The King of Fighters '95

The gameplay of King of Fighters '95 was left largely intact from King of Fighters '94. The one major change SNK was to allow players to select any combination of characters to fight with, as opposed to the concrete teams that players were confined to in the previous game. In addition, almost all the teams from the first game returned, but were no longer affiliated with specific nationalities. The Sports Team from the previous game was replaced by a Rivals Team, comprised of Iori Yagami (a new character designed to be Kyo Kusanagi's rival) along with Billy Kane (Terry Bogard's rival) and Eiji Kisaragi (Ryo Sakazaki's rival).

The King of Fighters '95 marked the beginning of the Orochi Saga, who would continue in KOF '96 and KOF '97. However, the only elements from the Orochi saga known in this game are the introduction of a key character, Iori Yagami, and Rugal's use of the Orochi power.

King of Fighters '95 revealed that boss character Rugal Bernstein, thought to have perished in an explosion in the previous game, had in fact survived and sent out invitations to the teams from the previous game signed simply 'R'. King of Fighters '95 is stated to be the canonical death of Rugal Bernstein, with his subsequent appearances being in non-cannon games.