The King of Fighters Neowave



The King of Fighters Neowave is a fighting game by SNK Playmore, released in 2004 for the Sammy Atomiswave arcade platform. It is the eleventh arcade game in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters series and first fighting game by SNK Playmore to be developed on Atomiswave hardware rather than the Neo Geo console that their previous games appeared on. It was developed specifically to test the hardware and is not counted in the new numeral progression followed by The King of Fighters XI (with 2003 being the tenth game in the series).

Ports of the game were released in Japan and the PAL region for the PlayStation 2 (due to Sony Computer Entertainment America's policy of not allowing straight ports of 2D games to North America) and in Japan, North America, and the PAL region for the Xbox.

Overview
The game reverts back to the 3-character elimination system from KOF '94 to KOF '98, ignoring gameplay features from later games such as the "Striker" system used from KOF '99 through KOF 2001 and tag team system in KOF 2003. The game's sprites are mainly recycled from KOF 2002, but it uses fully 3D backgrounds similar to the Capcom vs. SNK 2 for the home version.

Like KOF '98 and KOF 2002, Neowave has no storyline and is considered a "dream match" game. The game is a gathering of numerous characters from previous installments, including dead characters like Mature and Vice from KOF '96 and the New Face Team from KOF '97. The character roster is similar to 2002 with only a few minor differences, including the addition of the young Geese Howard from Art of Fighting 2 as the new final boss. The character artwork was done by Tomokazu Nakano (of Power Instinct fame).

Japan Team

 * Kyo Kusanagi
 * Benimaru Nikaido
 * Goro Daimon

Fatal Fury Team

 * Terry Bogard
 * Andy Bogard
 * Joe Higashi

Art of Fighting Team

 * Ryo Sakazaki
 * Robert Garcia
 * Takuma Sakazaki

Ikari Warriors Team

 * Leona Heidern
 * Ralf Jones
 * Clark Still

Psycho Soldiers Team

 * Athena Asamiya
 * Sie Kensou
 * Chin Gentsai

Women Fighters Team

 * King
 * Mai Shiranui
 * Yuri Sakazaki

K' Team

 * K'
 * Maxima
 * Whip

Dream Team

 * Saisyu Kusanagi
 * Shingo Yabuki
 * Kula Diamond

Korea Team

 * Jhun Hoon
 * Chang Koehan
 * Choi Bounge

Iori Team

 * Iori Yagami
 * Mature
 * Vice

Special Team

 * Blue Mary
 * Billy Kane
 * Ryuji Yamazaki

New Faces Team

 * Yashiro Nanakase
 * Shermie
 * Chris

Hidden Characters

 * Orochi Yashiro
 * Orochi Shermie
 * Orochi Chris
 * Kim Kaphwan
 * Ramon
 * Vanessa
 * Angel - PS2 exclusive
 * May Lee - PS2 exclusive
 * Seth - Console exclusive

Boss Characters

 * Kusanagi - PS2 port only
 * Geese Howard