The King of Fighters '95: Neo Geo vs CD vs PS1 vs Saturn vs Game Boy Comparison

The King of Fighters '95 was originally released in 1995 for Arcade - Neo Geo. There were several ports, and here we'll be analyzing each, comparing to the arcade game.
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Enjoy!
Arcade/Neo Geo Analysis - 0:08
Regional Differences/Censorship - 2:30
Neo Geo CD Analysis - 2:48
Original vs Arranged Soundtrack - 07:17
PlayStation Analysis - 9:28
Sega Saturn Analysis - 18:11
Orochi Collection Analysis (PS2/PSP/Wii) - 24:28
Game Boy Analysis - 27:01
Nintendo Analysis - 31:08
All versions side-by-side - 33:17

[@bizarroeddie1]

Unbelievable work. Best comparisons on the internet by far.

[@sobesons]

I agree!

[@tonybamanabonitomatopowers6057]

KOF 95 has my favorite stages in any KOF game. They look so damn good especially for 1995.

[@cocobos]

Athena and Terry BG and BGM are so good and still looks beautiful till this day.

[@carlosaugusto9821]

Snk put amazing effort on stages in their games especially the ones around the mid 90s. Kof 95-97, Samsho 2, AOF2, FF3-RB1, etc. And even if the art direction overall declined in the late 90s for both Snk and Capcom, i think Snk managed to keep the level a little higher than Capcom, thanks to the Kof 99, LB2, and Garou stages.

[@orlanzo2621]

Man i owned the PS1 version as a kid and it was pretty dang respectable and i loved the soundtrack but man i HATED the long loading times and how the music would have to restart every single round. Hey at least it was a better port than SamSho 3 ( used to call it "samurai SLOWdown 3")...that one was pretty bad. But hey as a kid you take what you can get, i begged my parents for a Neo Geo for years and they looked at me like i was crazy, lol. I also owned the GB version and thought it was super fun (even with the repetitive music) Nice video man, interesting to see the differences.

[@retroport9393]

I've just opened a Patreon page. By helping, I can make more and better videos. Thanks!!! This one in particular took some time, but I had fun playing, hope you like it!

[@oliverubayperez8496]

Tengo todas las versiones . Es uno de mi top 10 juegos favoritos de mi vida . Buen video .

[@ArcadeCabNBud]

thanks for taking time to make and share with us

[@PonderingGhost]

I got this for PlayStation when it came out being a huge fan of Neo Geo games despite not having access to SNK consoles at the time. This was the closet thing at the time and I enjoyed the port immensely despite its load times. Ultimately, I ended up picking up a CDZ and the majority of the NGCD library. The Neo Geo CD version of 95 is unbelievable. Load times are not bad at all, especially having a CDZ. A lot of history I have with KoF 95. One of my prized possessions is the NGCD KoF 95 Special Item Box where it comes with a gorgeous art book, a whole bunch of swag, & Kyo's collar pin. Thank you so much for this video. It doesn't get in-depth more than this. Looking forward to the rest showing some love for that NGCD.

[@aaabbb5013]

This video is incredibly good.From the details I see a real genius that understands both gaming and video creating!Nice job!

[@aznpikachu215]

Well done on the video, the quality of everything looks great!

[@CastleFamilyThe]

Great job on this! Looking forward to more!

[@NeoTurboManiac78]

Great comparison video! I own The King of Fighters '95 for the Neo Geo AES, PS1, & Saturn. You nailed it with noting the missing animations in the background characters and the water in the Fatal Fury team's stage in the PS1 version.. That really stands out.

[@colins5129]

Still have me original copy of KOF'95 on the NEO CD still over the moon with it

[@waleednasser7575]

A wonderful job that cannot be described, go on. I support this great work.👍

[@blerghblargh5567]

As others have said already, by far the best port comparison I have seen so far and I especially like how thorough you compare animations. Great work! Hope to see more like this, especially concerning NGCD and Saturn ports. Concerning PS2 ports, it is always interesting to know, if a game runs in 240p or 480i btw.

love ur comparison videos, hope u publish more :)

[@zeppelimario3490]

Excellente analyse, recevez mes salutation depuis Paris pour votre travail. Merci beaucoup

[@jblee3947]

This guy makes great video everytime bbb

[@StarForceBelmont321]

You earned my subscription with this video! :)

[@gustavoazua8542]

Great. Thanks. More games of the snk plz. Great channel, i love it

[@bucket9486]

Great and very informative videos. Keep it up, you got a new sub.

[@snkparadise5667]

nice video!

[@mollipen]

As both a fighting game and SNK fan, the Saturn was a godsend back in the day. I was in a situation where it was easy for me to pick up imports, so it was, for me, the absolute best way to play fighting games in that era. My one big regret was that SNK's return to consoles came at a point where we ended up missing out on SamSho 2 (my all-time favorite), and then, when they finally did release it and the original on consoles, it was only on PS1 (and not a great port to boot). Dreamcast ended up being a great platform for fighters in its own right, but when I think about fighting games on consoles, the Saturn will always be my first thought.

[@mahdiyussuf9804]

You enjoyed these games on the Saturn back in the day? I was like mostly everyone, not much SNK at all, mostly capcom & PS1 in the 90s. I don't remember anyone who had a Saturn around me back in the day. Arcade games people raved about here were the capcom fighters and later tekken.

[@mollipen]

@@mahdiyussuf9804 Yeah, I was a huge fan of Sega because of the Genesis, so I also supported the Saturn. I liked a lot of fighting games, but I often gravitated towards SNK because I loved their art style and characters.

[@xjosue2007]

amazing job man

[@BeadsArtBrasil]

The soundtracks are the best I ever heard! Thanks for the video. Hi from Brazil.

[@keypath4389]

Damn you got great content. Subs!

[@luisreyes1963]

A great video comparing the technical aspects of different versions The King Of Fighters '95. I also came to see bouncy Mai...😘

[@overkill1473]

The music in this game drives me crazy, lol. Nice upload anyway!

[@leonard316]

great job!!

[@tohrukobayashi3160]

Excelente video!! Thanks!

[@DragonSlayerKyo]

Learning how to use the dodge is an essential part to beating Rugal in this. It'll help you avoid taking too much damage.

[@sobesons]

I will help you financially with pleasure because your work is impressive!

[@luckyluke95]

Excellent work 👍 I like your analyses. Good job. Nice choice for the game. I love Kof95. Saturn version is a perfect conversion.

[@SaminPK]

Just discovered this channel. Most comprehensive and interesting comparisons I have seen. 👏👍 I like your comments too. Just one small request would be to while feel free to thrash the inferior ports and all their shortcomings - please avoid saying anything negative about a game itself (not that you have said anything but some other like to drop an opinion or two) - These retro games are very dear to many - keep it up dude.

[@TheDimeDrawer]

Do Samurai Shodown next please dude 👍.

[@kyonathan]

Excellent video, I want to see more Kof!!!!

[@ppgranja3]

I still got my PS1 original copy. What a classic!!! Your videos are amazing...keep it up!!

[@silent.revolution2168]

Very interesting video. Thanks. I had long ago the PS1 version but didn't bother playing it too much because I had the Neogeo card (the only KOF game I had on Neogeo). I remember KOF97 on PS1 having a big frame loss (Terry, Iori and O.Yashiro 's stances).

[@Ifalvarado]

I noticed when characters do their super with their life bar showing red critical, they would flash brightly. Happens on the neo geo ports and saturn, but not psx

[@Ifalvarado]

This makes me appreciate the neo geo cartridge more, but SNK did put effort on the ports with their limited specs (Neo geo CD Ram and loading times, PSX with sprites memory)

[@anoldtexta8]

That thumbnail is pure bliss

[@keidash]

Will you make more videos like this? For example with KOF '96 & 97'?

[@rsmaniak]

Very detailed analysis and comparisons, I wonder how long it took you to make this video.

[@RedRanger2001]

For me, it's either the Neo Geo or the Neo Geo CD. The latter is affordable in the secondhand market.

[@Divefire]

Great video and series. I really enjoy the detail you go into and the insight that provides. One thing I'm curious of though; are you using original hardware to capture footage or emulation? Thanks!

[@TalesBarros]

Man, your videos are amazing. Keep up the awesome work. I'm very curious to see how PS1's KOF '96 compared against the Arcade version. I think after '96 things started going downhill in regards to frames of animation.

[@NeoGeoNinja81]

Before 96 mate. 95 was a superb effort but 96 onwards marked the decline. PS1 versions are heavily compromised from 96 forward. Esp. 99!

[@Ifalvarado]

Very well detail. Do one one Samurai Shodown 2 and Kof 97 where you see voice samples cut (Nicotine) , and frames of animation on some characters (Billy KOF 97)!

[@fifaworldcup1994]

READY? GO! FIGHT! ROUND 1 Lol, looks like the announcer on the NES version had a stroke.

[@VersusCity96]

the GB version was the only one i could play/afford back then. and boy did i play it alot. it actually frustrated me that there was no 16bit port

[@turbinegraphics16]

I like the graphic style better in this than in 97, 98, 99 for the backgrounds.

[@anime1thewave312]

I'm glad I got kof'95 uncensored neo geo.

[@anime1thewave312]

@Burns me up. Yeah, PS3 version. And the PS1 version.

[@tykanus3607]

Excellent work here: Always wondered about the subtle differences here for PSX as they really did a nice job here unlike the PSX's effort on Samurai shodown 3: Nice job on the Saturn with the RAM cart...Makes me want to pull out my old Saturn lol!

[@ValterCustodio85]

I was asking if you used real hardware, but at 17:32 the answer was delivered. Both the NGCD and NGCDZ have a bit of a stutter on the loading bar due to data search, it's a mechanical "feature" that emulation won't reproduce, hope that can add value to your work.

[@WestSide1207]

So what isn't he answer, he is using emulation?

[@ValterCustodio85]

@@WestSide1207 yes.

[@doomhakuo2107]

What emulator you think he is using? 60 fps and v-sync looks great, or its just the video rendering?

[@WestSide1207]

@@ValterCustodio85 that's too bad. I dislike emulation, I prefer the authentic experience.

[@RetrOrigin]

On the Japanese PS2 Orochi Saga you can enable Progressive scan while booting the console and it looks quite good on a CRT.

[@Dead_on_Arrival.]

Those consoles are golden

[@gaupau]

Props to SNK for delivering this game and presumably the other KOF games respectively to the playstation and saturn systems.

[@NeoGeoNinja81]

Firstly, thank you for confirming the PS1 port is a solid port! I've been saying this for years, but always confront 'Saturn > PSX for 2D' argument which, whilst still true here, the PS1 version is still really good (unlike the later versions where it falls off somewhat!). I was also disappointed Saturn 95 didn't have the AST! I agree it's amazing and could be the best KOF soundtrack ever? It should also be noted that due to the flaky nature of the Saturn's cart slot that inserting and removing carts is not advisable as they start to lose their ability to detect the cart (well known issue) which actually makes playing 95 on Saturn a bit of a pain tbh. The AI in the PS1 version was revised and, imo, more 'organic' than the input reading antics of the original and the Saturn version. Never played NGCD so can't comment, but presume PS1 is unique here? I really look forward to you doing other SNK comparisons across the boards, especially SS3 + 4 plus the Real Bouts (my favourite 2D Fighters ever). Thanks again for such an outstanding job on this comparison :thumbsup:

[@shane.t.188]

The saturn was a way better conversion than the ps1

[@NeoGeoNinja81]

@Guitarwizard999 Really? How? I'm not saying it isn't superior. But worlds is marginal as opposed to incremental...

[@StarForceBelmont321]

@@NeoGeoNinja81 word. Sony tried to make the port as good as possible. They cared. 96 on ps1 was abysmal though

[@NeoGeoNinja81]

@@StarForceBelmont321 Yup. My feelings exactly 👍

[@MahmoudEhab2023]

did you know in the ps1 version you can actually clear the game on the maximum difficulty when using the L and R buttons to spam specials?

[@KingJaeTV]

Best comparison

[@KingJaeTV]

Wait..This game had a NES version!? Didnt know...!

[@Pelluhue]

if I could, I would give you 100000000000 likes, finally i see sprites comparative bewteen psx vs neo geo, thanks, THANKS!!! T_T :D hopefully in the next videos at a kof 97, kof98 and kof 99, please!!! :D

[@Bloodreign1]

I have the Wii Orochi Saga, the PS1 version, the Gameboy version, and the phenomenal Japanese PS2 Orochi Hen, the latter is a fantastic way to have the game at home, no bugs, no load times choice of soundtracks. Not having 98 is no big deal to me, 94 Rebout and 98 UM cover those needs for me (I have every 2D KoF game released for the PS2, including Neowave).

[@Bloodreign1]

The Saturn port is a no go for me, I have a US Saturn and won't ruin my cart slot by cart swapping (if I ever buy 95 for Saturn, a Saturn emulator will just have to run it, as SSF has an option for a ROM cart for 95. I have 96 and 97 for the system, and they both are great ports, but load times, and voices higher pitched than normal kind of dampen things for me.

[@renatooliveira9184]

Great job guy! I think you like play with the Kim! kkk, congrats!

[@JucierMorrissey]

Please, make the same with KOF 98. I've heard that there are two versions released for Neo Geo CD. I could not confirm if it's true.

[@pam8352]

can you upload saturn iso with patched audio please?

[@superroboted]

Do you have any of the import collections for King of Fighters for PS2...they are much better than the USA version and they include arrnaged tracks

[@WWammyy]

Been playing the PS1 version lately and it seems to have slightly different physics compared to the other versions. When I have played the NEO GEO or Sega Saturn versions they play identically and pin point accurate. The PS1 version sometimes it feels a bit buggy as you may attack and a move goes through the opponent or you could swear you hit the person before they did their move but they still end up hitting you instead and that's not just the CPU cheating as usual it happens in verses mode too. Graphically there's not much between the different versions though

[@samuraispiritsx]

Japanese PS2 version runs at 480i looks way too blurry but nice that you can pick the soundtracks, I don't know why modern versions leave that out.

[@icekokoro2708]

Probably because it’s cheaper to emulate rather than go the extra mile and make an actual port with extra features.

[@ppgranja3]

Are you planning to do also KOF 96, 97, 98 and 99?

[@retroport9393]

Yes, and 94 too. So many games to cover... However I don't think it I'll cover them in order or sequentially, there'll be other games in between.

[@ppgranja3]

@@retroport9393 Sounds great!! Congrats again on your video comparisons. Nice work!

[@StarForceBelmont321]

Excuse me Retro Port but think I'm getting PS1 version for a few reasons 1 I can buy it 2 I want the entire experience besides arcade mode like the Orochi Saga on ps2 and Wii 3 they censor the red strobing when KO'd my sister is epileptic so I don't want to risk her having a seizure. 4 the PS1 port is considerably well made, animation drops are almost unnoticeable and the arrange soundtrack is Great

[@Theshark15z]

The NA Ps2 version has button lag. That is why the controls feel a little off. Metal Slug Anthology has that same problem.

[@neogeogangsta1135]

When the vid first starts up wich version of KOF 95 is that it looks cleaner than all the others.

[@retroport9393]

Neo Geo, but it looks cleaner probably due to filters.

[@GamerGee]

The ps2 version. The Japanese version is nice. I would love to modify the music to fit the extended music since it’s no load times

[@bboym80irskdtsholex15]

I hope one day you do one for street fighter 3 third strike.

[@retroport9393]

To be fair there's not much, if any, graphical differences between ports. Maybe only in balance/presentation. As this channel is mostly for comparison, it could be a bit boring. But I'm considering making a review video, as there's some requests for it. This is the same case for MvsC2 and CvS2.

[@ricardonunes838]

poderiam por favor fazer a comparação do 98 do ps1 com o arcade, não tem nenhum vídeo de ninguém fazendo essa comparação, nem do 99 !!!

[@alexhardline2208]

I prefer the original music on Kyo's stage, that guitar is on point.

[@anoldtexta8]

What I despise so much is that many of the modern ports leave out the arranged soundtracks.

[@Bloodreign1]

The Japanese versions never leave out the arranged soundtracks, their collections for SNK stuff always seems top notch.

[@RaizFutebolTube]

Is it true that this serires isn't that famous in the US? I see a lot of youtube channels claiming that, not sure if it's true

[@Bloodreign1]

KoF was overshadowed in the US by Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, but is huge in Japan, China, and Mexico (look at a lot of the comments in SNK fighter videos, lots of replies in Spanish, I've also read from a lot of people from Mexico saying how huge SNK fighters were there). Sad that Street Fighter was bigger here, I personally enjoy an SNK fighter over any Capcom one, and part of why I have gone out of my way to collect SNK fighters for Gameboy, SNES, Genesis, Saturn, PS1, and PS2 (and somewhat for the Wii, with Orochi Saga being the one I have, and a desire to have Sam Sho Anthology, though the latter I have on PS2).

[@zukoulou7464]

The King of Fighters '95 is also on PS2, Wii, PSP.

[@juanmartinstehle5047]

Those versions don't count as they are emulated versions.

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

this game was super ahead of its time, in fact, i compare it to street fighter 3rd strike

[@orlanzo2621]

Nicolas Silva Ehh...lol. That’s not really a fair comparison seeing how KOF 95’ is much older than Third Strike and not nearly at 3S’s level graphically or animation wise. I’ve always seen Garou as SNKs answer to Third Strike.

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

@@orlanzo2621 i said ahead of its time, and yes garou looks sick, but that's mostly because it uses pre rendered 3d fx, 3rd strike is pure old school sprites

[@orlanzo2621]

Nicolas Silva What pre rendered graphics? Garou is pure 2-D man. I just think it’s weird to compare specifically KOF ‘95 to Third Strike when KOF ‘96-KOF ‘99, Last Blade 1&2, and Garou actually look better the ‘95. But I’m not taking away from how good ‘95 looked at the time.

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

@@orlanzo2621 have you played garou or not? have you done a super in the game before? the whole screen black and the super has a 3d effect but is all pre rendered, you know what game beats the shit out of 3rd strike when it comes to graphics and is old? art of fighting 3

[@orlanzo2621]

Nicolas Silva Of course I’ve played Garou, it’s one of my favorite fighting games of all time. Yea some effects might be “pre rendered” but graphically as far as stages, characters, etc, Its pure 2-D. And yea I think AOF 3 looks AMAZING. I think they used rotoscoping for it if I remember right. I’ve always said that Capcom got the idea of what to do for SF3 as a whole from AOF3. The “new generation” of fighters, the high level graphic update, etc.

[@stevacusmaximus5539]

Wow

[@cristianramallo8042]

al parecer el megabyte de rom rinde mas que el cartucho de 1mb de ram usado en saturn, las posteriores versiones tienen mayores tiempos de carga

[@rafaelmartines]

=___= how tragedy not comparing the Arashi no Saxophone OST/AST :'(

[@yanaztec]

Name of the video filters? looks great!

[@retroport9393]

For scanlines at the beginning of the video, I'm using crt-hyllian-3d. For the last shot on game boy, I'm using handheld-lcdgrid-v2-gameboy-color.

[@ZoneyDuel]

I thought in kof 94 was a first Orochi Saga.

[@TheDimeDrawer]

Also Garou Mark of The Wolves as well.

[@retroport9393]

I may be wrong, but I think there's not much difference in Garou, at least in terms of animation. Maybe in gameplay, balance changes and presentation.

[@albatross1688]

Are you kidding about Omega Rugal? He's so much easier than just plain Rugal from the previous game unless you use the cheap kick exploit to win. He seems to want to go "to the sides of Gotham" considerably less this time around, which is probably his downfall. Saisyu is way more trouble, but he's still beatable on a first attempt.

[@milfilosofia4994]

Agora faz a comparação do 94, 98 e 99 entre as versões do Arcade e do Neo Geo CD mano

[@jefffisher598]

Awesome presentation, flawed due to use of emulation

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

I have this on PSX

[@juanmartinstehle5047]

The NEO GEO CD is like the arcade version. The only bad thing are the long loading times.

[@cocobos]

The 2d series should just keep on going forever and maintained the neogeo sprites! 95 was my favourite!

[@cocobos]

@Rough Divide yea, but the sprites are pixelart style. Should have retained it. The xii and xiii felt like different game, the xiv, I just don't like it at all because of their crap game engine and art style. Why wouldn't they just use UE like SFV, or tekken or anyone else

[@shellshock414]

Excellent work! I have been playing kof95 competitively for decades now and it shows you really did your research. I would like to add that the PlayStation port’s physics are slightly off and the timing for combos is different. Also, the Ps2 jp port has sound effects that are lower quality than the original (I recently sold my copy because of it). I haven’t been able to find the perfect port, so I’ll be buying an AES soon.

[@Bloodreign1]

The PS1 port is also considerably easier to beat than any other port. The Japanese PS2 versions look and play fine to me, want lower quality voice samples, look at the Last Blade collection, though that is incredibly enjoyable too. I'd never think of selling any of my SNK stuff for stuff that would cost me much more in the long run to buy and maintain. Only the Last Blade games have I ever truly noticed a drop off in voice quality on the Japanese PS2 collection. Want to also talk lower quality sound samples? Try KoF 96 on the Saturn, where punches have less off to them when they connect, sounding incredibly soft, even on real hardware. But I'd never think of selling my copy because of it. It took me too long to acquire what I have now (i.e. years).

[@shellshock414]

@@Bloodreign1 I'm glad you can enjoy them. It's just that I have played them so much that I'm only interested in buying them if they are perfect ports, or the originals.

[@user-pt3if4qo8o]

so neo.geo or Saturn is best? thx

[@kid0allegro]

Jeidern... Who are you?!

[@keypath4389]

Also I request kof 98 or 99 :)

[@alanschmitt9865]

Making Mai's boobs less stupidly ridiculous is at least far from the worst example of censorship in the world.

[@icekokoro2708]

I don’t think you should count those unlicensed ports. They’re horrible enough as it is.

[@rogeriocorrea2208]

a do neo geo é incomparável

[@NeoGeoNinja81]

You've also 'won' my subscription... which I have less than ten of! Thanks again.

[@clarkbogard]

Sega Saturn 😍

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

KOF is huge in Latin America.

[@eyupkalbisen3499]

Sega saturn good