The Insane History Of THE KING OF FIGHTERS '95 - Enter Iori Yagami

Step back in time to 1995 and relive the evolution of a fighting game legend in 'The History of The King of Fighters '95.' This installment in the iconic series by SNK built upon the innovative 3-on-3 team-based combat system introduced the previous year, setting new standards for character dynamics and narrative depth in fighting games.
This documentary-style video delves into the development of 'The King of Fighters '95,' exploring the enhancements and challenges that came with its creation, designing Iori Yagami and more! Learn about the expanded roster, including the introduction of iconic characters who would become staples in the series. We uncover the technical advancements that improved gameplay, the strategic depth added through team customization, and how 'KOF '95' solidified its place in the hearts of players worldwide, influencing the future of competitive fighting games.
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👊 #fightinggames #snk #kof

[@marplatense31]

"Whoever designed this character must be a genius!" - Masahiro Sakurai in regards to Iori Yagami

[@NeoGeoNow]

He was right!

[@tpatt513]

I remember seeing this quote before. Even though, it's always Kim Kaphwan, Number One, with me, the character development of Iori throughout the years has been excellent. Arashi No Saxaphone.

[@DD01880]

Iori is the Akuma. The KoF94 version didn't have him until 95 'during his creation just as Akuma is the hidden character in SSF2T '95. My childhood days of fighting games in the early 90s where Capcom developer decided to part ways and joined SNK creating Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting after SF2: world warrior Best fighting games for SNK are: KoF95 KoF97 KoF98 Fatal Fury 1&2 Art of Fighting 1&2 Samurai Showdown 1&3 I hope SNK will just release the anniversary collection on the Nintendo Switch and PS5 console. The nostalgic of fighting games dominating the lame adventure, racing, shooters, and RPGs games in a timeless classic, the 90s.

[@maxm9960]

Let's just say Iori Yagami single handedly *defined* fashion for rebellious Chinese teens *across the entire country*, for the entire era of approximately 1997-2005... You'd see so many young people dying their hair red with belt between their legs... So yes, i'd call that design impactful enough.

[@nurannahadiislam7940]

Even though I feel KOF has few questionable design choices in terms of character design, Iori is just universally a badass and is definitely one of the best fighting game characters ever created.

[@llai8501]

Questionable? How so?

[@orlanzo2621]

KOF ‘95 is a great game and still highly playable even today. Just ordered the Japanese Sega Saturn version a few days ago in fact. Funnily enough the very first version of the game I ever owned was the Gameboy version back in the late 90’s. It obviously had its limitations but man I had a ton of fun with it regardless and I loved the chibi art style of it.

[@santok]

should get neo geo, dont know if its still available tho.

[@fredsorre6605]

Kyo needing a Rival of his own is what cemented KOF as a series Terry had Geese and Ryo had Robert but Kyo was on his own so Iori Yagami coming in was well needed balancer for his character the first 3 KOF games were a well needed stepping stone to the series reaching its perfected state which was KOF 97.

[@saeedzafaar]

Ryo and Robert aren't enemies... They are more like highly competitive best friends.

[@fredsorre6605]

@@saeedzafaar I said rivals not enemies you don't have to be enemies to be rivals its the same thing going on with Ryu and Ken friends but Rivals all the same.

[@saeedzafaar]

@@fredsorre6605 Point taken. Then, Terry and Geese aren't rivals. Geese murdered Jeff Bogard. These two are enemies.

[@fredsorre6605]

@@saeedzafaar do you realize that there are different versions of rivalries there is the friendly rivalry like Ken and Ryu then there is antagonizing Rivalry like Kyo or Iori and then there is enemy rivalry like Terry and Geese it would not have been that way if they kept Geese dead as they would have just remained as enemies but he kept coming back to life so now instead of just enemies they are plain old rivals its a trope in many anime and shows from Japan and in the West.

[@jinthekingkazama1159]

​@@fredsorre6605You could also argue, that Terry and Andy, and Terry and Rock, are also friendly rivals.

[@biancaarmstrong5097]

Iori Yagami will always be the best character in KOF history. Also, interesting fact, even though Iori is rude, blunt, and serious, he isn't evil. He has a hidden kindness, loves cats, is a skilled bass guitar player, hates violence, and plays in a band. The sad part is that his childhood is very toxic and sad since he grew up without a mom, a dad that is strict, and he was mostly training. I feel bad for Iori. He doesn't deserve to suffer.

[@DarthcrackbabY]

I don't really think that Iori wanted to kill Kyo, but instead just wanted to make Kyo's life a living hell cause Kyo was such a dick before he got humbled before KOF 96.

[@losangulos]

Smell the salts

[@ssppeeaarr]

its sad the animated kof movie i think called kof awakened with iori... was cancelled. the trailer for that still looked good. 😟😞

[@gendoruwo6322]

All his life he's been told that his life's purpose is to kill off the Kusanagi family. So of course he came out crazy. The more Kyo stand out, the more Iori would single him out to kill him.

[@saifmerseysider2133]

If i'm not mistaken, he killed his own mom because he didn't want to have anyone related / to care for anymore due to his pursuit of his objective (destroying the Kusanagi Clan)

[@Lloydo111]

Bro just wanted to say we truly appreciate you in the SNK community and FGC because this level of quality is just amazing to see! I adore 95 and played it nonstop when it was out with all my relatives and brothers it was brilliant! To see and know all these details on its creation is fantastic! KOF & SNK always have this uniqueness to them and since those days i was a big fan to this day! Art of fighting on SNES was the game "with samsho 1" that made me fall in love with SNK! Rest is history! So happy the company is healthy rn and fatal fury city of the wolves looking phenomenal!

[@MikeDeeJackson]

This was the first KOF I ever played... it was a demo on PS1 where you could only play as Kyo or Terry! The intro of this game is one of my favorites for fighting games!

[@DarthcrackbabY]

I was thinking about buying a NeoGeo back in 96 but I just had to buy a PSX when this game was on it.

[@warzoneidiot881]

I love how Iori was modeled after the band member from JUDY AND MARY. A bassist and same outfit

[@iEternity1]

Great Video! If I had any recommendation, it would be to disable the smoothing filter used when showing the gameplay footage. We want to see those chunky Max 330 Mega Pro-Gear Spec pixels!

[@marplatense31]

I love Iori! In my opinion, he's the best rival character in fighting game history! Although, does anyone know why his flames are blue in the '95 intro?

[@saynotop2w]

I’m kind of fond of 94 & 95. These games may be stiff but they’re full of interesting tricks and secrets. These along with Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and Virtua Fighters are defining games of this quirky fighting game contemporary era.

[@MegaShingo97]

Honestly the stiffness works really well with 94/95 sound effect, it makes the moves more impactful which is something the sequels didn't surpass imo.

[@tobylee1170]

Thanks for this. This takes me back. KoF95 was the 1st SNK game I mained over Street Fighter. Iori's design and personality stood out so much over all other fighting game characters at that time.

[@InfinityVenom]

KOF 96 was my first KOF, a friend introduced me I only played SF games before, I picked the "manlier" chars (Ralf, Terry, Clark) and he picked Iori, then saw him do Iori's MAX Maiden Masher when he goes all crazy and slams you in the ground and I was HOOKED!!!! since that day KOF remains my favorite Fighting game series and Iori Yagami my favorite FG character of all time

[@GANGRELION]

I love all your videos, but those documentaries are in a whole different level of high quality. Thank you very much!

[@NeoGeoNow]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I really wish i had more time to make more of them. But with a wife and kids, insanely busy full time job, , and life in general it takes me much longer than i would want for making these!

[@NerdsBane007]

In our neighborhood, the boss team of KoF 96 was considered useless so nobody ever picked any of them. Most popular characters were: Robert, Ralph, Clark, Kim, Iori, Leona, Mature, Mai, Athena, Kyo , Ryu, Benumaru and Choi.

[@agungm1855]

I just realized my childhood game, KOF 94, is now 30 YO. Fuu I'm old.

[@ddespair]

Iori is basically the kof akuma

[@hopelesound]

Great documentary!! Thanks a lot At that time didn't know english and the endings were all confusing to me, after learning english and reliving those endings and still were confusing as well 😂. Those translation man!

[@SpectralSound.]

Another great video man.Will you do the same for the rest of the games?

[@Xano501]

Iori is the Iconic and Main Character of KOF, especially '97

[@alkannahcartwright4984]

Nicely done great detail lore told with proper rendering .

[@KazumaIshinpabu]

史上最高のキング・オブ・ファイターズゲームが草薙京のお気に入りになりました ✌🏼’95! Kyo!!!!!

[@HecmarJayam]

I know is not a popular opinion, but this is my favorite KOF. Fantastic video! Thank you!

[@gendoruwo6322]

i share the same opinion. KOF 95 was the peak for me. I gradually lose interest since then, especially after the conclusion of the Orochi saga.

[@latecheckout11]

for sure. It's the best in the series and I still like to come back to refresh the memories of countless encounters in my childhood days.

[@d3vilman69]

I remember getting a NeoGeoCD back in the 90's and played this game like no tomorrow. Minimal sleep, meals and toilet breaks. My health was wreck. Iori Yagami was the best thing that happened to the franchise.

[@MrRenatopepin]

What an amazing video, my friend. Coming next is KOF96, the game that has my favorite FG song of all time Arashi no Saxophone. It would be great if you add some commentary on the music team. They were seriously breaking ground with that music. Thank you a lot, subscribed.

[@angrydood3322]

The Korea Team was always the last team to beat before the boss fights.. They were considered a boss team.. it was real hell facing them...

[@Mlai00]

Iori Yagami predated Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey by 13 and 20 years, respectively. The only reason he didn't have the cultural impact of those 2 franchises is because he stayed in a relatively niche media - 90's arcade fighting games. This was before internet virality was possible. Man never even got an anime. Nowadays every mid light novel gets an anime.

[@bigshorty4855]

You forgot the most important part during that time. After the disappointing ff3 (not a bad game, but too slow) kof 95 was a game for the neo that took over. When ff3 came, we were still playing ss2 and at times kof 94. When 95 came out it took over. Hardly ever played older fighters anymore. After 96 came out, while it was beautiful, the gameplay sucked. Meaning we kept playing kof 95 untill kof 97 came out, which became the best kof till then (98 is still the best kof ever, 13 is a close second).

[@captaincz5763]

Woah please make this into a series if you haven't already! This is a lot of fun to learn about!

[@masanggar]

longer video covering sprite comparison would be awesome.

[@MihzvolWuriar]

KoF was the only fighting game of the era that constantly got better and better with each release, all other franchises got better in some points, worse in others, KoF was the only one that was always getting better, that only stopped on 98, because some things there got worse, not by much, but the "perfect upgrade" stopped, I still think 98 is a great upgrade though.

[@ashchisalleh1454]

Iori so brutal he don't need fire for skill to win. It addition to move .Claw for victory

[@NingenKaijin2006]

When he loses his flames, iori doesn't hold back anymore. Takuma said that.

[@Ninja-Hayate]

World Heroes Hanzou, Fuuma, and Kim Dragon would be an awesome team in 1995 along with the cut SamSho characters.

[@meganinten0078]

There is a rumour that SNK wanted World Heroes characters in their big crossover but because at that time those characters and the WH series were made by Alpha Denshi/ADK, SNK asked them for permission but ADK said no. Truly a shame 😞 Nowadays, Alpha Denshi went bankrupt and SNK owns their IPs

[@meganinten0078]

By 1995, Hanzo, Fuuma and Janne/Jeanne would be a great theme. Fuuma can have his moveset from Aggressors of Dark Kombat, a game that came in 1994, where Fuuma plays very different than in the World Heroes games

[@mestrealvarensis]

Rasputin... think of it,

[@manueldesant4849]

I ran so quickly thru the channel looking for the 96 docu ... i cannot wait to see it, MY FAVORITE KOF!

[@NeoGeoNow]

I will start working on it soon! I promise!

[@manueldesant4849]

@@NeoGeoNow thank u much, very much appreciate it !

[@CloudSecurityGuy]

The boss team was my all time fav within kof

[@manueldesant4849]

@@CloudSecurityGuy they are something else, I really liked their vibe.

[@inksword6029]

Im loving these videos :]

[@MelloTreezTV]

That strong ass low drop kick was my goto move 😂

[@dreamcastninja88]

I remember playing this game to death when I got this for my PlayStation. Had a bad time playing it at the Arcades though still my personal favorite KOF besides 01. I remember finding Iori to be the most interesting fighting game character ever made.

[@NingenKaijin2006]

Iori, a young man who loves jazz music,cursed by his ancestor blood, cursed by the evil entity orochi.

[@ianreed9638]

also gay. the anagram of his last name is i am gay. 😂😂

[@m3tl1kv3e9]

Awesome Documentary of KOF 95 also Iori Yagami rival debut of Kyo. Looking forward to the next episode of KOF Documentary KOF 96 featuring Chizuru.

[@AnasQureshy]

Surprisingly and please correct me on this. So far despite being more popular and iconic i have never seen iori making guest appearance in competitor titles like tekken, or SF main story series. Yes we had SNK vs Capcom and vise versa but they were exclusive titles. Seems like SNK keeps iori as their signature despite being popular.

[@NeoGeoNow]

Iori was a guest character in Million Arthur: Arcana Blood, but i see your point.

[@thegreator]

There is no 'manga'. True. But there is a comic. Hong Kong Chinese comic. This Chinese comic have beautiful colored artwork and covers the whole KOF saga. They are quite popular in our region. Other than KOF, they also have comics from other popular fighting games such as Tekken and Street Fighter. All of these comics are official releases from the games developer although they never released it in Japan themselves.

[@reviewbeautylifestyle2758]

My favourite char of all fighting games!

[@philleotardo8760]

Those wrecka’s are nasty.

[@rashawnjordan1307]

Excellent video, keep it up.

[@wallaceshawn-zk8iw]

I loved playing the demo on my Jampack Vol 3 as a wee lad

[@DymoTV]

since i was kid im SF player..this year i tried to play KOF on my cp and this game is far better than SF..the combos,characters design.my best pick are Ryo,Kyo,Iori. almost 2months when i started playing kof and till now im mastering thir combos

[@jacksmith4460]

13:47 someone was watching Akira on repeat

[@jfry3276]

Great video/documentary!! Thank You!

[@NeoGeoNow]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@peterbradypingakewa8534]

We want French version please

[@nathanielthompson802]

I see you like fatal fury city of the wolves great content! Are you interested in full preacher vs kotaru matchup?

[@raijinmeister]

95 was peak KOF.

[@manojkale4408]

Dope video ❤

[@raigami]

iori the rival changed kyo, the main character's, gameplay/movelist in 96. thats how influencial this character was

[@LIONTAMER3D]

Iori is top tier in cvs2

[@mousanabil7185]

Very smart Thumbnail! I already liked the video before watching it!

[@NeoGeoNow]

:D Thank you!

[@mousanabil7185]

@@NeoGeoNow And after watch it I can confirm it's a Masterpiece! Thank you for the great content!

[@heathmcrigsby]

For your vids use pixel perfect on the emulators. The pixel smoothing always looks so bad.

[@Yamaku-wy8pe]

ilove your pronunciations, i would have loved a video like this 20 yrs ago, i grew up on this. thanks so much

[@Catzillator]

I remember 94 has stage time transition especially in britain soldiers were marching XD

[@manafbenayache1880]

well i know most of these informations thanks to my 30 years playing KOF,SF MK... on every console possible including pc and of course i have read about the story to know what story folds behind KOF etc... from the 1800 years etc...

[@DannyTheBarGod]

Good stuff

[@backgroundchar]

my head canon why iori and kyo is fighting because of their band rivalry and not because of their clan feud

[@TanyaParker-h5v]

Johnson Richard Gonzalez Margaret White Shirley

[@mingyaowu7720]

the best part is during kof97 iori got an alternate version."orochi version".

[@TheodoroDML]

I did not know there was a kof for gameboy, thank you for that 🙏🇧🇷✌️🤙

[@MarcellaRomero-vs4zv]

Brown Elizabeth Lopez Margaret Brown Daniel

[@DannyCosta-r8f]

Davis Matthew Thompson Jose Davis Jeffrey

[@NerdsBane007]

Iori reminds of Aemond Targaryen in House of the Dragon.

[@violetbabcock2042]

Moore Deborah Williams Angela Lopez Michael

[@LightningZtrikez]

My favourite always was Robert Garcia. It's a shame that the story writers never gave Roberto a leading role or even an important story throughout the years.

[@moedef8388]

Art of Fighting 3 Robert was helping a childhood friend to stop the villain from developing some sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde esque formula.

[@LightningZtrikez]

@@moedef8388 My comment is in relation to the King of Fighters series. I would like Robert to have a proper story, a cool and relevant lore in relation to this character, which would have great importance.

[@moedef8388]

@@LightningZtrikez Sadly too many characters have been relegated to only been along for the ride. Psycho Soldier for example.

[@dugonman8360]

​@@LightningZtrikez the downside to KoF is it's filled with great protagonist characters that need to play second fiddle to the ongoing story. I'm a bit of an art of fighting mark myself and the sakazaki family has always been one of my favs but if Terry himselfs got to play secondhand to Kyo and Ash and K', everyone sadly has to.

[@emperormegaman3856]

Well, KoF isn't really Robert Story. Which is funny when you think about it. KoF is a crossover, but due to it featuring its own original plot, the crossover character ends up mostly doing figuration. well, with SamSho and now Fatal Fury making a comeback, maybe Art of Fighting IV could happen.

[@AzerWal-n4r]

ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵉⵔⵜ ⵎⵉⵙ ⵏⵜⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏⵖ ⴰⵎⵓⵔⵉ ⴰⵉⵖⵓⴷⴰ ⵍⴼⵉⴷⵢⵓ ⴽⵓⴼ 95 all the way from morocco

[@JustinRueo]

Moore Jeffrey Wilson Daniel Thompson Brian

[@touch_the_sky]

5:32 What characters are those? Is that from a Mugen version?

[@ricemonkey85]

Omg the samurai showdown team would have been so badass

[@AsamiyaMouchou]

@11:03 Iori being designed to be "hentai herotic" is a sure thing, and they succeded. ;) Jokes aside, great job as usual. Enjoy EVO & Take care =)

[@mandible387]

He's like Raditz

[@SherylThompson-m8f]

Anderson Sharon Moore Christopher Moore Robert

[@SfehGshjdn-z4u]

Wilson Linda Moore Brian Thomas Nancy

[@nichts_als_die_Wahrheit]

02:15 this animation is very good, no need of reanimation here

[@KawaiiMiri]

Why not make a video on World Heroes? Before KOF made 3v3 WH did it, B4 broken combos were popular and reflected projectiles were a thing WH had done it. Even air fireball as projectiles, yup WH. The game the few loved and got bought by SNK to be silenced.

[@NeoGeoNow]

All in due time!

[@duketogo25]

I was having a hard time finding Fatal Fury games for my PS1 back in the late 90s, when I came across a magazine screenshot of '95 with Terry in it. "King of Fighters...like the tournament in the Fatal Fury anime? Terry's in it? Sure, I'll buy it. Hope it's good." That's how I came to know KOF, and it's my favorite fighting series. 95 will always be special to me for that reason. Oh, and that dope Playstation soundtrack.

[@DarthcrackbabY]

I'm not sure about this but I think the soundtrack was from the NeoGeo CD version.

[@NeoGeoNow]

Correct the psx and saturn version uses neogeocd soundtrack.

[@Watchkcom-u9w]

Miller Sandra Walker Brenda Wilson Shirley

[@BeenNoticing]

I spent more hours of playing KOF 94 & 95 than in college classes.(SamSho 1& 2 also)

[@pishbot]

brilliant doc bro!

[@NeoGeoNow]

Thank you so much!

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

He also made it to smash buuuuut... Lost the invitation and just laughed About it on the trailer.

[@eye4eye_]

Iori and kyo is the face of Kof ..

[@aaqibrawat3863]

Great video. You put everything together really well. Exicted to see more. Subscribe d

[@GenesisGaming_]

I only started watching kof 15 tournaments because of ioti, that time i know nothing of this character but in the first impression this character makes me a fan of him

[@funsterkeyven]

As a teen when KOF94 came out I thought Kyo and Iori were insanely cool.

[@jinthekingkazama1159]

Yeah, I also think they're cool. Kyo is my favorite, but I like Iori too.

[@qazifaran]

amazing video, cant wait for 96

[@danfrancisco3891]

Who is the king of fighters? When they actually do a team battle.

[@MICHAELTUMANGDAY]

Iori being more popular than Kyo speaks Volumes... Even The Orochi Saga was about Kyo Kusanagi's taking on Orochi to seal him again, it felt like kof 1997 is about Iori at some points, like him overcoming his Orochi mind control and weakening Orochi for Kyo to deal the finishing blow and Chizuru re-sealing him again.

[@maximaxxx2531]

Iori's 3-step laugh is just SO iconic! Also don't try buckling your legs together. Definitely not practical!

[@overkill1473]

KOF94 > KOF95.

[@warzoneidiot881]

KOF was never the same after 2002. KOF 97,98 and 2002 were probably the best KOF. I no longer touch the game more care for the franchise

[@meganinten0078]

KOF 95, the last time KOF was a Street Fighter clone because 96 and 97 made big changes and created the KOF formula KOF 95 is what a sequel should be, improving what went well and fixing what went wrong with the original game. The intro of KOF 95 is much better than the one from 94 As much as I like the OST of 95 I prefer the music of the previous game. My only complain is that I really wanted a World Heroes Team 😢 Sadly, ADK said NO to SNK when they asked them to add World Heroes characters in their big crossover 😞

[@BixbySnyder209]

Iori is hands down an my favourite character. I also like Oswald. Gato. Jhun, Sie and Chin, oh and Rock

[@AlexanderKunDesu]

KOF 95 stands as one of my Mt Rushmore in fighting games. Watching it at the local import game store close to where I grew up seemed a bit unattainable at the time because of the Neo Geo Gold System and game price. SNK eventually released it for the PlayStation, and didn’t really discover this particular version until 1997. Combine this with a set of Namco fight sticks led to my addiction to the KOF series and fighting games as a whole.

[@jinthekingkazama1159]

Ah, Iori Yagami. Even though Kyo is still my favorite character of them all, Iori is one of my favorites.

[@batzgameguru]

Kyo will be my favorite kof character I remember dressing up as him in grade 9 in school the same time I was introduced to fighting games