Simping is actually being a beta cuck martyr, thats mostly reserved in the west and social media. Kensou is merely affectionate and determined to win Athena over. Its called courtship. Thats the difference.
@@WhatIsMatter101 ... wouldn't You describe Kensou as a "lonely man wanting to get a girl's attention to no avail"? You gave context about Athena, but context doesn't change the situation, just explains it.
@@WhatIsMatter101 Are you some kind of Kensou fan? You don't need to think too much about it, his characterization as devote admirer/never lover of Athena is so iconic that SNK/Evoga have made fun of it on a couple of their endings. You're free to see it any other way or think of them as complex characters, however the games and other kof media are pretty clear about their relationship. It's funny how the dumb ones are always the fastest to reduce themselves to attacks ad hominem when they lack any meaningful argument beyond what they want to believe...
@@WhatIsMatter101 Please point out what official game or media makes you think of the relationship between Kensou and Athena beyond the joke of "Kensou loves Athena, Athena turns him down". Are you sure you aren't the one with problems understanding things? Or are you using Kensou as a proxy for some of your own issues?
Both of you are right and both of you are saying the same thing. He is underrated everywhere but in the lore he is just for fun. A dumb guy who love a girl and would do anything for her. In the game he had some changes but his best version was KOF XIII. We need that Kensou back. He is a great character, one of my favorite. Hate when SNK remove him from the KOF roster. He and Chin where gods in KOF XIII. I have always play Psycho soldier team as my favorite team and I prefer Chin and Kensou over Athena. I feel she is the most boring one to play with. Even Bao and Momoko where coler. Hope they bring them all back.
Heavy D is by far the most Underrated Character in the KOF series of all Time, he truly deserves another chance to make a Comeback, for KOF 15 he can just be a Solo Entry but if he ever makes his Canonical Appearance he should be in a different Team other than Glauber and Bryan.
The whole team is Underrated. Heady D, Brian and Lucky. All of them are great characters. They where broken in KOF 98, if you check the competitions they are almost in all the teams. People know how good they are. We need them again.
Man, I love Foxy. Her animations are so full of personality and the win pose she makes when she unfurls a goddamn flag out of hair blew my mind wide open.
First comment! Xiangfei is top tier in 2002UM. She should make a comeback as she would become more popular. A Xiangfei, Kasumi & Hinako team is my dream. Malin should also be back. Foxy… I somehow see her in a team with Nadj and Dolores. Great vid, Shoryu!
I'm wholeheartedly happy that pro KoF XV player, Ichigo, actually mains Shingo as his mid fighter and knows how to really give deadly combos compared every other player who couldn't play Shingo.😶
Foxy really needs to come back. Since SNK can finally get the KOF lore going since they don’t need to worry about overshadowing Fatal Fury anymore, characters not in their initial sagas like Jhun, Foxy, K’, and most Fatal Fury/Art of Fighting characters can finally get a story arc in the KOF universe since their competitors are also letting their characters have new arcs after their initial ones. I hope for a team of Kula, Diana, Foxy, and Candy.
You know, for being a mentor and father of Kyo, who’s practically the main character of KOF, Saisyu really does have little impact in the KOF lore. I never realized that until you pointed it out. Great list, btw.
The saddest part is that most of the characters who appear in this list won't return unless SNK decides to not bringing back popular/classic characters and fans would be upset if they don't see the familiar faces in every game. That happened with Kim in KOF XV, just ONE time he was not in the game and fans were mad. I personally would have prefered not seeing Kim if Jhun, May Lee or Chae Lim had returned.
Jhun is the best one of all those you mention. I like him more than Kim. People that knows how to play with him in KOF 2002 UM where beast. He was broken.
Heavy D! was right on a money. It's absolutely criminal because he is SUCH an awesome character. Lucky's not too bad, and Brian...lol, but Heavy D!, especially in 98, extremely underrated. I also think that they really dropped the ball on Kensou. They were getting some lore for him and then...nothing. He's underrated but I think he's moreso overshadowed by Athena. Yes, Chizuru. Indeed. Despite her being a main character so to speak, she gets left in the dust by Kyo and Iori and gets overshadowed by other women in the series; people would walk by her to go to Angel, Mai, and Shermie. Her uppercut in the earlier games was also a source of ire lol Shingo, awesome. He's the true underdog success story.
Nice list. I personally would like to see Kusanagi (Kyo's dark skin clone) returning. He has great personality, in fact that is the main reason why I like him. 'Scream lord' characters in fighting games are fun! Also, many people like/prefer the gameplay of 'Kyo shoto'. Now that K9999/Krohnen mentioned Kusanagi in KOF XV, would be a good idea to see him returning. He could have the moveset of Kyo in KOF XIII (in that game Kyo goes back to his shoto roots) plus having his unique techniques and also Kyo-1 and Kyo-2's.
Half of this list was loaded up with my favorites. So many of these characters have such style that they stick in your head. As for the American Sports Team, my favorite is actually Lucky. I think he has the most style of the three, especially with that finger point move.
Heavy D is my jam but I wouldn't go as far as to say I like him more than Vanessa. Both are 2 of my favorite KoF characters which is odd cause I can't stand boxers in other games... Well TJ Combo is dope too.
i'm glad that my suggestion (krauser) is in this video, even thought it's merely in honorable mentions and yes, the entrie US team/american sports team as a whole are underrated and underused. apparently there's a running gag of them receiving an invitation for KOF but someone ended up stealing theirs, seems like ash crimson is one of the culprits
Krauser's LACK of appearances at something that should & would DEFINITELY cause Him to participate...!? Is criminal. In all honesty Mr. Big is another character who DEFINITELY should be in way more KOF tournaments too. I think it is past due time overall for the Boss Team to make a return where I'd definitely have to say "Thanks for a good time, because I needed a reason to fight, how 'bout your ugly mugs...!"
Great picks. As a Kensou main in 98, I feel like what hurt him was the constant moveset change. 97-98 Kensou was great, 2002 UM Ex Kensou was great, XIII Kensou was great... but you can't have these 3 combined. I feel like a XV Kensou would've been perfect, but sadly I've lost my hopes. Also his looks were also kinda lame, he looks pedestrian compared to other characters create to the same target audience, like Chris and Shun'ei. It's sad but Kensou always felt kinda unpolished/unfinished. XIII was awesome but it almost feel like a different character. Foxy is insanely cool, she's from this breed of NESTS characters that required dedication to master, with May Lee, Jhun, Hinako and Angél being other examples. She was the easiest of them all because of her OP dragon punch, but everything else in her kit required serious skill and some degree of clairvoyance. I like Heavy D!, he shouldn't have left, but I get why he did. It would've been impossible not to turn him into another easy point of comparison with Street Fighter, regardless of how stylish Heavy is, in comparison to Balrog/M. Bison. I feel like Lucky would've been a better candidate, especially if the designers changed his basketballs into actual energy orbs. I feel like he's more of an underdog than even Heavy D! given how over the top his design is. Duck King is great too.
I liked XI Kensou! Felt like a combination of both '02UM's movelist. If that returned with XIV's FAST fireball recovery, it'd be without question the most complete he can be! And I couldn't agree with you more. Never cared for any of Kensou's looks outside of XII/XIII, which was just an update of his original Psycho Soldier look. It really should've been that since the beginning. ESPECIALLY since it actually vibes BETTER with Athena's '94 appearance!
Kensou, Kyo and Terry are my main characters. My dream team. A KOF without Kensou for me is trash. I love Kensou in KOF XI because like someone says he is a combination of previous Kensou. And he looks good too in this game. But my favorite Kensou was XIII, cause not only he looks great, his moves where great and he was fast.
What a great list! Glad some of my faves made it like Kensou, Choi (sorta) and Shingo. I have NO IDEA how Krauser has not come back in a game. As much as SNK loves their bosses, Krauser is as unique as any of them. And man, It sucks I missed the vote but I can't disagree with Heavy D being #1. That dude was so much fun to play in 98. Great vid Shoryu!
Same. Krohnen is cool and all, but Nameless is much more interesting (and more appealing both voice and appearance wise). Also imagine being created for a non canon game as a reskin of an existing character who was mid for all of his appearances so far, and being a top tier that was infamous for a very practical 4 bar TOD, then disappearing from the franchise.
I don't think it's COMPLETELY hopeless. In KOF XIV, Sylvie referenced Isolde in her intro with Kula. Since Isolde is a BIG part of Nameless' backstory, there may be a chance at him being canon. I'm sure he'll be allowed to keep his lunging fire attack, but his other two special moves may have to be altered to set himself apart from Krohnen. Wishful thinking, anyway.
I loved playing as Malin in '03, she's one of my favorite characters on the roster, especially for a fast paced, no stop 3 on 3 fight. She was a good zoner and had good combos and supers for pressure and changing to your main. Hope she comes back in a XV DLC
I don't know what was the criteria before making this list but I definitely think that putting Chizuru and Kensou make it irrelevant when there are far more characters like Jhun, Momoko or even Kasumi that fit better in that category.
After playing the Fighter's History series (where Makoto Mizoguchi comes from) made me realize that SNK copied Lee's moveset and gave it to EX Kensou's (AKA Kensou without his powers). And Capcom did the same with Yun and Yang's. I guess Capcom did it as revenge for losing in court against Data East 😁 Fighter's History is an underrated and fun series. I recommend playing it I wish we see some FH characters in new games as guests
Chizuru is top tier in '98 which is one of the key games in the series, it felt weird seeing her here. Takuma's another character who I feel like I've seen used a ton in tournaments across various games, more if you include Mr. Karate. I'm not sure he fits here either.
Ambassadors from other Source Series are always missed, specially if they have been in SNK for more than 20+ Years, still, some others have been only present as Cameos
I like a lot both Xiangfei and Kensou. And I allways have though the first one would be a great add to the Psycho Soldier team. Even if she's not a psychic, she has some similar moves to what both Chin and Kensou had in KoF 13 and 14. She could be a nice new student of Chin and could replace the old master in one game (with less than two psychics the team couldn't be named the same). Her personality could also add a new fun dynamic to the team. Moreover if she decides the boy with good apetite she's looking for might be Kensou. It would be fun to see her driving everyone crazy while trying to compete with Athena, if she comes back, or even Bao for Kensou's attention.
Good list My personal opinions about: #10. 2:23-2:32 No please. I want to see Xiangfei like she always is. It is like asking for Menat to return in SF6 but not longer being the lovely dork fans love. Also, what I remember about Xiangfei is how useful she was as a striker in KOF 2001 and that in the Maximum Impact series, she taught Alba Meira chinese boxing #9. Bring Duck King back but keep him looking like he is from the 90s. I dislike how new fighting games want their characters to look more realistic/wearing casual clothes. That is lame. #8. I don't care about Malin that much and looks like SNK Playmore also didn't care about her. She is just there... In fact, Nagase from Maximum Impact feels like Malin but done right. #7. Ah yes, another character who I would like to see her returning. Also, Foxy was way stronger in KOF 2001 than in 2002UM Fun fact, she is voiced by the same seiyuu who voices Athena Asamiya. 6:04-6:10 LOL 😆 Good one. #3. Now that Shingo is no longer a joke character, I think SNK have to make a new one. Joke characters in fighting games are almost extint because companies want all the characters to be viable in the competitive. It is a shame, I miss joke characters. #2. Who is Eiji? 😁 I personally don't like ninja characters looking like actual ninjas 😅 That is why I like the ninjas in Naruto and the ninjas from World Heroes (Hanzo and Fuuma). They don't look like ninjas at all 👍 #1. Of the American Sports Team, Heavy D! is the coolest. I never like Brian and as much as I like Lucky, Bobby Nelson (Aggressors of Dark Kombat) and even Magic Dunker (Fight Fever) were cooler basketball characters. Heavy D!'s design and moveset are still cool and unique. Would love to see him returning.
Can you make a video about " ranking Kof villains " ? That would be interesting take. design, animation, and story wise, not differently perspective And who is your also top5 favorite villain of kof series ?
Some to these characters are my favs but to be honest most of these character are either redundant or have become redundant with the addition of new character
One thing I dislike about Shingo in KOF XV is how reliant he is on critical hits. I love Shingo and how it fits with his character, but most of the other characters can get big damage without much work while Shingo has to get lucky enough to get big damage.
Shingo is underrated even in the story of the game. He has tremendous potential, hidden by the fact that he learned by simply copying what he sees, and hadn't had formal martial arts training. I wish SNK would allow him to propely develop as a character and grow to be an actual character respected by his peers. And not just a Kyo fanboy.
Shingo is the G.O.A.T. to me, I love his character, he never stop training to earn his fire powers. I would always choose him as my rushdown player (other then Kim Kapwan)
I know this video was posted 3 months ago but I just to addressed even though Hotaru Futaba isn't canon to kof unlike the other characters in this video but just like them she's also underrated cuz like you said in the beginning of this video, to me in my perspective Hotaru has notable skill significant immense potential that gets swept under the rug of how she is being treated like running gag and comic time book leaving her presence unnoticed and disregarded and i hate that about her. She shouldn't be treated like she doesn't have any worth or potential when she clearly does but gets disregarded thinking she isn't important nor her story when it is since she's gato's probable sister even if it isn't confirmed there were hints to them being siblings and yet she always constantly fail when i think that needs to end because she needs to be taken seriously and not be treated like garbage even if her nature is pure even she needs to improve herself and be better and not to be underestimated even when battling in a fight. Honestly i think she needs to be more like gato and by that i do not mean his nature nor fighting style but the will reason and purpose to fight as well as having the courage and untapped potential if only it was recognized rather than brushing it off disregarded and being left alone all the time and still remains non canon to the KOF universe. I really wish the developers with bring her back in XV canonically
The KOF franchise has had as many playable characters as there are people currently living on the fucking planet. I cant imagine how hard it is for them to pick the playable roster while still implementing new playable characters.
I disagree of Takuma being underrated, every game he's in, he's top tier, people using him is another matter. Man, heavy D, once I spent some time learning to play him, so effing hard to master, but so good, his combos dealt massive damage on 98, I really like him. Glad Eiji is here, great character. Kasumi should be here too. Btw, I know you are a Shizuru simp, don't worry about it, I am too.
@ShoryuGame Could you talk about characters that could be playable in Kof. Kang Bae Dal G-Mantle Syo Kirishima Kim Sue il Rocky --> Robo Army Ron Duke Edwards King Lion
Xiangfei along with Leona and Shingo, are my favorite characters in the series. EDIT: Wait, I forgot about Duo Lon...I guess Shingo would be 4th favorite.
I'll respect about half this list... but man, there are some killer underdogs that should be right up there with them. Adelheid Bernstein is almost a forefront of this list, alongside Oswald, Silver, and Duck. There's a big reason why XI is one of, if not my favorite overall KoF game - they got so creative and fun with the teams and the character selection while still making a solid all-around KoF. I'd dub on Momoko too, but to be fair - Zamira in XIV is a much funner and better refined version of her toolkit, and speaking of XIV, Nelson is also very underrated. If there's a team I'd like to see as much as USA Sports Team, it's XIV South America Team! Eiji Kisaragi is not one of my favorites, if for no other reason that he's got fairly bad normals. I've seen SNK retool his kit into all kinds of side characters, including Mature and Vice, and Lin. There is some kind of something they're going for in this, and the closest to it being executed... uhh... "well" ...would be XV Sylvie Paula Paula. There's *potential* in Kisaragi-Ryu, and Lin is likely the closest to that balance we've seen, but I think they need Moon Slasher to really solidify the specials, and some kind of revision of basic strikes. I don't hate Kensou; but SNK needs to do some character growth with this dude for sure. The problem - at least from a design perspective - is that reversing his fireball and DP results in a block-or-special option select that's fairly unique to him alone - he takes no *risk* with forward-facing commands that practically everyone else in the cast does. But of his versions, I do like XI's the best - it's really the best of both movesets... although XIII's is the most entertaining to watch, but also makes him look like a fumbling noob. Characters I don't entirely agree with include Foxy, Chizuru, Shingo, Saishu. Malin, I'm kinda lukewarm on, and I like Heavy D! as well. But I'm gonna hit you with one more: GORO DAIMON This tank is a total knowledge check for the once-a-season or so he shows up. His fighting style and win conditions are so unique as a whole and he's got lots of things to surprise the heck outta unsuspecting opponents. Granted, Orochi Yashiro is basically a much-improved version of him, give or take Earthquaker... but he's such a strong contender in the games he DOES show up in that he certainly deserves a place on this list!
"rate" is pretty subjective without an actual parameter and in the franchise, geography (mexicans love their lore heros and the home grown mexican hero, skewing the data, while Chinese players are tier whorers and japanese players seem to be quite character diverse and loyal to what they like). You could have the majority of new players rate certain character because they like the move set, the design, or representation of something they like or jjust herd mentality. They make up a larger group of the whole KOF player base so if you asked everyone, they're not likely to give an accurate answer since they lack the knowledge of the games other than what's regularly seen on replay youtube videos and extrapolate an answer from there. I'm going to assume that your rating criterias goes along the line of not extra popular/underused but with good frame data or move mechanic that makes them tricky to deal with. If you take a poll from asia region, most of the underrated character (especially Heavy D and seth) are all highly rated characters since any character with exceptional frame data will be elevated to the S tier and everyone starts using them. Character with non special frame data probably belongs in video since no high rank would choose to handicap themselves unless it's for shits and giggles. I think Shingo is pretty perfect in my definition of an underated character with reference to KOF XV data. No special low frame and extended hit box jabs, the random crit gives him release that potential. Decent normal moves but nothing considered broken or cheap. By that defintion, I'm going to put Saishu in that list too, since he's exactly the same.
I agree with all of them except shingo he is way too popular to be underrated hes not kyo terry or iori but he high 2nd tier atleast from what I've seen
Kensou, Eiji, and Shingo are not really underrated, back in the '90s and early 2000s I saw people pick them in the arcades all the time.. not a lot of people can use Eiji and Shingo, but they sure get pick a lot.
Why you don´t make a overrated one? Probably may be toxic, but still is a great idea to save roster of that characters in XVI Ideas: Mai (Fanservice), Robert (Same as Ryo, but without that legacy), Rugal (There are better bosses that him), Athena (Literally the japanese likes) and Joe (He literally underused).
I'm shocked that Nameless (despite appearing only in a Dream Match game: 2002 UM) isn't on here. His lore needs to be fleshed out. The rest of this list is pretty solid though. Andy when put next to Terry or even Joe for the same matter is definitely a bit.... I'll say under- minded. Without Mai, we wouldn't even know he exist. Having a busty little chick gets a boring stoic dude noticed.
I'm glad Chizuru Yata is on this list yes I know that she's in kof 15 it's just the out of the three important Characters of their respective clans Chizuru Yata got it the worst and it all began in 2003 first the whole Ash bs nonsense then SNK making us Chizuru fans wait what 19 years for her to come back it's crazy The reason why she doesn't get that much popularity besides her execution gameplay she's the most fan service less out of all the females so that's what makes her boring to the other people of the series to me that's fucked up cuz she has done a lot for the King of fighters series
Kensou underrated!!!? Haha you have no clues !!!! Yuri underrated, choi underrated, chin(except kof96 and maybe 94 ) , leona underrated, king underrated, i saw professional chinese players with heady d, no one in usa team is underrated. Maybe andy underrated, vice, this is my list after tens of thousands of kof videos watched on my chan
I forgot Athena ( maybe except 97 ) , also billy another underrated player, Chang Koehan is top in all editions, good back-front down-uo player, easy command s
Kensou is a special case- he isn't underrated as a playable character, but by the KOF lore. He was a simp before being a simp was even a thing.
Simping is actually being a beta cuck martyr, thats mostly reserved in the west and social media.
Kensou is merely affectionate and determined to win Athena over. Its called courtship. Thats the difference.
@@WhatIsMatter101 ... wouldn't You describe Kensou as a "lonely man wanting to get a girl's attention to no avail"? You gave context about Athena, but context doesn't change the situation, just explains it.
@@WhatIsMatter101 Are you some kind of Kensou fan? You don't need to think too much about it, his characterization as devote admirer/never lover of Athena is so iconic that SNK/Evoga have made fun of it on a couple of their endings. You're free to see it any other way or think of them as complex characters, however the games and other kof media are pretty clear about their relationship. It's funny how the dumb ones are always the fastest to reduce themselves to attacks ad hominem when they lack any meaningful argument beyond what they want to believe...
@@WhatIsMatter101 Please point out what official game or media makes you think of the relationship between Kensou and Athena beyond the joke of "Kensou loves Athena, Athena turns him down". Are you sure you aren't the one with problems understanding things? Or are you using Kensou as a proxy for some of your own issues?
Both of you are right and both of you are saying the same thing. He is underrated everywhere but in the lore he is just for fun. A dumb guy who love a girl and would do anything for her. In the game he had some changes but his best version was KOF XIII. We need that Kensou back. He is a great character, one of my favorite. Hate when SNK remove him from the KOF roster. He and Chin where gods in KOF XIII. I have always play Psycho soldier team as my favorite team and I prefer Chin and Kensou over Athena. I feel she is the most boring one to play with. Even Bao and Momoko where coler. Hope they bring them all back.
Heavy D is by far the most Underrated Character in the KOF series of all Time, he truly deserves another chance to make a Comeback, for KOF 15 he can just be a Solo Entry but if he ever makes his Canonical Appearance he should be in a different Team other than Glauber and Bryan.
You said it!
Nah, Duck King is more underrated.
Duck and Heavy D need to be on the same team IMO
The whole team is Underrated. Heady D, Brian and Lucky. All of them are great characters. They where broken in KOF 98, if you check the competitions they are almost in all the teams. People know how good they are. We need them again.
Love Shingo Yabuki, such an awesome character an I’m so glad both him and Chizuru made a return in KOF 15
Man, I love Foxy. Her animations are so full of personality and the win pose she makes when she unfurls a goddamn flag out of hair blew my mind wide open.
First comment! Xiangfei is top tier in 2002UM. She should make a comeback as she would become more popular. A Xiangfei, Kasumi & Hinako team is my dream.
Malin should also be back.
Foxy… I somehow see her in a team with Nadj and Dolores.
Great vid, Shoryu!
That's a pretty good team!
Ejie, Kensu and Kim teams in 95 and both versions of 98.
Ill tell you this.. That was a nightmare team to play against back then
Zantetsu Torou Ken!
In 95 you could perform.Ho.O.Kyaku in the air and that caught a lot of people off guard
I'm wholeheartedly happy that pro KoF XV player, Ichigo, actually mains Shingo as his mid fighter and knows how to really give deadly combos compared every other player who couldn't play Shingo.😶
I love shingo yabuki, I’m glad that people love him like I do.
Gotta love the underdog! ...Even if he DOES have a championship under his belt....
@nemoisnobody oh definitely that and he’s pretty nice as well.
Foxy really needs to come back. Since SNK can finally get the KOF lore going since they don’t need to worry about overshadowing Fatal Fury anymore, characters not in their initial sagas like Jhun, Foxy, K’, and most Fatal Fury/Art of Fighting characters can finally get a story arc in the KOF universe since their competitors are also letting their characters have new arcs after their initial ones. I hope for a team of Kula, Diana, Foxy, and Candy.
Saisyu, Kensou, Duck King, Krauser, the US Team, Eiji Kisaragi... I want them back!
You know, for being a mentor and father of Kyo, who’s practically the main character of KOF, Saisyu really does have little impact in the KOF lore. I never realized that until you pointed it out. Great list, btw.
Man, no Momoko on the list? That's crazy! But for reals, pretty good list.
lol AGREED! 👍
Momok-UWOOOOOOH!
Agreed!, she appears in just one game. But she was awesome!
The saddest part is that most of the characters who appear in this list won't return unless SNK decides to not bringing back popular/classic characters and fans would be upset if they don't see the familiar faces in every game.
That happened with Kim in KOF XV, just ONE time he was not in the game and fans were mad.
I personally would have prefered not seeing Kim if Jhun, May Lee or Chae Lim had returned.
Jhun is the best one of all those you mention. I like him more than Kim. People that knows how to play with him in KOF 2002 UM where beast. He was broken.
Heavy D! was right on a money. It's absolutely criminal because he is SUCH an awesome character. Lucky's not too bad, and Brian...lol, but Heavy D!, especially in 98, extremely underrated.
I also think that they really dropped the ball on Kensou. They were getting some lore for him and then...nothing. He's underrated but I think he's moreso overshadowed by Athena.
Yes, Chizuru. Indeed. Despite her being a main character so to speak, she gets left in the dust by Kyo and Iori and gets overshadowed by other women in the series; people would walk by her to go to Angel, Mai, and Shermie. Her uppercut in the earlier games was also a source of ire lol
Shingo, awesome. He's the true underdog success story.
Nice list.
I personally would like to see Kusanagi (Kyo's dark skin clone) returning.
He has great personality, in fact that is the main reason why I like him. 'Scream lord' characters in fighting games are fun!
Also, many people like/prefer the gameplay of 'Kyo shoto'.
Now that K9999/Krohnen mentioned Kusanagi in KOF XV, would be a good idea to see him returning.
He could have the moveset of Kyo in KOF XIII (in that game Kyo goes back to his shoto roots) plus having his unique techniques and also Kyo-1 and Kyo-2's.
Half of this list was loaded up with my favorites. So many of these characters have such style that they stick in your head. As for the American Sports Team, my favorite is actually Lucky. I think he has the most style of the three, especially with that finger point move.
Agree. In an industry filled with shoto clones, the SNK roster is truly filled w unique characters
Heavy D is my jam but I wouldn't go as far as to say I like him more than Vanessa. Both are 2 of my favorite KoF characters which is odd cause I can't stand boxers in other games... Well TJ Combo is dope too.
Malin definitely deserves a comeback. Also all of USA Sports Team and Maximum Impact characters
i'm glad that my suggestion (krauser) is in this video, even thought it's merely in honorable mentions
and yes, the entrie US team/american sports team as a whole are underrated and underused. apparently there's a running gag of them receiving an invitation for KOF but someone ended up stealing theirs, seems like ash crimson is one of the culprits
Krauser's LACK of appearances at something that should & would DEFINITELY cause Him to participate...!?
Is criminal.
In all honesty Mr. Big is another character who DEFINITELY should be in way more KOF tournaments too.
I think it is past due time overall for the Boss Team to make a return where I'd definitely have to say "Thanks for a good time, because I needed a reason to fight, how 'bout your ugly mugs...!"
Great picks. As a Kensou main in 98, I feel like what hurt him was the constant moveset change. 97-98 Kensou was great, 2002 UM Ex Kensou was great, XIII Kensou was great... but you can't have these 3 combined. I feel like a XV Kensou would've been perfect, but sadly I've lost my hopes. Also his looks were also kinda lame, he looks pedestrian compared to other characters create to the same target audience, like Chris and Shun'ei. It's sad but Kensou always felt kinda unpolished/unfinished. XIII was awesome but it almost feel like a different character.
Foxy is insanely cool, she's from this breed of NESTS characters that required dedication to master, with May Lee, Jhun, Hinako and Angél being other examples. She was the easiest of them all because of her OP dragon punch, but everything else in her kit required serious skill and some degree of clairvoyance.
I like Heavy D!, he shouldn't have left, but I get why he did. It would've been impossible not to turn him into another easy point of comparison with Street Fighter, regardless of how stylish Heavy is, in comparison to Balrog/M. Bison. I feel like Lucky would've been a better candidate, especially if the designers changed his basketballs into actual energy orbs. I feel like he's more of an underdog than even Heavy D! given how over the top his design is. Duck King is great too.
I liked XI Kensou! Felt like a combination of both '02UM's movelist. If that returned with XIV's FAST fireball recovery, it'd be without question the most complete he can be! And I couldn't agree with you more. Never cared for any of Kensou's looks outside of XII/XIII, which was just an update of his original Psycho Soldier look. It really should've been that since the beginning. ESPECIALLY since it actually vibes BETTER with Athena's '94 appearance!
Kensou's design in KOF XII/XIII is easily his best look.
Kensou, Kyo and Terry are my main characters. My dream team. A KOF without Kensou for me is trash. I love Kensou in KOF XI because like someone says he is a combination of previous Kensou. And he looks good too in this game. But my favorite Kensou was XIII, cause not only he looks great, his moves where great and he was fast.
What a great list! Glad some of my faves made it like Kensou, Choi (sorta) and Shingo. I have NO IDEA how Krauser has not come back in a game. As much as SNK loves their bosses, Krauser is as unique as any of them. And man, It sucks I missed the vote but I can't disagree with Heavy D being #1. That dude was so much fun to play in 98. Great vid Shoryu!
I think some of the underrated characters of the KOF series are: Kasumi Todoh, Goro Daimon, Mature, Vice, and Jun.
My Dream Team
Athena Asamiya
Kasumi Todoh
Xiang Fei
Mai Shiranui
Athena Asamiya
Yuri Sakazaki
Or
Chizuru Kagura
Shermie
Leona
I wish Nameless was incorporated into continuity like K9999 was.
Same. Krohnen is cool and all, but Nameless is much more interesting (and more appealing both voice and appearance wise). Also imagine being created for a non canon game as a reskin of an existing character who was mid for all of his appearances so far, and being a top tier that was infamous for a very practical 4 bar TOD, then disappearing from the franchise.
Why? His design is horrible. The original K9999 looks much better.
I don't think it's COMPLETELY hopeless. In KOF XIV, Sylvie referenced Isolde in her intro with Kula. Since Isolde is a BIG part of Nameless' backstory, there may be a chance at him being canon. I'm sure he'll be allowed to keep his lunging fire attack, but his other two special moves may have to be altered to set himself apart from Krohnen. Wishful thinking, anyway.
@@leonardocr506 He has a very design origin/backstory, character, and so on.
Why? We have K9999 already.
When I saw Duck King at Number 9 I'm thinking (okay Eiji and Krauser could make it).
I loved playing as Malin in '03, she's one of my favorite characters on the roster, especially for a fast paced, no stop 3 on 3 fight. She was a good zoner and had good combos and supers for pressure and changing to your main.
Hope she comes back in a XV DLC
I don't know what was the criteria before making this list but I definitely think that putting Chizuru and Kensou make it irrelevant when there are far more characters like Jhun, Momoko or even Kasumi that fit better in that category.
Great list as usual, awesome picks for these KOF characters. We definitely need more of them.
Great list! Didn't expect Chizuru on there, Duck King needs to come back!!
Duck King, my beloved
For me it the entire Maximum Impact roster that is grossly underrated 😢
No complaints on this list. I was surprised #1 had as much popularity with the fans as he did
I see Chizuru played heavily on KOF98 fightcade. She's considered S tier. The only character I hardly see online is Krauser
After playing the Fighter's History series (where Makoto Mizoguchi comes from) made me realize that SNK copied Lee's moveset and gave it to EX Kensou's (AKA Kensou without his powers).
And Capcom did the same with Yun and Yang's. I guess Capcom did it as revenge for losing in court against Data East 😁
Fighter's History is an underrated and fun series.
I recommend playing it
I wish we see some FH characters in new games as guests
Chizuru is top tier in '98 which is one of the key games in the series, it felt weird seeing her here. Takuma's another character who I feel like I've seen used a ton in tournaments across various games, more if you include Mr. Karate. I'm not sure he fits here either.
Ambassadors from other Source Series are always missed, specially if they have been in SNK for more than 20+ Years, still, some others have been only present as Cameos
My choice for an underated character in KoF? Momoko..
Why you ask?
She had some crazy KAMEHAME a whole screen as SDM 🤣🤣🤣
I like a lot both Xiangfei and Kensou. And I allways have though the first one would be a great add to the Psycho Soldier team. Even if she's not a psychic, she has some similar moves to what both Chin and Kensou had in KoF 13 and 14. She could be a nice new student of Chin and could replace the old master in one game (with less than two psychics the team couldn't be named the same).
Her personality could also add a new fun dynamic to the team. Moreover if she decides the boy with good apetite she's looking for might be Kensou. It would be fun to see her driving everyone crazy while trying to compete with Athena, if she comes back, or even Bao for Kensou's attention.
Cool idea! I love them both!
Good list
My personal opinions about:
#10. 2:23-2:32 No please. I want to see Xiangfei like she always is.
It is like asking for Menat to return in SF6 but not longer being the lovely dork fans love.
Also, what I remember about Xiangfei is how useful she was as a striker in KOF 2001 and that in the Maximum Impact series, she taught Alba Meira chinese boxing
#9. Bring Duck King back but keep him looking like he is from the 90s.
I dislike how new fighting games want their characters to look more realistic/wearing casual clothes. That is lame.
#8. I don't care about Malin that much and looks like SNK Playmore also didn't care about her. She is just there...
In fact, Nagase from Maximum Impact feels like Malin but done right.
#7. Ah yes, another character who I would like to see her returning.
Also, Foxy was way stronger in KOF 2001 than in 2002UM
Fun fact, she is voiced by the same seiyuu who voices Athena Asamiya.
6:04-6:10 LOL 😆
Good one.
#3. Now that Shingo is no longer a joke character, I think SNK have to make a new one.
Joke characters in fighting games are almost extint because companies want all the characters to be viable in the competitive.
It is a shame, I miss joke characters.
#2. Who is Eiji? 😁
I personally don't like ninja characters looking like actual ninjas 😅
That is why I like the ninjas in Naruto and the ninjas from World Heroes (Hanzo and Fuuma). They don't look like ninjas at all 👍
#1. Of the American Sports Team, Heavy D! is the coolest.
I never like Brian and as much as I like Lucky, Bobby Nelson (Aggressors of Dark Kombat) and even Magic Dunker (Fight Fever) were cooler basketball characters.
Heavy D!'s design and moveset are still cool and unique.
Would love to see him returning.
I love Xiangfei and want to see her return, but she is kind of a joke character in how goofy she is.
Just bring her back!
Saisyu needs a comeback. He was so fun back then.
Can you make a video about " ranking Kof villains " ? That would be interesting take. design, animation, and story wise, not differently perspective
And who is your also top5 favorite villain of kof series ?
I already made 2 videos about the villains. One ranked based on gameplay and the other based on lore.
Some to these characters are my favs but to be honest most of these character are either redundant or have become redundant with the addition of new character
I really miss playing with Saisyu
One thing I dislike about Shingo in KOF XV is how reliant he is on critical hits. I love Shingo and how it fits with his character, but most of the other characters can get big damage without much work while Shingo has to get lucky enough to get big damage.
I've seen a combo video of Shingo doing heavy damage without critical hits. Dude just hits hard naturally, and devastating with criticals.😶
Botan is underrated. Hyped up and did major events in the Ash saga and isn’t even playable
Shingo is underrated even in the story of the game. He has tremendous potential, hidden by the fact that he learned by simply copying what he sees, and hadn't had formal martial arts training. I wish SNK would allow him to propely develop as a character and grow to be an actual character respected by his peers. And not just a Kyo fanboy.
Shingo, Adel and Krauser are my picks. Maybe Shion deserved to be mentioned too. Great list overall
Shingo is the G.O.A.T. to me, I love his character, he never stop training to earn his fire powers. I would always choose him as my rushdown player (other then Kim Kapwan)
Kensou and Bao with their dragon powers, and Ron's interest with it
No mention of Mr big or kasumi todoh is definitely a bit of an oversight lol
At least eiji got a mention
Anyone on the USA Sports team is a candidate. People kinda remember Brian for the Screw Body Press and how silly and busted it can get.
I know this video was posted 3 months ago but I just to addressed even though Hotaru Futaba isn't canon to kof unlike the other characters in this video but just like them she's also underrated cuz like you said in the beginning of this video, to me in my perspective Hotaru has notable skill significant immense potential that gets swept under the rug of how she is being treated like running gag and comic time book leaving her presence unnoticed and disregarded and i hate that about her. She shouldn't be treated like she doesn't have any worth or potential when she clearly does but gets disregarded thinking she isn't important nor her story when it is since she's gato's probable sister even if it isn't confirmed there were hints to them being siblings and yet she always constantly fail when i think that needs to end because she needs to be taken seriously and not be treated like garbage even if her nature is pure even she needs to improve herself and be better and not to be underestimated even when battling in a fight. Honestly i think she needs to be more like gato and by that i do not mean his nature nor fighting style but the will reason and purpose to fight as well as having the courage and untapped potential if only it was recognized rather than brushing it off disregarded and being left alone all the time and still remains non canon to the KOF universe. I really wish the developers with bring her back in XV canonically
Is Momoko From King Of Fighters 11 An Underrated Character I Really Love Her And She's So Adorable.
Yep! She is vastly underrated! 👍
@@mugsofmirth8101 IKR Will She Ever Come Back To KOF
Heavy D and Kisaragi are the goat ❤🔥🔥🔥
The KOF franchise has had as many playable characters as there are people currently living on the fucking planet.
I cant imagine how hard it is for them to pick the playable roster while still implementing new playable characters.
Great list, but Hayate is still at the top of my list. He was very unique.
Sho Hayate, another fave of Yas Oda himself, is more in the self-contained Savage Reign / Kizuna Encounter universe.
Nadi akhay 🔥🔥
I disagree of Takuma being underrated, every game he's in, he's top tier, people using him is another matter.
Man, heavy D, once I spent some time learning to play him, so effing hard to master, but so good, his combos dealt massive damage on 98, I really like him.
Glad Eiji is here, great character.
Kasumi should be here too.
Btw, I know you are a Shizuru simp, don't worry about it, I am too.
Seth really needs to return, he is so incredibly underrated.
As a kid shingo was my fav in kof 97
@ShoryuGame Could you talk about characters that could be playable in Kof.
Kang Bae Dal
G-Mantle
Syo Kirishima
Kim Sue il
Rocky --> Robo Army
Ron
Duke Edwards
King Lion
@ShoryuGame I never saw a player dominate Shingo Yabuki in Kof 97 and Kof 98.
Damn kensou is almost a direct mirror of Yun from the street fighter series. Not sure which character came first but very similar none the less.
KoF 94 released before SF3.
Lee from Fighter's History came before them.
Kensou and Yun's moveset are a copy of Lee's
Very cool. I've mainly only played the SF games, so it's really interesting to see where ideas get pulled from in the genre.
Xiangfei along with Leona and Shingo, are my favorite characters in the series.
EDIT: Wait, I forgot about Duo Lon...I guess Shingo would be 4th favorite.
May Lee was Unique
And cool!
I was hoping to see Alba Meira
I'll respect about half this list... but man, there are some killer underdogs that should be right up there with them.
Adelheid Bernstein is almost a forefront of this list, alongside Oswald, Silver, and Duck. There's a big reason why XI is one of, if not my favorite overall KoF game - they got so creative and fun with the teams and the character selection while still making a solid all-around KoF. I'd dub on Momoko too, but to be fair - Zamira in XIV is a much funner and better refined version of her toolkit, and speaking of XIV, Nelson is also very underrated. If there's a team I'd like to see as much as USA Sports Team, it's XIV South America Team!
Eiji Kisaragi is not one of my favorites, if for no other reason that he's got fairly bad normals. I've seen SNK retool his kit into all kinds of side characters, including Mature and Vice, and Lin. There is some kind of something they're going for in this, and the closest to it being executed... uhh... "well" ...would be XV Sylvie Paula Paula. There's *potential* in Kisaragi-Ryu, and Lin is likely the closest to that balance we've seen, but I think they need Moon Slasher to really solidify the specials, and some kind of revision of basic strikes.
I don't hate Kensou; but SNK needs to do some character growth with this dude for sure. The problem - at least from a design perspective - is that reversing his fireball and DP results in a block-or-special option select that's fairly unique to him alone - he takes no *risk* with forward-facing commands that practically everyone else in the cast does. But of his versions, I do like XI's the best - it's really the best of both movesets... although XIII's is the most entertaining to watch, but also makes him look like a fumbling noob.
Characters I don't entirely agree with include Foxy, Chizuru, Shingo, Saishu. Malin, I'm kinda lukewarm on, and I like Heavy D! as well. But I'm gonna hit you with one more:
GORO DAIMON
This tank is a total knowledge check for the once-a-season or so he shows up. His fighting style and win conditions are so unique as a whole and he's got lots of things to surprise the heck outta unsuspecting opponents. Granted, Orochi Yashiro is basically a much-improved version of him, give or take Earthquaker... but he's such a strong contender in the games he DOES show up in that he certainly deserves a place on this list!
Oh yeah, I guess I like Krauser, too. He's one of my favorite to play in '96; but he'll only ever get the response of "Where's Rugal?"
Shingo 98' was a monster. Great normals, lots of crit damage, plus on a lot of shit and he did a lot of guard damage.
"rate" is pretty subjective without an actual parameter and in the franchise, geography (mexicans love their lore heros and the home grown mexican hero, skewing the data, while Chinese players are tier whorers and japanese players seem to be quite character diverse and loyal to what they like). You could have the majority of new players rate certain character because they like the move set, the design, or representation of something they like or jjust herd mentality. They make up a larger group of the whole KOF player base so if you asked everyone, they're not likely to give an accurate answer since they lack the knowledge of the games other than what's regularly seen on replay youtube videos and extrapolate an answer from there. I'm going to assume that your rating criterias goes along the line of not extra popular/underused but with good frame data or move mechanic that makes them tricky to deal with. If you take a poll from asia region, most of the underrated character (especially Heavy D and seth) are all highly rated characters since any character with exceptional frame data will be elevated to the S tier and everyone starts using them. Character with non special frame data probably belongs in video since no high rank would choose to handicap themselves unless it's for shits and giggles.
I think Shingo is pretty perfect in my definition of an underated character with reference to KOF XV data. No special low frame and extended hit box jabs, the random crit gives him release that potential. Decent normal moves but nothing considered broken or cheap. By that defintion, I'm going to put Saishu in that list too, since he's exactly the same.
In my opinion i think chris with orchi powers is underrated too.
I agree with all of them except shingo he is way too popular to be underrated hes not kyo terry or iori but he high 2nd tier atleast from what I've seen
I was pretty sure that Lin will be in top 5. Seeing him in honorable mention has broken my heart.
Kensou was my favorite non-Bogard character when I got my first KoF on the PS1. And Shingo was right after him.
Sie Kensou,Heavy D,Saishu
USA Sports Team deserves more than any KOF team have. 😭
Did you hear the news about how Terry an Mai are coming to Street Fighter 6.
Sure did.
6:14 I played kof for the frist time on moblie using said character
Nice
Kensou, Eiji, and Shingo are not really underrated, back in the '90s and early 2000s I saw people pick them in the arcades all the time.. not a lot of people can use Eiji and Shingo, but they sure get pick a lot.
Heavy d and benimaru
Why you don´t make a overrated one? Probably may be toxic, but still is a great idea to save roster of that characters in XVI
Ideas: Mai (Fanservice), Robert (Same as Ryo, but without that legacy), Rugal (There are better bosses that him), Athena (Literally the japanese likes) and Joe (He literally underused).
I'm shocked that Nameless (despite appearing only in a Dream Match game: 2002 UM) isn't on here. His lore needs to be fleshed out. The rest of this list is pretty solid though. Andy when put next to Terry or even Joe for the same matter is definitely a bit.... I'll say under- minded. Without Mai, we wouldn't even know he exist. Having a busty little chick gets a boring stoic dude noticed.
I'm glad Chizuru Yata is on this list yes I know that she's in kof 15 it's just the out of the three important Characters of their respective clans Chizuru Yata got it the worst and it all began in 2003 first the whole Ash bs nonsense then SNK making us Chizuru fans wait what 19 years for her to come back it's crazy
The reason why she doesn't get that much popularity besides her execution gameplay she's the most fan service less out of all the females so that's what makes her boring to the other people of the series to me that's fucked up cuz she has done a lot for the King of fighters series
Sie Kensou sprite and look in the old games ( pre kox 12 ) was way better, they massacred my boy.
I wish they would bring back Eiji! Eiji and duck king. However I’m more afraid that they would make them garbage like they did Gato and Orochi Chris
how is sie kensou underrated even in an underrated listed
Kasumi Todoh should be #1.
I prefer Heavy D rather than Vanessa
Takuma should be number 1
Heavy D? Hell no, where's K9999??
U spelled Silber's name wrong.
Both spellings are used in the series.
Jhun Hoon and Ramon, anyone?
Takuma is not underrated
Kensou underrated!!!? Haha you have no clues !!!! Yuri underrated, choi underrated, chin(except kof96 and maybe 94 ) , leona underrated, king underrated, i saw professional chinese players with heady d, no one in usa team is underrated. Maybe andy underrated, vice, this is my list after tens of thousands of kof videos watched on my chan
I forgot Athena ( maybe except 97 ) , also billy another underrated player, Chang Koehan is top in all editions, good back-front down-uo player, easy command s
How in the world Chizuru is underrated? 😅
Who the hell underrates Kensou ? He is one of the most annoying zoners ever.
Silver who ?!
Silber who debuted in the Hyper Neo Geo 64 game Buriki One, a partial inspiration for EA Sports UFC games
خويا دير قناة بدارجة 😅
where's nameless
I said, if my girl May Lee appears, I'm subcribing, at least she weas a HM c: