Games WORLD: The King of Fighter 97 Game Free Download for PC

King of Fighters '97 is the culmination of the Orochi storyline that started in King of Fighters '94 and continued through the 95 and 96 games. In terms of presentation, this game is the best of the series. In terms of gameplay and depth of the fighting system, this game may be one of the best in the 2D fighting genre.

Getting King of Fighters '97 is like getting two games in one, because the Advanced and Extra modes are really different. Aside from the differences in requirement for performing desperation moves and super desperations, the little nuances that are different in each mode are staggering. Players can even fight against each other using different modes. The game doesn't bash players over the head with its complexity though; you can fight effectively without knowing any of the nuances of the two modes. But to fully take advantage of the system you'll have to invest a lot of playtime to learn the ins and outs of both systems and how they differ from each other.

The music tracks in King of Fighters '97 are some of the best in the fighting genre. Most of them are actually themes from the past KOF games that have been re-orchestrated, but in this game they're all done very well. It wouldn't be far off to say that every music track in KOF97 is catchy and memorable. Unfortunately there aren't that many of them, and they only last one round instead of an entire match. The music is all character based, meaning that when you only get to hear a particular piece of music when you're fighting the character associated with it. Because only a handful of characters in the game have their own theme music, most of the time you'll be listening to stage background sounds. They aren't bad, but they're pretty bland compared to the game's great music.

The thing that stands out most about King of Fighters '97 is the amount of little cool things you'll only notice with extended playtime and trying out all the characters. Little things like how some characters may have different opening speeches depending on whom they're facing, or how there are special ending sequences for certain custom character configurations. There's a lot to see and do in this game.

King of Fighters '97 is one of the deepest and ultimately most rewarding 2D fighting games around. The complexity of the fighting system will keep veteran fighter fans interested for a long time, yet the accessibility of the system will have novices playing relatively confidently. More important than any technical merits though, the game is simply great fun to play.