The King of Fighters '94

aka: KOF '94
Moby ID: 17204
Arcade Specs

Description official descriptions

This is the first game of the series that conquered legions of fighter fans from all over the world. The King of Fighters '94 joins together fighters from other SNK Corporation franchises: Art of Fighting (Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Takuma Sakazaki, Yuri Sakazaki, King), Fatal Fury (Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Mai Shiranui, Kim Kaphwan) and Ikari Warriors (Ralf Jones, Clark Steel, Heidern), as well as totally new fighters such as Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikaido, and Goro Daimon (from the Japanese team).

The King of Fighters '94 is notable in that it is one of the first known fighting games that pits a team of fighters against each other in single combat. Each team consists of three fighters for each player, the winner being the player who is able to eliminate the other team first. Each active character can charge up "Art of Fighting" style in order to gain access to "Desperation Moves", or "DMs" (moves which operate very much like Street Fighter's Super Combos). Playing against the computer, the player must defeat all 8 teams in the game in order to reach the final boss, Rugal Bernstein.

Spellings

  • ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ '94 - Japanese spelling
  • 拳皇94 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (Neo Geo version)

72 People (49 developers, 23 thanks) · View all

Executive Producer
Producer
Chief Director
Sub Director
System Director
System Editer
Graphic Director
Front Designer
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 20 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 29 ratings with 0 reviews)

Be the first to review this game!

Trivia

1001 Video Games

King of Fighters '94 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

References

During the story sequences before fighting against Rugal Bernstein, you can see a few statues of fighters that he had defeated in the past. If you look closely, you'll notice that one of the characters looks a lot like Guile, from Street Fighter II.

Capcom vs. SNK has a special easter egg related to this reference: If a fight between Guile and Rugal Bernstein occurs, they have a special intro where Guile destroys a statue of himself in front of Rugal before they start the fight.

Rugal Bernstein

Rugal Bernstein, the final boss, was originally intended to be a super boss who had the skills of all the characters in the game; however, space limitations prevented that, so the designers decided to give him two moves from the deadliest characters in the SNK universe at the time: Geese Howard's Reppuken, and Wolfgang Krauser's Kaiser Wave.

Title

Technically, this is not the first King of Fighters game. When Capcom introduced Street Fighter II in 1991, it was given the subtitle The World Warrior. SNK did not want to be outdone, and subtitled Fatal Fury King of Fighters.

Awards

  • EGM
    • 1995 Buyer's Guide - Neo Geo Game of the Year
    • 1995 Buyer's Guide - Best Fighting Game
    • 1995 Buyer's Guide - Hottest Game Babe (Mai Shiranui)
  • VideoGames Magazine
    • March 1995 - Best Neo Geo Game in 1994

Information also contributed by Big John WV, Foxhack and Sciere

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

The King of Fighters '97
Released 1997 on Neo Geo, SEGA Saturn, PlayStation...
The King of Fighters 2003
Released 2003 on Neo Geo, PlayStation 2, Xbox...
NHL '94
Released 1993 on Genesis, SEGA CD, SNES
The King of Fighters '95
Released 1996 on Game Boy, SEGA Saturn, PlayStation...
The King of Fighters 2001
Released 2002 on Neo Geo, 2002 on Dreamcast, 2003 on PlayStation 2...
The King of Fighters 2000
Released 2002 on PlayStation 2, Linux, Windows...
94%
Released 2015 on iPhone, iPad
R.B.I. Baseball '94
Released 1994 on Genesis
R.B.I. Baseball '94
Released 1994 on Game Gear

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 17204
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Evil Ryu.

PSP added by Lance Boyle. PlayStation 3 added by Charly2.0. Neo Geo CD added by Corn Popper. Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 added by mars_rulez. Arcade added by 666gonzo666. Xbox One added by Sciere. Windows Apps added by Foxhack. Windows added by Xoleras. Wii added by gamewarrior. iPad, iPhone, Android added by lights out party.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Foxhack, Alaka, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.

Game added April 10, 2005. Last modified February 13, 2024.