Together Retro: The King of Fighters '98

[marurun]

Sadly DreamMatch for the Dreamcast is one of the most Aliased "Jaggy" games in History. Would do better to pick up '89 UM for the PS2 or XBox Live (although the XBL version doesn't have English Text - LAME). PS2 '89 UM is the best.

That's because it's running at the original arcade resolution, IIRC. I prefer 2D in it's original pixellated glory rather than anti-aliased or filtered over, because that filtering often cause a loss of detail. I don't think the lower resolution hurts the playability of the game at all.

[artphotodude]

It does play well - that is for sure! Also, if you have the rare Neo Geo Pocket Color, it is actually pretty fun to connect the two games together and transfer items (the DC sure was an advanced system)!

Sadly DreamMatch for the Dreamcast is one of the most Aliased "Jaggy" games in History. Would do better to pick up '89 UM for the PS2 or XBox Live (although the XBL version doesn't have English Text - LAME). PS2 '89 UM is the best.

That's because it's running at the original arcade resolution, IIRC. I prefer 2D in it's original pixellated glory rather than anti-aliased or filtered over, because that filtering often cause a loss of detail. I don't think the lower resolution hurts the playability of the game at all.

It does play well though! Especially fun if you have the Neo Geo Pocket Color version of the game to tether to it.

[noiseredux]

I'm kind of having a lot more fun playing Capcom Vs SNK 2 instead. It has teams of three. I can use Morrigan, Chun-Li AND Mai. And it feels more like a Capcom game, which seems to suite me more. I guess most importantly, it doesn't feel nearly as cheap as King Of Fighters 98. That game just feels brutal to me. Maybe I'll try again after I take a breather.

[Ack]

Ok, I've gone a different route than everyone else in this Together Retro. Instead of playing one of the KOF '98s, I decided I'd sit down with the PS1 port of KOF '99 instead. I believe it's the first game to implement the striker system, which makes it feel like an early Capcom Vs. title in some ways...but I'm not really all that happy with that. I've found I actually don't care for most strikers, though the grappling ones seem the most interesting.

Unfortunately I have a major problem. My favorite character to play as (read: Kula) still isn't in the series, and I just do not like playing as Kim in this game, despite my usually enjoying him. So I'm drifting between teams at the moment. So far I've tried out the Heroes Team ('K team, basically) and Psycho Soldier Team, but while I found things I liked about both, neither really felt like me.

I've toned down the difficulty to actually get a little experience in the game, but I can still tell that I'm absolutely terrible. As of writing this, I'm about to watch those videos the7k posted earlier in this thread. I watched the "How to Play" video from the TR main page post, and it has helped illuminate some of the mobility options, but I'm finding myself too overwhelmed by them all and they haven't become natural yet...I know, it comes with practice.

Despite what folks are saying, KOF really doesn't play like Street Fighter. You can play it that way, but I've found it tends to get me hurt more than anything right now. I have to agree with SpaceBooger's earlier criticism: the team system makes it difficult to learn the game, because I'm having to pick up three characters simultaneously instead of just one. But at the same time, once you get it down, I can see it being very rewarding having learned multiple play styles that can then potentially transfer to similar characters on other teams. So yeah...steep learning curve, but with great rewards.

[dsheinem]

Which is closest to the arcade original?

So I just played this for the first time (ever?) and can see myself enjoying it. Is the AI supposed to be tough or easy? I know SNK games are usually tough, but twice in a row within the first hour I made it to (what I assume) is the last boss without continuing, and then just barely lost to him. This was with button mashing - I am sure once I lean some of the characters it will be even easier Am I naturally gifted, or is KOF '98 easier than some other SNK titles (Samurai Showdown series, Fatal Fury, etc.)?

Ok, so apparently the "default" difficulty on OS is "1" out of "8". The settings are univerasl across the collection, not game specific which is why I wasn't seeing any options to adjust. There's nothing in the manual indicating what level = arcade difficulty. Anyone know? Is 1 arcade and each level higher? Is 4 arcade? 8? Do any of the other versions of the game have variable difficulty?

Any help would be appreciated. I've searched the web to no avail. I assume at this point that 1 =/= arcade, but who knows...

what version are you playing? No one has said they have multiple versions and can compare difficulty. OS has variable difficulty - which is the arcade level? Do other ports allow difficulty changes?

sorry to beat a broken drum, but I am still trying to get a sense on how to compare difficulty and settings across the various versions, even though I only have one version...surely someone on this forum must be able to compare, contrast, and answer the questions?

[Ack]

sorry to beat a broken drum, but I am still trying to get a sense on how to compare difficulty and setting across the various versions, even though I only have one version...surely someone on this forum must be able to compare, contrast, and answer the questions?

I don't know.

That said, KOF '99 defaulted to difficulty 3 out of 8, so why not give that a shot?

[noiseredux]

wish I could help DSH, but really have no idea.

[the7k]

Sigh. I can't believe we're all sitting here arguing over the difficulty/cheapness of the AI. In a King of Fighters game no less. In King of Fighters '98 of all its iterations.

I can understand having difficulty finding people playing KOF'94 or '01 online, but there should be no shortage of actual players for KOF'98.

I'm going to download a KOF'98 Rom and GGPO. If someone else wants to do the same, I'll be willing to spar a few matches when I have the time.

[SpaceBooger]

sorry to beat a broken drum, but I am still trying to get a sense on how to compare difficulty and settings across the various versions, even though I only have one version...surely someone on this forum must be able to compare, contrast, and answer the questions?

The only way I can answer that question is by how far I made it through the game. On my arcade cab (MAME) I easily get to the third fight. On the PS2 I barely beat the first fight. I haven't tried the DC.
I have used the same characters and kept the settings (when available) at default for both games. Maybe you need to try the MAME version too to compare assuming you have a decent fighting controller for your pc.

[the7k]

Well, just played the MAME rom.

Man, I can tell it's been ages since I've played. After getting stomped on the third fight, I had to go look up a move list, as I was finding that I didn't even remember the moves for my main freaking characters. (I usually run Yamazaki, Mary and Billy)

After that, I managed to beat it, although I had to continue once on fight five (Women's Team - Chizuru earned her rep as Top Tier by defeating all of my characters by standing perfectly still. Seriously, the only moving she did was through her specials. It was like she was taunting me.), twice on fight six (Yagami Team - I'd forgotten how hard this team was.), and God knows how many on Rugal. Up until those fights, though, I was stomping the game into the ground. Even got the opportunity to fight the secret character Shingo, and managed to just barely eek out a victory.

By the way, I'd recommend playing '97 before '98. It has the same systems and many of the characters, but I definitely remember it being easier than '98. In fact, I found it kinda disappointing that '97 was easy, because even Orochi himself was a complete and utter pushover, especially compared to Goenitz or Rugal.