The King of Fighters '97 Global Match

Overview

The King of Fighters '97, often shortened as KOF '97, is a 1997 fighting video game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. It is the fourth game in The King of Fighters (KOF) series. The game was ported to the Neo Geo CD console and released worldwide; it was also ported to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles in Japan. KOF '97 is the last game in the "Orochi Saga" storyline, which began in The King of Fighters '95. The new tournament focuses on the servants of the demon Yamata no Orochi, also known as the "Will of Gaia", who plan to revive their master by gathering energy and sacrifices from the fighters in the KOF tournament.

KOF '97 is the first game in the series to be directed by its battle system designer Toyohisa Tanabe. The original director is credited to Masanori Kuwasashi, who stopped working on the series after The King of Fighters '96. The creation of the game's characters primarily focused on creating bosses, especially Orochi, to properly tell the game's story in an appealing fashion. Among its several ports, SNK developed a version of KOF '97 subtitled Global Match that has online features.

Upon its release, game designers praised KOF '97 for the handling of its narrative, though critics were divided on whether the controls and balance were better than those of previous installments. The game sold well and was followed by The King of Fighters '98, which includes most of the Orochi arc cast, who fight in a non-canonical tournament. Yumekobo also created a visual novel with role-playing game elements titled The King of Fighters: Kyo, which retells the events of The King of Fighters '97 but primarily focuses on Kyo's life. The first handheld-based game in the series, King of Fighters R-1, was released in 1998 based on The King of Fighters '97. A spin-off light novel titled The King of Fantasy was released in 2019. The combined ports sold together over 336,000 copies in Japan.

Official trailer

Trailer. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

The King of Fighters '97 Global Match (PlayStation 4) Arcade as Hero Team, TheInnocentSinful. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Fighting, Arcade

Developer

SNK Corporation

Publisher

SNK Corporation

Series

The King of Fighters

Platforms

PlayStation 4, Windows, PlayStation Vita

Age rating

ESRB T

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

Yes

Co op

No

Age ratings

ESRB

T

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Trophies

Trophies18

Platinum possibleNo platinum

Platinum

0

Gold

0

Silver

3

Bronze

15

Total

18

Points

315

100% time

11 hours

Difficulty

3 out of 10

Playthroughs for 100%

15

Online trophies

3

Boosting needed

Yes

Local co-op is enough

No

Online note

Wins against an invited friend do not count.

Missable trophies

0

Chapter select fixes a miss

Yes

Separate trophy lists by region

No

Only in a language other than English

No

Region note

One list for both systems. No training mode.

Online-only version

No

Digital-only

No

Disc-only

No

Trophy list shared with other versions

Yes

Other versions

One list for PS4 and PS Vita

Grind

• KOF New Face
• KOF Veteran
• THE KING OF FIGHTERS

• This is only the beginning. Clear the game with Hero Team (Kyo, Benimaru, Daimon) Bronze 3.04% of players
• Ring me sometime. Clear the game with Fatal Fury Team (Terry, Andy, Joe) Bronze 2.91% of players
• Off to the gym! Clear the game with Art of Fighting Team (Ryo, Robert, Yuri) Bronze 2.85% of players
• All for one, and one for all! Clear the game with Ikari Team (Ralf, Clark, Leona) Bronze 2.83% of players
• Ignored completely… Clear the game with Psycho Soldier Team (Athena, Kensou, Chin) Bronze 2.78% of players
• This guy's trouble! Clear the game with Women Fighters Team (Mai, Chizuru, King) Bronze 2.78% of players
• Freedom is awesome! Clear the game with Korea Team (Kim, Chang, Choi) Bronze 2.79% of players
• This is the only way! Clear the game with New Face Team (Yashiro, Shermie, Chris) Bronze 2.78% of players
• Duped by the Geeseter. Clear the game with '97 Special Team (Blue Mary, Yamazaki, Billy Kane) Bronze 2.76% of players
• Fight, my Orochi son! Clear the game with Sacred Weapons Team (Kyo, Iori, Chizuru) Bronze 2.78% of players
• A day at the beach. Clear the game with '94 Females Team (Mai, King, Yuri) Bronze 2.74% of players
• We are the true heroes! Clear the game with Old SNK Team (Athena, Ralf, Clark) Bronze 2.73% of players
• You can't beat the best! Clear the game with Sidekick Team (Benimaru, Joe, Kim) Bronze 2.75% of players
• We're not just whistling dixie! Clear the game with SNK Heroes Team (Kyo, Terry, Ryo) Bronze 2.77% of players
• Burn, baby, burn! Clear the game with Kyo & Shingo Team (Kyo, Shingo, any character except Leona/Iori) Bronze 2.74% of players
• KOF New Face Play MULTIPLAYER and win 5 times (excluding invite or ad hoc) Silver 2.94% of players
• KOF Veteran Play MULTIPLAYER and win 20 times (excluding invite or ad hoc) Silver 2.87% of players
• THE KING OF FIGHTERS Play MULTIPLAYER and win 10 times in a row (excluding invite or ad hoc) Silver 2.86% of players

Space and patches

Space neededAbout 282 MB

Update patch01.01

The updates on record for this game.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

Arcade and two-player versus play offline; online matches need a connection and PS Plus.

Online

Online servers runningYes

Plays offlineYes

Online ranked and player matches with cross-play between PS4 and PS Vita. Online wins were still being earned in October 2026.

Services

Service	Status
Online matches	running

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Toyohisa Tanabe
Producer	Takashi Nishiyama
Designers	Akiko Yukawa, Aska Tahara, Chikara Yamasaki
Artist	Toshiaki Mori (Shinkiro)
Composers	Akihiro Uchida, Hideki Asanaka, Toshio Shimizu

Credits

Publisher

SNK Corporation

Developer

SNK Corporation

Released

2018-04-03

Age rating

ESRB T

Disc ID

CUSA11055

Region

US

Time to beat

about 0.9 hours