Games Played 07/19/2009

Battle Fantasia - X-Box 360
Demigod - PC
Raiden Fighters Aces - X-Box 360
Rhythm Heaven - NDS
SingStar - PlayStation 3

RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


The King of Fighters '95 (1996)
Developer: SNK
Platform: SegaSaturn
Purchase Date: 06/10/1996


Yuri has no regards for the elderly.

The King of Fighters '95 is the first Saturn game that comes with an additional memory cartridge but unlike the RAM cartridges of later years, this game must be played with its own unique ROM cart. 2D fighting games released on the console prior to X-Men vs. Street Fighter were prone to excessive loading time so the ROM cartridge didn't help eliminate that problem in this game. There is even a brief loading screen between the rounds while playing a 3 vs. 3 match when a new character enters the bout. KoF '95 is the second entry into the franchise so the gameplay was still fresh when it first came out. With a big character roster and the ability to mix and match your own individual team of three, the game offers a lot of experimentation. When I picked this game up, KoF '96 was hot in the arcades so it was actually weird having to play '95 at home - the game became underwhelming and outdated rather quickly because '96 was more stylish and nicely tweaked for further character balance. The series' yearly update format doesn't work that well with home releases even though I always find myself continuously buying the later versions,,, Until now that is. Instead of releasing a new game every year, SNK Playmore should just sell an online patch to update the character roster and gameplay modes for future KoF games - perhaps that may be possible with the recently released The King of Fighters XII because of how seriously lacking that game is when it comes to the available number of characters and stages.

LIBRARY STATUS: 3 out of 5