Xbox if you manage to change the graphic style to match the arcade.
Watched the other one like 5 times while doing the dishes this week great channel that always has something to enjoy
A retro for Last Blade?? Subbed.. I'm all for it!
One day, we'll see this series of videos on bbc, mark my words.
Excellent documentary as usual, can't wait for the ash saga retrospective.
Dood there are no words to describe the joy I felt when I saw the thumbnail on my timeline. I greatly appreciate the effort you put into this retrospective as someone who's a causal fan of the series and wanted to learn more about it. Keep up the good work!
What would have made a better anime? KOF story or SNK story?
As a chilean, it is aggresively funny to me how everyone thinks 7 Richter is an Apocalyptic Scenario Earthquake.
Regarding the Neo Geo Theme Park and the Band of Fighters Animatronocs being a thing, I cannot resist.
"WAS THAT THE BODEGA OF '97!?"
1:36:05 The K9999 mystery (post Krohnen) is just:
Fans: Why don’t you back it up with a source?
SNK: My source is that I made it the fuck up.
39:34 so Kyo's 2003 outfit is just Kyo's 99 dreamcast striker outfit?!
This might be the ONLY KOF Nest video that break down the Striker system. I finally get the how overwhelmingly flawed the system compare to some guy calling the gameplay " weird " and moving on without explanation. Thanks dude👍
Yeah... in my headcannon, i can combine a lot of Fatal Fury/King of Fighters stuff to make it make sense. I mean, in Garou, they renamed the city "Second Southtown"...
I love "The last blade" I can't wait for the retrospective of that.
So, Part 3 is gonna be 03 and XI?
Because those two go together, as do XII and XIII.
And XIV & XV bring us into the modern age, where KOF is doing fine!
Dont forget that the re - releases, the one - shot games, maxium impact series and the spin off's will be covered on part 4
Part 3 i guess will be the whole Ash Saga, so 2003, XI and XIII. With XII, NGBC, Neowave and Another Day OVA getting a special mention.
1:21:56 BRING. THIS. BACK. You have no idea how much variety you give the players if you have 4 people on a team. Especially with the star-studded roster KOF 14 and 15 had, cmon now
Best KOF retrospective ever made
That cutscene dialog of "you simp!" become hilarious with passage of time :'D
This is a whole ass movie I gotta get snacks lmaooo