It’s been about a minute or two since I’ve last posted on SRK (about May of '05) but I should be able to contribute something to this thread. Starting with the KOF’s. I’m leaving out the bosses, by the way, since anyone knows that they’re going to be overpowered. I’ll stick the Low Tiers in another post. Everyone not listed here or there would be somewhere in between.
KOF '94: As 4neqs said, the set teams make this a little difficult to determine, so I’ll do it based on chars and teams.
Chars: Heidern (Huge range, very little charge times on his specials, little recovery, good priority, the Moonslash / Final Bringer drain glitch [evident in all Heidern appearences, except for possible 2k1) where his drains did a lot more damage after a Moonslash], and a 100% damage counter-hit Moonslash glitch).
Teams: Art of Fighting Team: Not a weak link in the bunch.
KOF '95: Heidern, Iori, Eiji, Chin (in the red).
Heidern is up there for the reasons listed in '94, except for the 100% Moonslash glitch (doesn’t have that anymore). Extraordinarily safe in most of his moves (particularly his specials).
Iori is really solid, and his Maiden Masher is not only fast, but has a good amount of invincibility.
Eiji is fast as hell, extremely damaging, excellent pressure, and specials for nearly every situation. When he’s in MAX, he can kill you in one combo.
Chin in particular gets special mention because once he’s in the red, he can do his Flame Breath super as many times as he wants. This is the best super in the game for a number of reasons.
- Can’t be jumped over.
- Can’t be sidestepped (lasts longer than a sidestep).
- Does more damage on a block than on an actual hit.
- Can’t be reflected.
- Very little recovery.
- Long ranged (few attacks are long enough and low enough to do anything against this move, and Chin’s likely to win on trades).
KOF '96: Mature, Iori, Goro, Choi, Ryo, Big Boss Team.
Mature: Her speed, great A’s, the Despair (dp+P), Metal Massacre (bdp+K) all help her here. Her real gift is the and the instantaneous, long-range, high damage, anti-airable CD.
Iori: As solid as he ever was, but now he has the dreaded Scum Gale (hcb, f+P), which, if memory serves, he was able to use as an infinite (A or B, Scum Gale, repeat).
Goro: Great pokes, new throws, and being the only char in the game with a sidestep (BCD), mark the beginning of his reign of terror.
Choi: Really fast, awesome cross-up C, hard to catch, and does more damage than he really should for his size.\
Ryo: Really solid, can do huge damage with fairly easy combos, and his standing B one of the most annoying pokes in the game. Although it’s clearly overshadowed by Mature’s insane CD, it will become the single most annoying poke in KOF '98.
Big Boss Team (Geese, Krauser, Mr. Big).
Geese: His power in 96 is in his normals. Decent pokes, an air C that’s made for guard breaks, as well as an infinite with that air C. If you can master the Raging Storm, you’ve got a no-fly zone.
Krauser: Huge range…there are chars with weapons that don’t have this kind of range. Awesome pokes, huge projectiles in the Blitzballs, above average throw range and his qcf+K…his playing style is strange in that it emphasizes on his range and his pokes, but he’s also bulldog aggressive, like someone charging at you with a spear.
Mr. Big: Once again, great pokes. A great air C, 3 crouching normals with good range that hit low (B, C, and D) His California Sunrise (or California Romance, depending) dp+P is a great anti-air. In fact, he’s the only person on the Big Boss Team with a good AA.
That’s all for the moment. I’ll get to the other KOF’s in my next post. If anyone’s reading this, that is. :lol: