KING OF FIGHTERS 98

KING OF FIGHTERS 98
Basic Info/News FAQ ver. 3rd
by: - Grandchester Resurrection ([email protected])
- Crush Ruffian ([email protected])

Making date : July 1, 1998
Finishing : July 24, 1998

KOF '98 is OUT !!!

Finally, after a year, now this is the Dream Match Battle...
Yeah this is the real Dream Match! You'll get all your favourite
characters here, Heidern, Takuma, Rugal, Heavy D!, Robert Art Of
Fighting, etc. This isn't a movelist, this is the basic info. We haven't

play this game yet, but We have a lot of information about this. This
FAQ will show you everything We know and help you to make your
character's decision! Enjoy them!

CHARACTERS SELECT SCREEN

The Characters Select Screen will be like this:

Hero Team Fatal Fury Team Art Of Fighting Team
Kyo, Benimaru, Goro Terry, Andy, Joe Ryo, Robert, Yuri

Ikari Team Psycho Team Females Team
Leona, Ralf, Clark Athena, Kensou, Cheng Chizuru, Mai, King

Kim Team Band team Special Team
Kim, Chang, Choi Yashiro, Shermie, Chris Yamazaki, Mary, Billy

Yagami Team Mid-age Team USA Team
Iori, Mature, Vice Heidern, Takuma, Saishu HeavyD!, Lucky, Brian

Rugal 94' ??? Shingo

THE TEAMS AND CHARACTERS

There will be a lot, real a lot of teams and characters in this
game. There'll be twelve teams and two team edit only characters. Not
that all, there'll be a lot of secret characters too... We'll try to
list them all to you...

The Teams

* Hero Teams *

Kyo Kusanagi
- Seems like he is as strong as in KOF'97.
- Has a new victory pose where he faces back, takes his hand behind him
and kills his flame.
- His words has changed in his Rapid punch DM.
- Kyo has an infinity in Extra mode.

Benimaru Nikaido
- Seems to have weakened a lot, especially his Thunderball DM- it seems
to have no invincibility, and it also comes out slow.

- He has a new costume, looks like a Rody Birts (AOF3) in Sarah (VF3)'s
costume.

Goro Daimon
- Goro's Earthquaker seems to hit opponents lying on ground.
- While opponents can jump away before he can even grab them, Goro has
an autoguard during it and thus if it is done when an opponent is
jumping in or attacking with a fierce.

* Fatal Fury Team *

Terry Bogard
- This time Terry don't has his infinite Juggle... Yeah, that's super
cheat!
- He did have his Fire Kick for sure and his Power Charge could be
juggled by another special.

Andy Bogard
- He looks quite handsome in the order select screen.
- Can't seem to hit opponent with his press kick after the unguardable
punches.

Joe Higashi
- He has become harder to use since the abbreviation commands have been
cut off.
- Comes out with the Champ's garment when the 1st character.

* Art Of Fighting Team *

Ryo Sakazaki
- Seems like Ryo in KOF'97.

Robert Garcia
- Seems like Robert in KOF'97.

Yuri Sakazaki
- Yuri has a new fighting stance.

* Psycho Soldiers Team *

Athena Asamia
- Athena has a new costume again! If you choose her as the first
character, she comes out with her Sailor clothings and then takes them
off, revealing her costume from KOF94, then KOF95, KOF96, KOF97, and
finally KOF98.
- Athena has her reflector from 97' as shown, but also has her classical

"vertically huge" mirror version as well.

Sie Kensou
- Kensou is getting weaker. His Anti-air special is a lot easier to
counter and sometimes drops opponent off in middle.

Chin Gentsai
- Seems like Chin in KOF'97.

* Ikari Warriors Team *

Leona
- Something happen in Leona's move when she's maximum.
- Has a new move where she throws a shining object ( Grenade?) which
explodes upon contact.

Ralf Jones
- His Galactica Phantom is an autoguard while facing backwards.

Clark Steel
- When first character, has his sunglasses off.

* 1997 Females Team *

Chizuru Kagura
- Chizuru is cute now! She isn't longer like a mid-aged lady in her
victory pose.

Mai Shiranui
- Mai has a new move where she jumps into the air to attack. However,
her Dance of Fury is weaker and can now be countered.
- Her special ground kick has been replaced with a special low jump kick

which seems to combo into her Musasabi attack.

King
- She has nice new costume, looks just like the one from AOF2.
- King's waitresses comes out in King's demo.

* Kim's Team *

Kim Kaphwan
- A couple of kicks canceled into a special kick and then comboed into
his Phoenix rage had opponents laying on the ground in no time.
- In a time over, he does his taunt pose from FF2/FFS.
- His new special kick seems to shake the ground, effects not well
known.

Chang Koehan
- Seems to be not much different from '97.

Choi Bounge
- He has a new victory pose where he lies down looking sickly sexy on
the ground like Mai's pose from RBS.

* 1997 Special Team *

Blue Mary
- The Dynamite Swing no longer has its invincibility at the beginning.
- Cannot snatch after the Splash Rose.

Ryuji Yamazaki
- Yamazaki still has his reliable fast fierce punches.
- His old sand sweep can be done by an uppercut motion + D while an
uppercut motion with B does his Real Bout 2 crunch kick.

Billy Kane
- For some reason he did not seem to have his dragon buster, but he has
lost his counters.

* Band Team *

Yashiro Nanakase
- Yashiro has two new victory poses. One where he takes out a plastic
bottle and splashes it across his face, and another where he looks back
and waves his hand.
- Yashiro has a new jump punch.
- Million Bash Stram ends pitifully unless the punch is rapid repeated.

Shermie
- Shermie has a new victory pose where she throws kisses
around.
- Shermie Clutch seems to be a anti-air throw like Clark's Napalm
stretch.
- Shermie Spiral is fast enough to use in a combo.

Chris
- Chris' teleport attack looks similar to the dash attacks.
- He has a new teleport move like Athena.

* 1996 Yagami Team *

Iori Yagami
- Iori is as strong as Iori in KOF'96.
- That means his Anti-air upercut now is always makes the opponent fall
down.

Mature
- Mature has a projectile similar to Eiji's huge attack.
- Her CD attack is no longer as useful since is is quite slow now.
- Her Metal Massacre is not quite as useful as before.
- Her Death claws seems to be as effective as Iori's triple hit punches.

- All three Death Claw hits unlike in 96'.
- Has her hip moving around in her new fighting pose, and her leg shows
time to time.

Vice
- She has new DM, a rush combo of air blades.
- Vice has a new move where she tacklye the opponet like Terry's Power
Charge.
- She has a new fighting pose which looks a bit like Riot Of The Blood
Iori.

* Middle Age Team *

Heidern
- Heidern's moves are much faster than 95 and is much more tricky.
- His "Go to Hell" Final Bringer DM can be guarded crouching.
- His CD attack has short reach but seems to be usable as an anti-air.
- When the first character, comes out of the dark with his eye glowing.
- Wears a coat in new victory pose.

Saisyu Kusanagi
- Saishu has new DM seems like a "Burning Shingo" with flames.
- Has a new special move similar to Kyo's air kick.

Takuma Sakazaki
- Takuma's projectile or illusion punches can be juggled from his flying

double kick.
- Seems like he can do Haoh-Shiokukens without in DM mode.
- His new DM is an unblockable 3 hit combo which has to be done close
up.
- Shoots 3 Haoh-shikou Kens in his Max Dragon Dance.
- Seems to have a Counter attack throw.

* 1994 USA Team *

Heavy D!
- His Soul Flower is a good as anti-air but very weak from the sides.

Lucky Glauber
- His specials seem to be hard to counter once they come out.
- His projectile comes out extremely slow (maybe as slow as a
Haoh-shokoken) but does normal damage.
- Lucky has a fighting stance which is apparently a "De-fence" in
basketball style, but it also looks like a hip dance going left and
right.

Brian Battler
- His Screw Body Press seems to be an effective weapon- its damages are
fierce and it hits multiple times.

Team Edit Only Characters

Shingo Yabuki
- I thought Shingo will have burning attack now... But He don't...
- Anyway, he has a new attack "Elbow Drop" which is an unguardable
attack.
- When Maxed up, his normal special anti-air move can take up 1/3 the
opponent's life bar at times... Yikes!

1994 Rugal
- Rugal comes out in his Omega style squat and looks very cool with his
new standing pose.
- His new DM "Dead End Screamer" is said to have very bad taste and was
being called "The Rugal Dance" by beta
testers.
- His Gigatech Pressure is extremely fast now, but can easily be counter

once guarded.

Alter Ego / Alternate Characters

Press start when selecting

KOF'94 Kyo
- Similar to hidden Kyo'94 in KOF'97.
- I hope there'll be Kyo'95!

Real Bout Terry
- He lost his Power Charge.
- He lost his Fire Kick.
- His Power Wave reaches edge of screen.

Real Bout Andy
- He has the new Super Move "Dadandan".
- His Hi Sho Ken reaches across screen.

Fatal Fury Joe
- His Explision punches become the Fatal Fury version.
- He lost his Golden Heel.
- His projectile reaches edge of screen.

Fatal Fury Mai
- She has her fan slash from RB2, but probably has lost her fan
dance.

Fatal Fury Billy
- Billy has the sparrow killer.
- He has Salamander Stream DM too.

Art Of Fighting Ryo
- His projectile reaches end of screen.
- He also has the air projectile.
- I think that the Haoh-Shokokens were useable without any power.
- He Has his Getas/wooden shoes in the opening to take off.
- He has Illusion punches back.

Art Of Fighting Robert
- His projectile reaches end of screen.
- He has illusion kicks.
- His Flying Kick seems like in Art Of Fighting.
- Same as Ryo, no power needed for Haoh-Shokoken.

Art Of Fighting Yuri
- She lost Spin Kick (Sakura's Tatumakisenpukyaku)
- Lost her Burning knuckle-like move.
- She has a new "shinryu-ken" like super.

Orochi / Riot Of The Blood Yashiro
- Like Orochi Yashiro in KOF'97

Orochi / Riot Of The Blood Shermie
- Like Orochi Shermie in KOF'97

Orochi / Riot Of The Blood Chris
- Like Orochi Chris in KOF'97

There'll be more Alter Ego / Alternate Characters in this game.
There seems to be 13 alternate characters in all: Kyo, AOF Team, FF
Team, Band Team, Billy, Mai and... I hope there'll be Omega Rugal,
though!

Secret Characters (rumors)

SNK hasn't confirmed anything about Secret Characters. But,
rumor said there'll be 14 hidden characters in KOF'98. Hidden characters

including Eiji Kisaragi, John Crawly (from Art of Fighting), Duck King,
Lawrence Blood (from Fatal Fury), Osamu (Goro's student), Orochi, Kasumi

Todo, Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, Mr. Big, Goenitz, Yuki (Kyo's
girlfriend), etc.

ADVANCE vs EXTRA

There'll be this option again, switch between Advance Mode or
Extra Mode to beat your opponent. This section will show you the
difference between Advance and Extra.

1. Advanced Mode
- Can run foward and back hop.
- Use Roll to escape.
- Have anti-throw.
- To make SDM, you have to use one stock to make your character
maximum.
- The first fighter has 3 stocks in the beginning of the fight.
- The second character has 4 stocks.
- The third character has 5.
- DMs done during when the player has POWered up will kill off the
remining meter.
- The Friendly system still exist.

2. Extra Mode
- Can hop foward and hop back.
- Use Dodge to escape.
- Can Counter when Dodge (like KOF 94/95).
- Can charge POW meter.
- Can use DM without any POW meter if your Live Bar is low.
- Can only maximum when your Live Bar is low.
- The first fighter has long POW meter.
- The second fighter has medium POW meter.
- The last fighter has the shortest POW meter.

BATTLE DEMO

There'll be pre-battle demo in this game. It depends on the
character who fight with... Here's the list:

- Kyo VS Iori
- Kyo VS Shingo
- Kyo VS Benimaru
- Kyo VS Saishu
- Benimaru VS Female Fighter
- Billy VS Iori
- Yashiro VS Iori
- Kensou VS Athena
- Mai VS Andy
- Takuma VS AOF Members
- Yamazaki VS Orochi Members
- Heidern VS Rugal
- Band Team members against each other
- Heidern VS Ikari Team members
- Ikari Team members with each other
- Robert VS Kensou
- Kim VS Badguys and Evils
- Chizuru VS Orochi members

MISC INFO

The last part is extra info. Here you'll find many extra things
added in KOF'98... This is the real KOF!!! KOF Forever!!!

In KOF98' there is no storyline- (much of a dream match like RB2). But,
unlike KoF97' there is actually a Winner-message. As bosses, Shingo
comes out after the 3rd team if the player's characters are related to
him (Kyo, Iori, etc), and Rugal comes out after the 6th team.

There is a miss pose when a special throw fails or is done out of range.

There is a random select in which the team members change every match,
instead of being picked once only in the beginning.

In 97' there were 3 victory poses which could be chosen by the A, B and
C buttons. Now characters have a fourth pose which can be chosen by the
D button as well.

The DMs seem to change in damage depending on how much life the opponent

has- the less life, the less damage.

There'll be Team Member's help, but it depends on the friendly system.

There aren't any information if each team has their own music and stage
or not.

There is also no confirmation on any new original characters yet -There
is a rumor that they will be released in the final version, but not in
the beta (I hope Geese is here!!!).

KOF'98 scheduled for Japanese home carts in Late September.

LINKS

Here's some links that'll bring you to KOF news... I took many info from

them! Especially for The MadMan's Cafe... I get many... Maybe all of my
info is taken from that HP.
1. The MadMan's Cafe : mmcafe.telnet.or.jp/
2. Gaming News : www.myna.com/~yktang/gaming.htm
3. Chika's KOF Zone : members.aol.com/iorin/chika/index.html
4. Neo Geo HP : www.neogeo-usa.com
5. KOF 4evers : www.kof.hypermart.net (thaks Sapphiro!)

Of course you can found this updated FAQ in www.gamefaqs.com

CREDITS

1. Many thanks to MadMan's Cafe for this great info... BTW, you can find

the Move List for KOF'98 there...
2. Sapphiro ([email protected])... Thanks for the KOF links...
You're a great friend!!!
3. Shaun ([email protected]) thanks for the personal support!!!

Well... I think that's all... How about that? Send us e-mail
about your comments. We'll update this FAQ if we have something new!!!

Grandchester Resurrection & Crush Ruffian
e-mail : [email protected]