The 25th of August marks the release of KOF’94 on arcade. I asked fans to share their first encounters with KOF. From laundromats, flash websites, manhua and demo disks to guest appearances, TV features, streams, and handheld ports, the stories are familiar and should re-affirm the importance of all those ways, not to mention KOF’s style and appeal in itself, in creating fans!
First time I saw KOF was an EGM magazine with I think Doom on the front. It was KOF 94. Editors complimented the graphics and sheer number of fighters.
I saw a side by side with AOF 2 with King and Ryu. They broke down moves from each team including the "Geniuses of Fisticuffs"
— SWATS (@SWATS_GBX) August 26, 2022
Saw 94 at The Broadway Arcade in NYC and loved the huge revamp in style vs AoF and FF. Gone was the chunky SNK art and now we have a rendered style thats fast and plays great. After getting my home system earlier that year I knew I had to buy it. Played 100s of hours, good times.
— JC "masterLEON" Padilla (@masterLEON) August 26, 2022
As far 1st time I saw it was Fatal Fury: The King of Fighters on SNES. One of my Bros, traded street fighter 2 & Mortal Kombat, he would later have to trade it back. As KOF I bought myself, that would be KOF 99 on ps1, I remember buying it for $9.99 from a Gamestop. Because…
— Taurence Bell (Commissions OPEN) (@taurencebell) August 26, 2022
If memory serves me right, I think I saw the first KOF proper in action as KOF95 on a PS1 demo disc. I was surprised to see Kim Kaphwan from Fatal Fury 2 on it, against some new character (probably Kyo). https://t.co/Ez6u0SPpnI
— Senator VX ? (@arch_carrier) August 25, 2022
As a kid in New York I was around SF/Marvel/MK games mostly. Never heard of SNK till CvS1. I saw the X-play review of KOF '00/'01 for PS2 in 2003 and decided to give it a shot. 3rd PS2 game I purchased. Been a fan since. https://t.co/a8AkwYle6e
— ?HBHollaback?? (@HBHollaback) August 26, 2022
The first time was KOF 94, at my local community College
But I saw Ikaris vs Sports, and had NO IDEA what it was.
Later, it was 96 that got me into it. https://t.co/isiAnk4btG— WorldTourManiac Olaf / ??? (@OlafRedland) August 25, 2022
The King of Fighters 94 in an arcade in Spain, summer 1994, after reading a lot about it on French video games magazines. https://t.co/JhZo2QHvLR
— frionel@DuoLonLaboratory (@frionel26) August 25, 2022
So basically in 9th grade I found out what a mugen was and the rabbit hole went downhill from there.
— JC (@Jayce_junk) August 26, 2022
KOF 95 at a Fiesta Mart back when grocery stores had Arcade Cabinets near the entrance https://t.co/KxqqMBG8Ip
— Koiwai (@QMKoiwai) August 26, 2022
A mix of visiting to arcades and emulation. CVS1 got me into the SNK Universe/KOF when I was at high school in 2001. Back then, I had a PC with a NeoGeo emulator, that's where I first played KOF '98.
— Emwil Doct. | Could Be Retiring Anytime Soon (@yuki_yagami) August 26, 2022
The many flash games I played before emulation and owning my first console was the KOF Wing series pic.twitter.com/c9lkDbVmG5
— rasi @ UMVC3 Rollback Copium (@rasifurefodi) August 26, 2022
KOF 2002 was the first KOF game I’ve ever played and I’ve fell in love with it ever since ?? https://t.co/kKogOhkeJp
— Bustah (@Bustawhat) August 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/dupk_u/status/1562843405520027656?s=20&t=Pb_XGhavnJ1oCuCx4ItWIA
My first experience was actually the steam release of KoFXIII back in 2013.
This was way before I got into FGs and I really wanted to try one.
I hated it (Most likely because I understood 0) but I loved the way Terry looked. https://t.co/KWGiKVZfsD— Stui (@DunkingRaccoon) August 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/SNKPLAYMOAR/status/1563075977139220482?s=20&t=Pb_XGhavnJ1oCuCx4ItWIA
Kof 94, literally saw it in a Chinese bodega in my hood. They had street fighter, mortal Kombat, tekken 1 (jp version) and a kof94 hooked up to neogeo. Put in a quarter, and I was like who’s the ryu equivalent here and went with team Mexico lol. Shit was flames ? https://t.co/5KwmdJhh7G
— fgcOS 480hz Reactions Sabin (@nycfurby) August 26, 2022
playing my friends new neogeo console in 1995 and seeing the fatal fury stage. The way the characters jump off the bridge to the water was the coolest shit to me at the time. i can hear this image! https://t.co/Bg48wjDK7f pic.twitter.com/2J74MmdMDx
— clara la san’s husband (@de_avis_) August 25, 2022
svc chaos, i was getting into megaman so i heard about zero being playable but when i saw some of the snk charas i really wanted to know more about their play style, so i played a better vs game; cvs2 https://t.co/67pjoKSolM
— ???? (@eternallmind) August 25, 2022
Não me records da primeira lembrança, mas tenho muitas e conquistas que muitos nem imaginam graças a KOF https://t.co/N8l7oY2NiX
— Marcel | Code: CAMARGO (@MarcelCamargoo) August 25, 2022
The first time I played KOF was in 2005 i think, I was 6yo and the first one i played was 99, I immediately fell in love with Athena's Design in that game and the musics, it's still my favourite KOF ever because of Nostalgia, and 99 Athena is still the best to me pic.twitter.com/v9HQnWxhA8
— izli (@Euphonie__) August 25, 2022
Pop got us hooked up with cable in 1997-ish, in one of the HK-based entertainment channels they would air a 30 minute gaming show that ended every episode with a casual set of KOF 97. Somehow it would almost always be Iori mirrors. That was the very first hook.
— Bravehaart / Guntank in Rubicon 6 (@guntanksinspace) August 25, 2022
Tava jogando Street Fighter no PS2 e meus primos trouxeram um CD de Kof pra gente jogar
Não ganhei nem um round https://t.co/AfDmnwNxP0
— Shin Ys (@RysuNo) August 25, 2022
It had all kinds of games, from Donkey Kong to Time Crisis, but they had only one FG cab: Capcom vs SNK 2. Knowing only the Capcom characters, I figured I'd give it a shot and began to play some games against other random kids who were there with their families. (3/?)
— DankyStank – EVO recovery arc… (@DankyStankMank) August 25, 2022
https://twitter.com/Vmcd_02/status/1562837713149390849?s=20&t=Pb_XGhavnJ1oCuCx4ItWIA
A very third-world country story:
It was the summer of 2001 and my sister bought one of those disks with several emulators and games, 1800 said it had on the label. And there was a folder simply called "kof" with the mythical NeoRAGEx inside with kof99. https://t.co/e7z1C1E1UZ pic.twitter.com/DFSsuOvgsA
— steph???? (Commissions Open) (@ktovhinao) August 25, 2022
Terry's Smash Ult. reveal, 2019. I saw his teaser trailer at the Nintendo NY store, and it instantly caught my eye. after his release, I downloaded Fatal Fury Special and KOF 95 on the Switch, and from there, I began to collect all of the KOF NG titles while enjoying the stories. https://t.co/Rm2T2XLF8w
— nika ?? (@SMOdysseyy) August 25, 2022
I'm relatively new to KOF but I got into it by buying up every fighting game on Steam when I got into it at 2020. At first I didn't really understand it until I started watching people online talking about it. https://t.co/6JZ4N6bABR
— G-seus (@PrideG20) August 25, 2022
My grandparents' computer back in the old days had an emulated copy of one of the GB KOFs. That was the first time I ever saw Iori Yagami and thought he was cool as shit lol https://t.co/EaNnVLY2d1
— Nick Carry | ShonenSupreme (@_ShonenSupreme_) August 25, 2022
Fué hace mas de 15 años en un salon de arcade (maquinitas como aquí le decimos) cuando aun se usaban fichas. Las dos unicas maquinas vacias en ese momento eran KOF 99 y SF, me pareció una mejor inversión usar tres personajes en lugar y asi fue como inició mi gusto por la saga 🙂 https://t.co/8N8K0VpWSR
— Ikari Hime (@Ikari_Hime) August 25, 2022
Entre los 6 a 8 años, probé mi primer videojuego en una maquinita, buscando algo que me llamará la atención, me encontré con KOF '97, decidí probarlo y a partir, me enganche con los videojuegos en general, en especial los de pelea y en especial, de la saga KOF https://t.co/QGrQohApsK
— TQ (@TQCD10) August 25, 2022
I can't remember the exact first time, but it must've been in a laundromat. Actually the first time I ever played KOF, Tekken, MvsC, and Metal Slug were in a laundromat.
— AlexDraws-COMMISSIONS OPEN!!-(1/3) (@1AlexisDraws) August 25, 2022
I think my first approach to KOF was when I was 12 years old because I was in an Arcade place and it caught my attention to see the opening of KOF 98, especially the part where Iori appears. ?? I wasn't good playing at that time but I've enjoyed it~.
— ? Kasumi ? (@nadii_nadii90) August 25, 2022
My first KoF was 99. I played my older brother in it than he later bought it for me. This was during my high school years. The rest is history. https://t.co/QQ88ZIK5Os
— Destroyer of Worlds (@TheGodSlayer6) August 25, 2022
2003: I knew KoF only by name, it was (and still is) and extremely niche game in my Country, I've found it only a couple times at the arcade and it was always '98. Team was 90% of time Iori, Terry and Whip or Mai. Anyway, in '03 I was 16 and stumbled upon KoF Zillion and… well. https://t.co/KcaTPHdUfY
— Mana?IoriChiKyo&XiaoJinHwoa era|COMM. CLOSED (@_ManaChan) August 25, 2022
The KOF 13 mobile build. Back then I did t know shit.
My first TRUE KOF game was 14 tho https://t.co/Qg5xOZ10Dj
— CanadianTaco (Pirate vtuber one day i swear) (@tacoorsmth) August 25, 2022
Must have been like 2013, I just got an iPod touch and found iKoF-2013. First real KoF was years later tho, KoF98 in Early 2016.
K’/Terry/Kyo all day everyday https://t.co/q0f1S1vEpq
— Appleseed's Strongest Soldier (@WiresAndFlesh) August 25, 2022
I played KoF 94 at Hitech-21 Arcade in Yaohan Plaza, Little Tokyo Downtown LA CA.
It was a great summer.— ?Theo Papulis ??? (@Theo75) August 25, 2022
First time I saw KOF was a 97 cab out on the streets of Shanghai when I was like 9 or 10 (which might not even be legal as you had to be at least 16 to even go into arcades back then). That's when I saw Mai's bouncy tiddies for the first time and I thought, wow, porn.
— reVelske (@reVelske) August 25, 2022
got introduced by a laundry that had the entire nest saga/other snk games & loved it from kyo,'angel,mai shiranui,yuri sakazaki & whip/kula then later saw snk vs. capcom match of the millenium,watched another day & the fatal fury ova's that made me want to know more about snk. :3
— teddy (@mrtn194) August 25, 2022
There was a discount chain store where I grew up that had a couple of arcade cabinets near the exit that I would haunt while my mom shopped. Every few months, they would switch the cabinets, so it was always interesting to see what new game they had. /1
— Willem Dafuq (@Anariaca) August 25, 2022
I read a Iorixkyo fic in 2001 and then I was like, Who are these guys and what is this KOF tournament about? Then I found an arcade place in my town and played the heck out the Orochi and the NESTS saga. The place had all from KOF96 to KOF01. Later I found KOF94 in another city
— helsic (@helsic) August 25, 2022
My first time whit KOF was back in 2007, arcades aren't a think here, simply I found a NeoGeo emulator and a KOF 2002 ROM, was almost magical trying the game
— Shinigami_san (@Shinigami__san) August 25, 2022
It all began in uh….'98? It would be a while before I had a real kof on disc to play at home which was '99 on ps1. It was so wildly different than SF! It was easily the first high end fighting game I played that wasn't made by capcom and I've been a fan since!
— ZexMarquis (@zexmarquis) August 25, 2022
I had the KOF 2002/2003 Xbox 2-pack and I played the hell out of 2003
— ????Erin Walker #BLM???? (@ErinECW1999) August 25, 2022
when i was like 6 i bought a pirate video game disc, was hoping to play some age of empires, but the disc happened to have kof on it
— Tanzong.WLTM??? (@tanzong830) August 25, 2022
Not sure if my words matter cause when rumors started of a SNK character getting into smash bros, I looked into kof/fatal fury and such..been a fan ever since.
Just another franchise I wished I got into a lot earlier..had bit of knowledge what kof was before but that's bout it.
— Digi (@NoponDigi) August 25, 2022
My first time seeing KOF was 94 in an old game magazine. I obviously couldn't play it but thought it looked cool. I later found 99 at a Sam's Club for like 10 bucks and the rest was history
— Danny Dumlet (@thedrunkendan) August 25, 2022
I don't recall which game specifically was the first I saw, but I know that it was @TheQuarterGuy who first made me aware of the series' existence.
— Ethan (@KitsyKat_) August 25, 2022
As a kid, I was blown away from a game mag article that SNK (I loved FF1&2 on Sega Genesis) got arcade gfx in the AES console. Then I saw a AES demo station at local game store with KOF94. Amazed at visual/audio quality and price. When I got a PS1, got KOF95 and been a fan since.
— Omega Amen (@OmegaAmen) August 25, 2022
In Jersey with family. Saw that red cab and Takuma throwing invisible fireballs and knew Old man karate was the way https://t.co/4cR8me1zyI
— CyanSenku @ Running Locals (@Cyanoticsenku) August 25, 2022
The first KOF I've played was 97 back in the day and I've been a die hard fan since and to this day, it's still my favorite KOF in the series
— Wagner Plagues #KOFXV (@xWagnerPlaguesx) August 25, 2022
https://twitter.com/mikefullblack/status/1562798470347759618?s=20&t=Pb_XGhavnJ1oCuCx4ItWIA
First time I’ve ever experienced anything to do with this franchise was Capcom VS SNK 2. It was the gateway for me to enjoying anything SNK related ???? pic.twitter.com/jyafsSNQ9B
— Vic-Treasuresson (@treasuresson) August 25, 2022
I first learned about SNK/KOF thanks to Capcom versus SNK 2. My first official KOF game was playing 99 at my local laundromat. I loved the series ever since
— Onyxe Summer Blade (@OnyxeBlade) August 25, 2022
KOF ‘95 on a PSX demo disc. Never thought I would see a 2d fighter on 32bit consoles at that point
— Tie Shan Kao (@hypabomb) August 25, 2022
https://twitter.com/KC0Cruz/status/1562792613073551362?s=20&t=Pb_XGhavnJ1oCuCx4ItWIA
My first SNK game is FF3 playing the real king of fighters Terry ? but my first KOF game is KOF 94 rocking team Fatal Fury
— Moe Bogard (@BogardMoe) August 25, 2022
I can't remember if I played a KOF before 98, but if I did it was briefly. Definitely 98 was the first one I played a LOT, and had access to on a console.
— viparas (@viparas) August 25, 2022
I grew up in rural New Hampshire along the Conn. River and the Vermont town across from us had an arcade that had "KoF '98". I'd play it after high school whenever I had the chance (bit of a long walk all over since I had no car and the high school was in another town entirely!).
— Âmesang (@Amesang_) August 25, 2022
I was 8 or 9 when I 1st time saw KOF '98 in the arcades. Few months later my 1st kof in ps2 was 2001, I had great times in my childhood. Later in 2015 I start playing kof for nostalgia and my 1st proper kof was '97 for exploring the lore. That's how I fell in love with kof.
— Abu-Turab Kazmi (@NeoShinZero) August 25, 2022
smash ult terry- i ended up getting the chance to try a kof 2002 cabinet a little later that year, and i was hooked :O https://t.co/Vy09NNtnmB
— Pepper @ back home 🙂 (@GhostPeppermin1) August 25, 2022
Happy Birthday #KOF Series.
First experience with the series was in 2003, when #SNK then tried to put a tag team switching mechanic. I though it was cool and playing as Team Fatal Fury with Terry, Joe and Tizoc was awesome. Might not be a fan favourite game, but I enjoy KOF2003. https://t.co/fVe6AeErGE— Taj Garou (@TAJgarou) August 25, 2022
smash bros, terry. had no idea who this guy was, saw real bout fatal fury 2 was on sale for dirt cheap, tried it, spiralled into the fighting game rabbit hole ever since and now kof is one of my most important series https://t.co/KhPrF42S26
— HB (@livetwintreats) August 25, 2022
The first one i saw was '95, i was 9 at the time, used to play AoF2 with my brother and was like, hey Ryo and Robert are here, we also knew FF characters before, i just charged power gauge to do supers because they looked so cool, that's how i lost my coins ?
— Renato Ramos (@renatoramosp) August 25, 2022
I was a Street Fighter player first. My first experience with KOF was via CVS2 in high school in 2002, and I fell in love with the characters. My first King of Fighters PROPER was XI.
— The ShadowBlade (@TKShadowBlade) August 25, 2022
My history with KOF goes back to the mid-nineties, possibly the first NEOGEO game ever I played was World Heroes 2 and I also played Fatal Fury, one day I saw KOF' 94 and recognized the Fatal Fury guys.
— Carlos Argueta (@charlieargueta) August 25, 2022
First time seeing the name in early 2000's on a PlayStation magazine. "What a smug name" I thought.
First time playing was in 2010 or 2011. I had bought SVC Chaos on PS2 and became interested in characters. Decided to buy some KOF game on next city trip. And it was 2002. https://t.co/amUjDNLrNb
— J-H Reedlake (@RaivokasMagma) August 25, 2022
KOF95, I was already well into SNK thanks to Ikari Warriors and Fatal Fury/AOF/Magician Lord/etc. For some reason the MVS near me never got 94.
But I saw this, picked Team Ikari and said hell yes. Then I discovered Iori and basically agreed with Sakurai all the way then as a kid https://t.co/jQDfiUsUUo
— Azzy@DUO LON HYPE (@AzzyFGC) August 25, 2022
Autumn of 94; I was in middle school and stumbled upon a Neo Geo cab at a newly opened super Walmart of all places! Put my quarter in, picked Team England, and began a love affair with the series that ate many dollars in change and prompted me to save up for my own NGDC console. https://t.co/cRDGDgoLQ9
— ?Lex AKA illyrilex ~ Poltergeist Era ? (@thelexhex) August 25, 2022
I remember seeing a NeoGeo MVS cabinet at a grocery store. Put a few quarters in. KOF 94. Tried playing as Team Fatal Fury. It was tough, but worth playing, tried my best. The buttons were snappy, joystick responded well. A worthwhile experience
— kadosho (@kadosho) August 25, 2022
I was 14, and i saw awsome IREM pixel school, like Last Resort. Few years later i understand why.?.
Legend. pic.twitter.com/cirPTdFklI
— First Attack (@FirstAttackBZH) August 25, 2022
First contact? Randomly when my small town still had an arcade but I was too little to understand what it was. 'Twas the Evo finals 2013 that got me like "oh I wanna do this"
— KaptenKladdkaka (@valrossen92) August 25, 2022
My 1st KOF when i was 9. Ikari team is my 1st team
— Marvine Santos Batoc (GoreValues) (@gamernextdoor69) August 25, 2022
It went from KOF13 to Fightcade playing 98UM & 2002UM with Mexico and South America to finding a cab that had it to finally owning it all on PS4 .. thank you @SNKPofficial @SNKPofficial_jp @snk_oda for my favorite FG series of all time. https://t.co/82v2wlXYpW
— Road to 250 YT Subs (New Game Giveaway)! Links?? (@StrykerDragoon) August 25, 2022
8?25???THE KING OF FIGHTERS '94?1994????????????28????????????CM??????????????
SNK????????????????3???????????????????????????????#KOF94#???CM pic.twitter.com/wDjpTpHCn6— ???? (@hitochiwa) August 24, 2022
That’s all for now, it’s been 28 years!!! Here’s to many more, cheeeeers!!!