The King of Fighters '98

The King of Fighters '98 is the fifth game in the series. The game was released for the Neo Geo and later ported to the Sony PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast. The Dreamcast port of the game was titled The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999. It was also remade for the PlayStation 2 as The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match.

In terms of plot, the game did not have a story. Instead, SNK developed the game as a "dream match" for characters from all previous King of Fighters games, including killed-off characters. The series' canon storyline would resume in The King of Fighters '99.

This game is known as The King of Fighters '98: Dream Match Never Ends in Japan.