Clones, clones and more frikkin clones
Hamster continue to roll out classic Neo Geo titles on modern platforms, with this week seeing the return ofKing of Fighters ’99to PS4 and Xbox One.
KoF ’99was SNK’s attempt to take the fighting franchise in a new direction, following the conclusion of The Orochi Saga and the non-canonKoF ’98: The Slugfest.The game introduces a new protagonist, the hilariously edgy K’, and brings shadowy organisation NESTS into the spotlight as new antagonists.
What follows is aninterminablestoryline in which everyone is clone, and others are clones of clones and… well, it’s just not very good. The game however, isn’t bad. For the first time in the series, players pick a team offourcharacters, with one member acting as the “Striker”, who can leap into battle as aMarvel-style assist.
The NESTS saga also introduces some cool new characters, such as Vanessa, Whip and Maxima. Xiangfei fromReal Bout 2also makes herKoFdebut. Long time poster-boys Kyo and Iori were originally removed from the game entirely, to bring focus to the new characters, but were begrudgingly returned to the roster after complaints from fans at location tests.
King of Fighters ’99is a neat entry in the series. In many ways it’s fair to suggest that you don’t need this unless you’re a completionist or if you already haveKoF’s ’98and’02, but its still a unique entry in the series.KoF ’99is available to download now Worldwide on Xbox One and in Japan on PS4.
