# The King of Fighters '98

The King of Fighters '98 (KOF '98), subtitled Dream Match Never Ends in Japan or The Slugfest elsewhere, is a 1998 2D arcade fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo system MVS, AES, CD. It is the fifth game in The King of Fighters series and was advertised by SNK as a "special edition" of the series, as it features most of the characters who appeared in the previous games from KOF '94 to '97. The game provides no storyline in contrast to the previous games and instead is labelled as a "dream match" like its subtitle where the player selects a team composed of three characters to participate in a King of Fighters tournament until reaching the boss Rugal Bernstein even though the character dies in The King of Fighters '95. Two fighting styles can be selected to fight and several characters have alternate personas to select with their classic moves from previous games.
Following its release, it was ported to the PlayStation in Japan, while an updated Dreamcast version subtitled Dream Match 1999 was released in 1999, featuring remade 3D backgrounds. Another updated version in 2008 was made for the Taito Type X arcade system subtitled Ultimate Match (KOF '98UM), which expands the number of playable characters by returning characters from the Orochi arc, further tweaks the gameplay and features a third fighting style option; this version was ported to PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 home systems. While the artwork of The King of Fighters '98 was made by Shinkiro, Ultimate Match artwork was made by new artist Eisuke Ogura. A third update, subtitled Ultimate Match Final Edition (KOF '98UMFE), was released in 2011 on arcades and since ported to Windows and PlayStation 4. Despite lacking a plot, a novelization was written by Akihiko Ureshino.
The game was well received by the critics and fans as one of the best The King of Fighters games ever as well as one of the best 2D fighting games ever thanks to its large amount of characters and proper balance. Both the original game and the enhanced version went also to sell several copies in Japan. However, despite the game's sales, the franchise suffered a breakdown due to SNK going bankrupt resulting in the game being the last game developed by designer and director Toyohisa Tanabe who has been working for the series since its first game.

## Gameplay

The gameplay does not differ much from the previous game, KOF '97. Like in KOF '97, the player has a choice between two playing styles: Advance and Extra, with a few slight modifications to Advanced mode (unlike in KOF '97, the character will resume to normal if the player performs a Super Special Move in MAX state). This time when one character loses a round, the losing team is given a handicap in its favor. In Advanced mode, this means that the player's stock capacity for Power Gauges is increased by one. In Extra mode, the time it takes to charge one's power gauge to maximum level is shortened, and the maximum remaining health requirement for a MAX Super Special Move is increased.

## Characters

All the regular characters from the previous game return, along with several characters from preceding installments such as Vice and Mature (Iori's teammates from KOF '96), the American Sports Team (Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber, and Brian Battler) from KOF '94, and the Old Men Team (or Veteran Fighters Team) composed of Heidern, Takuma Sakazaki, and Saisyu Kusanagi, all characters whose last appearances were in KOF '95. Rugal Bernstein from KOF '94 also returns as a Team Edit character, with his alter-ego Omega Rugal (the cyborg version of Rugal from KOF '95) serving as the game's final boss in the Single Player Mode. Shingo Yabuki (who originally appeared in KOF '97) continues as a Team Edit character, but also appears as a mid-boss character during the Arcade Mode. Additionally, the game includes EX versions of certain characters, i.e., alternate versions of characters who use movesets from previous games: Joe Higashi, Ryo Sakazaki, Yuri Sakazaki and Robert Garcia are based on their KOF '94 movesets, whereas Kyo Kusanagi is based on his KOF '95 moveset and Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Mai Shiranui and Billy Kane are based on their Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers movesets.

## Development

In terms of the story, the Orochi Arc of KOF has come to an end, and in response to that, SNK wanted to give the series a "special" nature. Originally, KOF itself was a series that started with the basic concept of something special, but as the series progressed, it gradually began to have its own unique storyline. Therefore, there was no story for 98, but various characters This is the first time that the KOF series has had a subtitle, and the developers wanted to express that it has a different position from the previous games. This time, nine characters, including American sports teams, have been resurrected, bringing the total to eight characters. This was a difficult decision to make. First of all, all of the members of the development team had to decide who had participated in KOF. SNK definitely released all the characters who had participated in KOF at once, and then repeatedly considered who to bring back. During this process, the developers also took into consideration the opinions of the users especially in the Neo Geo Freak magazine. Rugal is included due to the original creator's passion over him.
Several characters were given customizations to their movesets. This, helped with the balance of the cat, helped The King of Fighters '98 become one of the best games in the series. Shinkiro kept being the series' artist with KOF '98 remaining as one of his most famous works. The game was ported to several more consoles when compared with previous installments thanks to the new Neo Geo consoles as well as Sony's and Sega's. Director Toyohisa Tanabe had negative thoughts about this game due to SNK going bankrupt during the release of this game as SNK would close all of its American operations. While the American Team was not as popular team as other cast members, SNK still paid attention to their detail by producing new sprites and special moves. The big aim was determined to bring back old characters. The same applied to Vice and Mature who were given new moves. Balancing the game took an entire mode. Before publishing the game, Tanabe drew two pictures of Street Fighter characters Ryu and Ken Masters and inserted them into the game's build. This would predate the release the crossover Capcom vs SNK which gather both Capcom and SNK characters.
The game's intro has Iori Yagami destroying the screen with his body which inspired future installments like The King of Fighters 2002 and also coin the catchphrase "Shatter All Expectations" in The King of Fighters XV. There was also a careful approach to drawing the characters during their victory screens when compared previous installments. The victory screens were based on a challenge image used for a bonus fight against Shingo Yabuki. In promoting the game for Sony's PlayStation, an image of Kyo Kusanagi was made by Shinkiro in a passive state which would change to his eyes open when the game would be ported to the console. In promoting the "Dream Match", Shinkiro's illustrations also led to characters in calm state while wearing formal clothes even if it does not fit. However, the Dreamcast port heavily focus on rivalry between Kyo and Iori.
In The King of Fighters '96, several moves from Kyo Kusanagi were changed in order to adapt him to the new game system. However, the original moveset was still popular among gamers and as such, an alternative version of Kyo was added to The King of Fighters '97. The introduction of this version was noted to be "a hit" within gamers, the staff kept adding new alternative versions of other characters in KOF '98. Since this game did not have a storyline, the SNK staff decided to return Rugal Bernstein as the boss character noting that "he's the only character who truly represents the ultimate KOF boss." Additionally, some of his special moves were redesigned, which the staff found to have made him the strongest version of Rugal as well as one of their favorites.

## Releases

KOF '98 was originally released for arcades on July 23, 1998. It was also released for the Neo Geo AES on September 23, 1998, the Neo-Geo CD on December 23, 1998, and the PlayStation on March 25, 1999. The PlayStation version was published in North America by Agetec, becoming the first PlayStation installment in the series to be released outside Japan since The King of Fighters '95.
An emulated version of the game was released as part of The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga in 2008 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii (the game was not included in the Japanese Orochi Hen compilation). The Neo Geo AES version was added via emulation to the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on October 23, 2012, in North America on March 7, 2013 and in the PAL region on May 30, 2013. Another emulated version was released for iOS and Android in 2014. The arcade version was emulated and released as part of the ACA Neo Geo series for the Nintendo Switch on March 3, 2017 with releases for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One following afterwards. On February 26, 2025, it was the first game to be released as part of the ACA Neo Geo 2 series for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S, upgraded with online play and variable refresh rate support.
An updated Dreamcast version was released on June 24, 1999, under the title The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999, reflecting the year the version was released. It came out in North America on October 16, 1999. It features remade 3D backdrops and runs at 60 frames per second. This version also featured its own anime style intro, produced by the studio Digimation K.K., before it merged to become part of the studio Gonzo a few years later.
KOF '98 was updated under a standalone title of The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match (KOF '98UM) released in 2008, ten years after the original game's release. It was released in Japan as an arcade game for the Taito Type X hardware in March 2008. The PlayStation 2 version released on June 26, and was also published on the NeoGeo Online Collection The Best on June 18, 2008. The game was released in North America by Ignition Entertainment on March 3, 2009. It was released in Europe on June 10, 2009. An Xbox 360 version was released on July 1, 2009 via Xbox Live Arcade. A China-exclusive version for the PolyGame Master 2 arcade hardware was also released in 2009, which was called The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match Hero. A PlayStation 4 version of Ultimate Match was released on March 20, 2018.
Ultimate Match includes additional characters not featured in the original version of the game, such as Eiji Kisaragi from KOF '95, along with Kasumi Todoh and the Boss Team (composed of Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Big) from KOF '96, as well as the final boss characters Goenitz and Orochi, essentially including all the characters featured in the KOF series prior to KOF '98. New moves were added to the USA Sports Team to improve their playability, and EX versions of certain characters not featured in the original version were added, namely King with her Art of Fighting 2 moveset, and Ryuji Yamazaki, Blue Mary and Geese Howard with their Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers movesets. The Orochi versions of Leona and Iori Yagami are also playable, and both also appear as optional mid-bosses alongside Eiji, Kasumi, Shingo and original version of Rugal in the Arcade Mode. New stages were added to the game such as China and Hong Kong to show appreciation for KOF's high popularity in such regions; it is also the only fighting game to feature an accurate representation of Saudi Arabia in one stage, as the country was a major market for the NEO GEO line in the early 1990s. A third fighting style is also introduced in addition to Advance and Extra, dubbed "Ultimate" mode. Ultimate mode is a customizable style that allows the player to choose between features from Advance or Extra mode, such as which kind of Power Gauge to use. It also includes a 'Neo Geo' mode, directly ported from the Neo Geo console. An updated version titled The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match Final Edition, featuring balance changes for most characters, was released for arcades on January 24, 2011. It was released for Microsoft Windows on Steam on December 16, 2014, and on GOG.com on June 1, 2018. This version came to the PlayStation 4 on June 21, 2022.

## Related games

A mobile RPG based on Ultimate Match, called The King of Fighters '98UM OL, was released by Chinese company Ourpalm for the iOS and Android platforms on July 9, 2016. In 2017, King of Fighters '98UM OL grossed ¥9.8 billion ($89.29 million) in Japan.

## Reception

Aggregate score :
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | PS2: 73/100 X360: 73/100 iOS: 78/100 NS: 80/100 |
Review scores :
| Publication | Score |
| Famitsu | 30/40 |
| IGN | 7.8/10 |
| Next Generation | |
| TouchArcade | iOS: |
In Japan, Game Machine listed The King of Fighters '98 on their September 1, 1998 issue as being the most-successful arcade game of the month. According to Famitsu, the AES version sold over 22,651 copies in its first week on the market. During its release week, the Dreamcast version of the game sold 58,354 copies in Japan. As of 2004, the sales increased to 104,049. Famitsu magazine scored the Dreamcast version of KOF '98 a 30 out of 40. It has therefore also been labeled as a "greatest hits" game.
KOF '98 is often recognized as the best entry in the series, as well as one of the greatest one-on-one fighting games of all time. Various reviewers from video game publications have commented on KOF '98. While reviewing the compilation The King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga, Matt Edwards from Eurogamer noted KOF '98 to be the most enjoyable game from the collection as well as the most famous game from the series "that really made people stand up and take an interest in the series." The game also received praise by 1UP.com writer Richard Li who found it to be the most balanced game from the KOF series due to the fact it improved the game mechanics from the previous titles. Jeremy Dunham from IGN gave the game an 8.4, praising, apart from the gameplay and characters, the graphics, the music as well as the background designs added for the Dreamcast version. However, he was disappointed with the lack of story in the game, noting the ones from previous games to be very entertaining. GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann found it to be one of the best 2D fighting games, noting that although new players may find it hard to play due to the difficulty in executing various special moves and how difficult the opponent AI is. Although Andy Chien from Gaming Age found that the Dreamcast port of the game was well done since it does not have the disadvantages that it had in other consoles, he noted it "could have been a lot better." He also found that the game had a bug when he tried to perform a special move from Mai Shiranui, which unlike the other versions, is very inconsistent. Tom Russo reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for Next Generation, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "Not bad, but with so many other high-quality fighters available, this one only makes sense for players nostalgic for old NeoGeo fighting games."
GameRankings gave Ultimate Match a 77% based on 14 reviews for the PlayStation 2 version and 74% based on 5 reviews for the Xbox 360 version. Metacritic gave it a 73 out of 100 for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 versions based on 11 reviews and 4 reviews respectively. Various publications for video games and other media have commented on Ultimate Match with IGN writer Ryan Clements giving it a 7.8, saying that probably this game should only be recommended to fans of The King of Fighters due to how old its graphics are as well as the little balance it has with 60 characters being playable. James Mielke from 1UP.com complained on how the game is very similar to KOF '98, but found the controls to be comfortable and intuitive for any fans of 2D fighting games. However, Heath Hooker from GameZone found that the gameplay and sound from the game make up for the graphics even though there is not much difference between KOF '98 and KOF '98: Ultimate Match. In 2013, KOF '98 Ultimate Match was ranked as the 15th best arcade game of the 1990s by Complex, who also called it "possibly the greatest SNK fighting game of them all," and included it on their list of 25 best 2D fighting games of all time in 2013.