Rate top gamesAt first glance, KOF 94 looks like a deep fighting game with a lot of variation but it turns out it is stiffer than it wants to be.
For starters, KOF 94 is a crossover fighting game for several SNK IPs like Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Ikari Warriors, etc. maybe I'm wrong but it is like the Smash Bros. of its generation, one can select a preestablished team of three characters (no variation) and have fun figuring out different styles within the team. So with all that pedigree one would think this game is the peak of the genre, and at some points maybe it is, as the sprite work for characters, animation, and stages, they're all beautiful, by themselves is just worth to play the game to see them. My main problem is the fighting itself, every character feels quite different and have different command inputs to their special moves, which is nice, what is not nice in the combat is the combo system, maybe I did play wrong but it seemed to me that the combos were way too stiff or precise to pull them, also playing vs CPU feels cheat, there's no correct way to approach your enemy because a lot of the time they will hit you nevertheless, this happens a lot more with the final boss, which is simply unfair and unbalanced, and in order to beat him, you have to "cheat battle" him, which is not fun. As for the local multiplayer mode, I think it works best and is the preferred way, it has the same stiff learning curve of the combo system but at least your opponent reacts more naturally to your attacks.
All in all, for its time, KOF 94 was a fun game and still is in some regards, its graphics have aged so well but not its combat, which is a shame because its a fighting game.
For starters, KOF 94 is a crossover fighting game for several SNK IPs like Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Ikari Warriors, etc. maybe I'm wrong but it is like the Smash Bros. of its generation, one can select a preestablished team of three characters (no variation) and have fun figuring out different styles within the team. So with all that pedigree one would think this game is the peak of the genre, and at some points maybe it is, as the sprite work for characters, animation, and stages, they're all beautiful, by themselves is just worth to play the game to see them. My main problem is the fighting itself, every character feels quite different and have different command inputs to their special moves, which is nice, what is not nice in the combat is the combo system, maybe I did play wrong but it seemed to me that the combos were way too stiff or precise to pull them, also playing vs CPU feels cheat, there's no correct way to approach your enemy because a lot of the time they will hit you nevertheless, this happens a lot more with the final boss, which is simply unfair and unbalanced, and in order to beat him, you have to "cheat battle" him, which is not fun. As for the local multiplayer mode, I think it works best and is the preferred way, it has the same stiff learning curve of the combo system but at least your opponent reacts more naturally to your attacks.
All in all, for its time, KOF 94 was a fun game and still is in some regards, its graphics have aged so well but not its combat, which is a shame because its a fighting game.