| The King of Fighters '96: Neo Geo Collection | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | SNK |
| Publisher(s) | SNK |
| Year released | 1997 |
| System(s) | Neo Geo CD |
| Series | The King of Fighters |
| Genre(s) | Educational |
|---|---|
| Players | 1 |
| Modes | Single player |
The King of Fighters '96: Neo Geo Collection is an educational fighting game and spin-off released by SNK in 1997 exclusively for the Neo Geo CD, The game is based on the original The King of Fighters '96 and it's not necessarily a game, but is more of an encyclopedia of game lore. Its main feature is the character profile mode, where you can interview any of the 29 characters featured in KoF '96. It also includes a couple of different intros that explain the story of KoF and Orochi.
This game was only released in Japan.
Gameplay[edit]
When you start the game, apart from the EXIT option, there are 4 menu items available.
GAME INTRO[edit]
The Game Intro option has two choices: Opening Demo and Official Story. The Opening Demo is simply the game's attract mode. To access the Inside Story, highlight the Official Story text and press either up or down, the text will then change to Inside Story and the KoF logo will also change colors.
CHARACTER PROFILE[edit]
You may view the profile of the 29 included characters.
- Kyo Kusanagi
- Benimaru Nikaido
- Goro Daimon
- Terry Bogard
- Andy Bogard
- Joe Higashi
- Ryo Sakazaki
- Robert Garcia
- Yuri Sakazaki
- Leona
- Ralf
- Clark
- Athena Asamiya
- Sie Kensou
- Chin Gentsai
- Kim Kaphwan
- Chang Koehan
- Choi Bounge
- Kasumi Todo
- Mai Shiranui
- King
- Iori Yagami
- Mature
- Vice
- Chizuru Kagura
- Goenitz
- Geese Howard
- Wolfgang Krauser
- Mr. Big
COMMAND LIST[edit]
The command list mode is a mini demo of sorts. You'll be taken to the character select screen, where you can pick from any of the 29 characters in the game. Upon picking a character, you'll then get to see their command list, which has all of their special and desperation moves listed on it. タメ means "charge", ジャンプ中 means "while jumping", and 投げ間合い means "close to the opponent", if 2 Japanese words connect, it means that you must press any direction + any button.
Press start to fight, you'll always be fighting on the Japan team's stage in a mirror match. When the match begins you'll have 60 seconds to fight. Neither character will take damage from attacks so go nuts with combos and special moves. Desperation moves are also available, but as you have infinite health, super desperation moves can't be used in this mode.
After the 60 seconds are up, you'll get a time over and the match will end. You'll then get a win quote from your character, which is voiced, and then will be returned to the character select screen.
SOUND PLAY[edit]
Sound Play is a sound test for the game, letting you play various tracks from the arranged soundtrack. There are a few different ways to play a track, A standard method is available, but if you want you can also pick the "manual" option, which lets you choose a track and character.
Once you've picked your music and character, a brief load screen will show their stage, then the music track will start playing and a picture of the chosen character will be shown. Finally, there's also a random selection, which will pick music randomly and display random characters from the game. The characters will go through their sideline animations.
In addition to the sound test, the "option" menu is actually a gallery mode. There are four selections to choose from:
art file -demo-- Sprites and backgrounds from the game's cutscenes.art file -ending-- Sprites and backgrounds from the game's ending sequences.chara data -new character-- Images of Vice, Mature, Chizuru, and Goenitz. Some of the drawings show early versions of these characters, including completely different outfits for Chizuru and Leona which were not used in the final game.chara data -etc-- Drawings of various characters, several of which appear to be scrapped fighters who didn't make it into the game.- The sixth image shows a character with the Kusanagi clan's crest on the back of his shirt, but is clearly not Kyo. Perhaps it's Saisyu but his face looks a bit different.
- The seventh image shows a character who resembles Shingo Yabuki, who wouldn't debut until The King of Fighters '97.
- The eighth image shows an unknown character, who slightly resembles Axel Hawk from Fatal Fury 2, but I doubt it's meant to be him.
- The ninth image shows an unknown character.
- The last image shows an unknown character, although perhaps it was an early design for Chizuru.