The King of Fighters ’97

The King of Fighters ’97 is a classic arcade fighting game developed and published by SNK, released for Neo Geo arcade hardware in 1997. Serving as the grand finale of the iconic Orochi saga, this title is the most popular and widely-spread vintage fighting game in the KOF series, cherished by retro game fans around the world. The game concludes the complete Orochi storyline, focusing on the three sacred treasure holders Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami and Chizuru Kagura. They unite to defeat the Orochi forces and seal the ancient evil Orochi, delivering a complete and immersive epic fighting story. It adopts the classic 3v3 team battle system, allowing players to select three fighters freely, customize the battle order, and win matches through skillful combos, precise defense and reasonable meter management. Two exclusive combat systems are available in this game, including ADVANCED Mode and EXTRA Mode, with independent energy charging rules and evasion mechanics to suit different playstyles. It features a massive classic roster with fan-favorite characters such as Kyo, Iori, Mai Shiranui and more. It also includes powerful secret characters like Orochi, Orochi Iori and Orochi Leona, greatly enriching the battle diversity. Compared with previous entries, KOF 97 simplifies command inputs, delivers smooth combo experience and responsive hit feedback, with fast-paced offensive and defensive rhythms. It supports casual play while retaining high-level competitive techniques such as infinite combos and clutch comebacks. With multiple game modes including story mode, versus mode and survivor mode, it can be easily played via arcade emulators. To this day, The King of Fighters ’97 remains a mainstream classic in offline arcades and online retro fighting platforms.

These are the default keys. Every arcade board has a different number of buttons and means different things by them. The rows above are buttons 1–6 on the board: on Neo Geo boards (The King of Fighters and friends) A/B/C/D are buttons 1–4, Metal Slug uses only 1, 2 and 4 (shoot / jump / grenade), and Pac-Man uses none at all. Six-button fighters with three punches and three kicks (Street Fighter II and the like) get a different layout from the core: light punch U, medium punch I, heavy punch Q, light kick J, medium kick K, heavy kick E. Click the gamepad icon 🎮 in the player toolbar, then “Remap keys” to open the emulator’s own control settings (keyboard and gamepad, saved automatically). Gamepads are detected automatically. On phones you get on-screen buttons.