THE KING OF FIGHTERS '97 CHARACTERS

The King of Fighters '97 closes out the Orochi Saga with the kind of confident, lived-in feel only a fourth entry can pull off. SNK's 1997 Neo Geo arcade fighter keeps the 3-on-3 team format that made the series, then layers on a pick-your-flavor mechanic where you choose Advanced or Extra mode at the character select. Advanced gives you run-dash and short hops, Extra hands you the old-school charge meter, and the whole roster bends around that decision.

The roster runs thirty-five deep, headlined by Kyo, Iori, Terry, Mai, and the full Orochi-tied antagonists who finally get their payoff fight. Console ports landed on Saturn, PlayStation, and later Neo Geo CD, and the game still holds up as the cleanest expression of classic KOF before the series started reinventing itself. For combo hunters, '97 is where canceling specials into desperation moves became a real language.