The King of Fighters '98
The King of Fighters '98 on Neo Geo MVS, playable online with save states, gamepad and mobile touch support.
The King of Fighters '98 on Neo Geo MVS, playable online with save states, gamepad and mobile touch support.
Teams of three fight one round each, and the last team standing wins the match. This entry sets aside the storyline the series had been running since 1994 and works instead as an exhibition, so nearly everyone who had appeared in King of Fighters up to that point is selectable — thirty-eight fighters, including alternate versions of several of them and Rugal Bernstein as a playable pick.
Before the fight you also choose a system. Advanced mode gives you a run, a quick roll and stored power stocks whose capacity grows by one each time a teammate is knocked out. Extra mode uses the older hop-and-dash movement, a gauge you charge by holding the buttons down, and a MAX desperation move that only becomes available once your health is low. The same team plays very differently depending on the choice.
Freed from serving a plot, '98 could keep the mechanics that worked in '97 and discard the rest. Omega Rugal returns as the final boss, and Shingo Yabuki is both a selectable fighter and a mid-boss you can run into in arcade mode. Carrying two complete systems means the roster effectively doubles in how it can be used, and SNK returned to the game a decade later with the 2008 revision The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match.
You can play with keyboard, gamepad, or touch (on mobile). The default keyboard layout is below; remap any key inside the emulator settings.
It is a dream match. SNK closed the Orochi arc in '97 and built '98 as a non-canon exhibition, which is why fighters who had died or dropped out of the plot are all selectable again and the endings do not advance any narrative.
Advanced gives you a run, a quick roll and stored power stocks, with your stock capacity rising by one each time a teammate is defeated. Extra uses the older dash-and-hop movement, a gauge you charge manually by holding buttons, and a MAX desperation move usable only at low health.
It works well as one, because nothing in it depends on knowing earlier plots — there is no story to follow — and the roster gathers most of the cast from '94 through '97. The three-on-three format, short hops, rolls and stock system are the same fundamentals later King of Fighters games build on.
Yes. Every game on OldGames.Games is free to play in your browser. There are no downloads, hidden fees or account requirement for single-player games.
Yes. The emulator supports save states — you can save the exact moment you're at and resume later from any device by signing into a free OldGames account.
Yes. The emulator includes touch controls optimised for phones and tablets. iPhone, iPad, Android — all supported.
Yes. Connect any USB or Bluetooth controller (Xbox, PlayStation, 8BitDo, Switch Pro, etc.) and it will be detected automatically.
