PS1

The King of Fighters '98

FightingArcade

Time to beat: about 1.2 hours

Overview

The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest (KOF '98), known in Japan as The King of Fighters '98: Dream Match Never Ends, is a 1998 fighting game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home systems. It is the fifth game in The King of Fighters series and features most of the characters who appeared in the previous games, from The King of Fighters '94 to The King of Fighters '97. The game provides no storyline in contrast to the previous installments. Instead, The player selects a team of three characters to participate in The King of Fighters tournament until they reach the boss Rugal Bernstein, even though the character dies in The King of Fighters '95. Two fighting styles can be selected, and several characters have alternate versions to select with their classic moves from previous games.

SNK released nearly all the characters who had participated in KOF at once and then repeatedly considered who to bring back. During this process, the developers also took users' opinions into consideration. Rugal was included due to the original creator's passion for him. Following its release, it was ported to the PlayStation in Japan, while an updated Dreamcast port titled The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999 was released in 1999, featuring remade 3D backgrounds.

The game was well received by critics and fans and is often considered one of the best The King of Fighters games ever, as well as one of the best fighting games of all time due to its large number of playable characters and proper balance. It sold over 100,000 copies in Japan. A novelization was written by Akihiko Ureshino. It was followed next year by The King of Fighters '99 with the new lead K' in the NESTS story arc; SNK also produced multiple spin-offs focused on Kyo Kusanagi. The game was remade as The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match in 2008.