The King of Fighters '96

''Violent fighting to come again! As a year flew by from the excitement, we now declare the opening of our special team tournament again... In 1996!''

-Intro

''An epic selection of battlers in history! Can you feel the heat?''

-Tagline

The King of Fighters '96 is the third game in The King of Fighters series by SNK. This game is the second chapter of the story arc "Orochi Saga", which began in The King of Fighters '95.

The game was ported to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in Japan; the Saturn port requires a memory expansion cartridge to run. Like with  ' 95,  ' 96 would receive a Game Boy product based on it, Nettō The King of Fighters '96; it was also released in Europe, as The King of Fighters: Heat of Battle.

In terms of gameplay changes, this is the first game in the series to allow characters to run and roll, while also redrawing the sprites from the ground up from the prior installment.

Gampeplay
As the fighter takes damage and blocks attacks, the POW Gauge builds up, depending on the intensity of the hit. Being struck by multi-hit attacks increases the gauge faster. However, you can manually store power with the Power Builder Surge move, but leaves you very vulnerable. Once the gauge is filled up, it flashes MAXIMUM and your fighter's offensive power increases for a short while. During this maxed-out state, you can also perform your character's unique Desperation Move for devastating damage! The gauge remains at max for a limited time only, so make good use of the extra attack power and don't be afraid to use your Desperation Move before the gauge drains away!

The character's life gauge has 6 notches. Once the life gauge drops below 2 notches, the gauge flashes red. In this time of peril, your character can perform Desperation Moves indefinitely without the maximum POW Gauge requirement. An new feature to the game is once your life flashes red AND you have your POW Gauge filled-up, you can pull off a Super Desperation Move which deals up to twice the damage of the normal version! It's a great way to turn the tides of battle! Certain situations during the fight may even allow you to perform Super Desperation Moves just by having a full POW Gauge!

In addition, the POW Gauge drains much faster when it is filled up to the max by blocking attacks or taking damage. Using the Power Builder Surge to store power grants you more time in Max Mode before it completely empties.

Story
The official story given by SNK is as follows:

"Unlike the mystery surrounding previous KOF competitions, KOF '96 has become a major international event sponsored by a number of huge corporations.

Preliminary contests have been held in various areas throughout the world, and among the top nine teams are, naturally, the usual KOF contestants who have been looking forward to test their abilities in an official competition.

This time, however, there is a team among them who cannot fail to raise eyebrows, composed of Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Big. The three who once attempted to conquer the world are now but mere contestants in this tournament.

Is their object, perhaps, to do away with the Bogard brothers or the disciples of Kyokugen karate?

If that weren't enough to surprise...Iori Yagami appears once again, teamed up with a pair of mysterious women.

How will the rivalry between Iori and Kyo Kusanagi that has cursed their two families since ancient time play out this time around?

This is KOF '96, held as an official recognized sporting event, over which dark clouds have already started to gather...."

Characters
This game is the first in which teams undergo substantial changes. The new characters introduced in this game (between originals and of other franchises) include:
 * Leona Heidern, an orphan girl, is the new soldier of the Ikari Warriors squad and Heidern's adoptive daughter. She replaces her adoptive father in the leadership of the Ikari Warriors Team, after being found by the Commander in a forest, as a consequence of having killed his biological family and the entire village where she lived;


 * Kasumi Todoh, from Art of Fighting series (AOF 3), is daughter of the missing Ryuhaku Todoh, and she continues to search for him, joining with the kunoichi Mai Shiranui and the bartender King in the Women Fighters Team and replacing the student Yuri Sakazaki, who went to her family's team, replacing her father Takuma Sakazaki, who is missing;


 * Mature and Vice, two mysterious ladies who, in the past, were Rugal Bernstein's secretaries, under Goenitz's orders. As Orochi's servants, they join with Iori Yagami, forming the team that bears the surname of the musician, with the same purpose, and replacing the ninja Eiji Kisaragi and Geese Howard's bodyguard Billy Kane, who were attacked by Iori at the end of the previous tournament. Mature uses her sharp nails to fight and Vice, her monstrous strength;


 * Geese Howard, from Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series, is the leader of the Bosses Team, and enters to the KOF tournament only for pure entertainment;


 * Wolfgang Krauser, from Fatal Fury series and member of the Bosses Team, is used for Geese to enter the KOF tournament, as pawns in his attempt to nab an ancient power;


 * Mr. Big, from Art of Fighting series and member of the Bosses Team, enters in the KOF tournament on the grounds of possibly expanding the influence of his organization;


 * Chizuru Kagura, the sub boss of the game and the host of this KOF tournament, is the heiress of the Yata clan, one of three clans who sealed Orochi. His family is the owner of the artifact known as Mirror of Yata;


 * Goenitz, the final boss of the game, is a priest and a Heavenly King of Orochi. His main objective is revive his master.


 * Note: The Japan, Fatal Fury, Psycho Soldier and Korea Justice Teams remain with the same formations.

Official Team Roster=

Hero Team

 * Kyo Kusanagi
 * Benimaru Nikaido
 * Goro Daimon

Fatal Fury Team

 * Terry Bogard
 * Andy Bogard
 * Joe Higashi

Art of Fighting Team

 * Ryo Sakazaki
 * Robert Garcia
 * Yuri Sakazaki

Ikari Warriors Team

 * Leona Heidern
 * Ralf Jones
 * Clark Still

Psycho Soldier Team

 * Athena Asamiya
 * Sie Kensou
 * Chin Gentsai

Women Fighters Team

 * Kasumi Todoh
 * Mai Shiranui
 * King

Korea Justice Team

 * Kim Kaphwan
 * Chang Koehan
 * Choi Bounge

Yagami Team

 * Iori Yagami
 * Mature
 * Vice


 * -|Mid-Bosses=

Bosses Team

 * Geese Howard
 * Wolfgang Krauser
 * Mr. Big


 * -|Sub-Boss=
 * Chizuru Kagura


 * -|Boss=
 * Goenitz


 * -|Special Edit Teams=

Three Sacred Treasures Team

 * Kyo Kusanagi
 * Iori Yagami
 * Chizuru Kagura

Goenitz Team

 * Goenitz with two other characters (not including Chizuru Kagura)
 * -|Game Boy Exclusive Characters=
 * Mr. Karate
 * Orochi Iori - as "Iori!"
 * Orochi Leona - as "Leona!"
 * Chizuru Kagura - as "Kagura" - "Kagura" is her boss form. A toned-down, balanced version of her is playable under the name of Chizuru

Related Media
An extensive database for game, titled The King of Fighters '96 Neo Geo Collection, was released on February 14, 1997 to promote the year's title. It was available only for the Neo Geo CD. The database included the game's into, an interactive reenactment of the game's backstory, character profiles spoken by their voice actors, outtakes, an exclusive gallery section from the creators, a complete command list and a sound selection. A similar version of this game, The King of Fighters '96 Perfect File, was also released for Windows and Macintosh computers. This version was released on June 18, 1997 and included most of the features found in its predecessor.

In 1998, the game was pirated to the NES by a company called Hummer Team. This version only includes 7 characters: Leona, Iori, Chizuru, Goenitz, Yuri, Goro and King. Originally, there were going to be 20 characters, but 13 of them were cut out. They are: Kyo (as "Kyu") Kusanagi, Benimaru (as "Benimary") Nikaido, Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Ryo Sakazaki, Kim Kaphwan, Ralf Jones, Athena Asamiya, Kasumi Todoh, Mai Shiranui, Geese Howard, and Wolfgang Krauser.

Stages

 * Note 1: The Yagami Team and Goenitz's stages don't have intros.


 * Note 2: This game is last of the franchise where the player can fight all teams in Arcade mode.


 * Warning: The sight of some stages can cause epilepsy.

Normal Stages=


 * The Strolheim Tunnel — Boss Team: A balcony with a high-class public and other swinging flags with the game's special logo, a small gondola with a gondolier and a film crew and a small ladder can be seen. When the boat sails through the tunnel, the gondola follows the route. Stroheim Castle can be seen in the ongoing thunderstorm.
 * Intro: the gate of the tunnel.
 * Note 1: The stage also appears in KOF '98: Ultimate Match, with some changes.
 * Note 2: in this game, the boat moves in the second and fourth rounds. In KOF '98: UM, the boat starts to move from the 2nd round, back to the place of origin in the 4th round and moves back in the final round.
 * Note 3: In KOF '98 UM, this stage is called Dark Arena.
 * The Finals at Kagura Stadium: A glamorous stadium where the finals of the tournament take place. Can be seen an euphoric audience, photographers, videographers, bands with the sponsors, the game's logo, women with bikini and people dressed like some characters. In the arena, can be seen the game's logo and name, pillars, stone lions and a screen, when appears the name's game and the words LAST STAGE and THE FINAL BATTLE, besides Kyo, Iori, Andy, Robert and Clark fighting. Associated with Chizuru.
 * Intro: the game's name and special logo.
 * The Ruins of Kagura Stadium: The Kagura Staduim destroyed by a hurricane. Can be seen the collapsed pillars, the broken floor and the scorched arena. The bands are scattered and flying all over the stage and the screen is knocked over. Only one band remained, with the name Masato, a former SNK illustrator. In one round, can be seen a person (who was dressed like Athena) trying to hold a ruined pillar, but is blown away by the wind. Associated with Goenitz.
 * Note: The stage also appears in KOF '98: Ultimate Match, with some changes.

Trivia

 * Curiously, this is the only KOF game (as well as in its ports) so far that entirely omits any command normals from the characters' movesets.
 * The game is notable for being one of the 2D fighters with the lowest amount of projectiles, as some characters, such as Kyo Kusanagi, completely changed their fighting style into one without projectiles while many others such as Geese Howard and the entire Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting teams had their projectile attacks changed to attacks that have only slightly higher range than normals. While most of these characters would regain their projectiles in later games, Ryo Sakazaki is notable for keeping his short range Ko'ouken.
 * The Bosses Team is notable for being the first and one of the few teams in the series where each character has their own theme song instead of having one theme song for the whole team (the others team are the Special Team in KOF '97 and the NESTS Team in the two versions of KOF 2002). Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser have a remix of their earlier theme while Mr. Big has a new theme.