I remember some KoF’95 match vids being posted here a while back. Athena and Kyo seemed pretty good from what I saw.
03 Duo Lon has a super fast teleport, safe blocked rekkakens, 2 infinites, a Genei-Jin type super, great mixups.
Yeah, but that’s old news. He’s the only KOF character ever that’s been banned from tournements, and given how powerful some chars have been in the past, that’s -really- saying something.
KOF '97: Orochi New Face Team, Riot of the Blood Iori, RotB Leona, (All of which are only selectable with codes).
Kyo, Shingo, Terry, Goro, Choi.
I’ll leave out the reasons why the Orochi versions of the New Face Team, Iori and Leona are powerful: it’s that obvious. =p
Kyo: His new fighting style has been refined since '96, and this is where he starts coming into his own. What really breaks him out this year is his much needed new super: the Final Shodown.
THE FINAL SHODOWN! :wow:
This super is really, really, really good. Totally changes Kyo’s game. Kyo’s biggest problem in the past was that his Orochinagi was always limited in the ways you could combo into it. The Final Shodown chaged all of that: it was fast enough to combo from a jab (more importantly, from his low-hitting close B) almost impossible to roll, impossible to sidestep, impossible to jump over, and guard crushed on the last hit. This was the super that made Kyo players forget he even had the Orochinagi. If the opponent so much as flinches…Final Shodown. Of course there is also his infinite, but that’s a little tricky to do…
Shingo: A solid fighter with a variation of Kyo’s moveset, but what Shingo lacks in flames, he makes up for in Critical Hits. Good lord, the critical hits. His f+B, and all his specials and supers are able to get criticals, and if they land on the last hit of the move, the stun will enable Shingo to tack on another attack. Ralf crits every now and then, Shingo crits every other hit of his specials, and they add up fast. He’s also able to super cancel his SDM tackle (which guard breaks) into his DM autocombo.
Terry: Terry’s always been a solid fighter, but this year with his Power Tackle and Crack Shoot infinites, he’s a real beast. He can start his infinites off a low B. I won’t go into how his infinites go (that’s easy enough to find), but they’re damn easy to do, and can be used to punish nearly any mistake.
Goro: Exactly the same reason why he’s powerful in '98: Huge damage, awesome pokes, anti-airs for days, the OTG Minelayer glitch. The only difference between him in this and in 98 is that he has one less glitch (the df+C, Ukemi Roll infinite). Goro’s just a force of nature. He’s not going to let you pass unless he wants you to.
Choi: All the same reasons why Choi was strong in the past, but with one major addition: his dash super. With this he’s able to combo a super from a jab, which is something he couldn’t do previously. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Choi has way too much damage potential for how small and fast he is.
One character being over-powered in a team-based game isn’t too bad, considering you still have to use two other characters.
At least that’s how I see it.
Btw, Chin in 96 had the best or one of the best air CD. Really, some crazy priority.
Oh and nice informations Mr. Big.^^
kof11: gato and kula
ngbc: big, marco, hotaru
Nice to see you back, Big. I keep forgetting to AIM, but I will when I’m not busy. 
In ‘03, I believe that the next high tiers after Duo Lon are Daimon (serviceable :hcf: :snkd: DM, strong LDM) and K’ (great :qcf::qcf: :k: DM, fireballs, air fireball).
As '94, I guess you could tier it normally if you’re considering Re-Bout (which has team edit), but then again it has Saisyu and Rugal in it. I think that Heidern would still be on top though.
In 96’ Clark also had the BCD sidestep. But he and Goro were the only two characters in the game with it…
Anyone know how to rank Ryo in KOF 95. I think he was kinda strong, no top but strong …
As for SS2, providing we are excluding the infinites (and even then… I’d probably rank him absolute top), Ukyo is the man, even above Charlotte : good if not excellent range for most of his moves, good hitboxes, little startup on strong moves, many pokes are safes, good anti-air and mixup though a bit akward at first, the only one that can link/cancel his super (I never remember if it’s a cancel or a loose link).
If we allow the infinite, Gen-an is probably even more of a beast, but since we forbid them where I am, I can’t say for sure… and even then Ukyo rules, I mean : he’s a ladies man!
Ukyo is better then Gen An, keep away all day and sometimes a combo and you own Gen. Also Ukyo’s simple s.B into qcf+CD works on all distances and is extremly dangerous, because of the huge range and fast speed. You can nearly always counter and punish with that. His crouch A is also better then nearly anything pokes wise in the game …
Gen-An’s and Nicotine’s chain grab “infinites” aren’t really infinites because you can easily mash out of the dizzy in either. You’ll recover before they have time to do their fierce slash xx chain grab and counterhit them for big damage.
Ukyo is top tier alone. His cr. B and After-image slices (which are completely safe) make him control the ground completely. Not that he needs to take to the air, but if he does, his Swallow Swipe air fireballs cover a huge radius and are just annoying in general. His jumping AB cuts throught most characters anti-airs for free (which is one of the reason why Ukyo murders Charlotte).
As for the rest I’d say are mostly even with each other. They all have something abuseable.
Galford is really good with his 50/50 mixups (and to a lesser degree Hanzo, since Hanzo doesn’t have Poppy BS).
Charlotte’s normals (slashes AND kicks) are one of the best in the game priority-wise… she can almost outpoke everyone in the game.
Sieger gets almost completely free and safe chip with his Vulcan Cannon.
Earthquake’s AB chain is absolutely sick in range and speed; and he can control more than half the screen when jumping.
Haohmaru and Genjuro dizzy in one hit more often than any other character… and one dizzy with them equals death.
Gen-An has Poison Puff x infinity crap.
Cham Cham has crossup mixups.
Wan-Fu has his pillar toss and super toss crossup crap.
Nic and Nak probably round out the bottom pair since their gameplay is not as safe as the others.