The King of Fighters '95

''Announcing the 1995 King of Fighters tournament. The event will be conducted as the previous one, and we welcome both new and old victims - er, teams. Break a spine...'' ®

-Intro

SNK's cast of fighting stars gather in a colossal conflagration!

-Tagline

The King of Fighters '95 is the second game in The King of Fighters series. It's also the first game in the series to be ported to other home consoles besides the Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD, with versions released for the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn in 1996.

The PlayStation version was published in North America and the PAL region by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., while the Saturn version (which required a ROM cartridge that came packaged with the game disc) was only released in Japan and Europe by SNK. A Game Boy game based on The King of Fighters '95 was also released. A possible bootleg Famicon release, mistakenly titled "The King of Fighters '99", was also made.

This game is the first chapter of the story arc known as "Orochi Saga".

Gameplay
The gameplay of King of Fighters '95 was left largely intact from King of Fighters '94. The one major change SNK was to allow players to select any combination of characters to fight with, as opposed to the concrete teams that players were confined to in the previous game. In addition, almost all the teams from the first game returned, but were no longer affiliated with specific nationalities. The Sports Team from the previous game was replaced by a Rivals Team, composed of Iori Yagami (a new character designed to be Kyo Kusanagi's rival), and Eiji Kisaragi (Ryo Sakazaki's and Kyokungenryu Karate rival) and Billy Kane (bodyguard of Terry Bogard's rival, Geese Howard).

Story
The official story given by SNK is as follows:

"It's the year of our Lord, 1995. Once again invitations to the King of Fighters tournament have found their ways to the world's most powerful fighters.

And their author is none other than the mysterious "R!" Could the "R" be that of Rugal, who supposedly blew himself up on his aircraft carrier a year ago?

Among the contestants for this year's tournament is the newly selected team of Billy, Yagami, and Kisaragi, who sent the American Team packing.

But what in the end is Billy's scheme? What ambitions does Kisaragi cradle? And what evil designs for his old foe Kyo Kusanagi spur Iori Yagami on?

These new challengers join all of the previous tournament's contestants-except the American Sports Team, of course-both in battle and the all-consuming intrigue that forms the core of King of Fighters '95."

Characters
The new characters added to the game roster (between originals and of other franchises) are:
 * Iori Yagami, the last heir of the Yagami clan (A.K.A. Yasakani clan), other clan that sealed Orochi. He is rival and enemy of Kyo Kusanagi, besides the leader of Rivals Team. His clan owns the artifact Yasakani Jewel;


 * Eiji Kisaragi, from Art of Fighting series, is the master of Kisaragi-ryu style and member of Rivals Team, and continues with the goal of defeating Ryo Sakazaki, the Sakazaki family and his Kyokugenryu Karate. He was summoned by Billy Kane;


 * Billy Kane, from Fatal Fury series, is Geese Howard's rightman and member of Rivals Team. He enters to the KOF tournament to avenge his master, who had been defeated by the Bogard's siblings;


 * Saisyu Kusanagi, the sub boss of the game, is Kyo's father and leader of the Kusanagi clan. He was brainwashed by orders of Rugal;


 * Omega Rugal, the final boss of the game, is a new version of Rugal Bernstein with Orochi's Blood.


 * Note: The American Sports Team isn't available in this game, being replaced by the Rivals Team. The other 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
 * Takuma Sakazaki

Ikari Warriors Team

 * Heidern
 * Ralf Jones
 * Clark Still

Psycho Soldier Team

 * Athena Asamiya
 * Sie Kensou
 * Chin Gentsai

Women Fighters Team

 * King
 * Mai Shiranui
 * Yuri Sakazaki

Korea Justice Team

 * Kim Kaphwan
 * Chang Koehan
 * Choi Bounge

Rivals Team

 * Iori Yagami
 * Eiji Kisaragi
 * Billy Kane


 * -|Sub-Boss=
 * Saisyu Kusanagi


 * -|Boss=
 * Omega Rugal


 * -|Game Boy Exclusive Character=
 * Nakoruru

Stages

 * Note: The Hero, Fatal Fury & Art of Fighting Teams and Bosses stages (Sub-Boss & Boss) don't have intros.


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

Normal Stages=


 * The Missile Base: A new version of Black Noah stage. Only the Earth's hologram remains. Can be seen gears and a closed secret compartment. Associated with Saisyu.


 * The Missile Base Balcony: The same stage. The changes in relation to the original stage are: the ground starts flashing and the secret compartment opens, revealing a giant missile. There is also an opening to the sky. Associated with Omega Rugal.

Trivia

 * As of this game in the series, Kyo's close standing heavy kick is revamped into a special move (his new iconic 75 Shiki: Kai), and his old 88 Shiki sweep kick is now a command normal. However, he loses his original diagonal-jumping light punch attack.
 * In the Game Boy version of the game, Heidern's name is misspelt as 'Jeidern'.
 * Joe Higashi is the only character to change the input of his Desperation Move from KOF '94.