The King of Fighters '97/FAQ

Technical

Tier List

Tier Lists from China

(Currently as of writing the Chinese tier lists are the most accurate, unbiased tier lists of KOF97).

General competitive rules:

• infinite combos, raw supers and character-floating glitches are not allowed.

Banned over-powerful characters:

• Orochi, O.Iori, O.Leona. Other hidden characters are usable.

Character Ranking by Yaotouling Cheshen in 2014, concluded from all available competitive matches by then and supervised by several top Chinese KOF97 players. Each line is sorted in descending order.

• Top: Iori, Chizuru, Chang
• High: Yamazaki, Daimon, Mary, Choi, O.Yashiro
• Good: Benimaru, Kensou, Kyo, Terry, O.Chris
• Middle: Joe, Leona, Athena, Yashiro, Kyo 94, Robert, Clark, Chris, Shermie, Ryo, King, Mai, Ralf, O.Shermie, Kim
• Low: Billy, Yuri, Chin, Andy, Shingo

Video of the ranking: http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XNzAwNzYyNDA4/v.swf

An earlier version made in 2010 can be found here: http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMjYwMDA0ODk2/v.swf

Notes:

• If the restrictions on infinite combos and raw supers are lifted, Terry and Yamazaki will be top-tiered. Characters like Benimaru and Mary will be slightly stronger, while characters like Chang and Daimon will be relatively weaker. Reference match: http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XOTE4NTMzMjcy/v.swf
• If no rule is applied, two characters will dominate the game - Orochi and O.Iori. Other characters have negligible influence on the match result. Game will be like this: http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMTQ4NzA4NjE2NA==/v.swf
• Extra mode is considered inferior to the Advanced mode in KOF97. Thus, tier lists are based on the latter mode only.

Outdated Tier Lists Below

This is one with Boss Characters

• SS: O. Iori, O. Leona, Orochi
• S: Iori, Benimaru, Terry, O. Chris, Kyo, Daimon, Mary
• A: Robert, Yamazaki, Joe, Ralf, Clark, O. Yashiro, O. Shermie
• B: Mai, Ryo, Chang, Choi, Athena, Kensou, Leona, Kyo 94
• C: Yuri, Shingo, Chizuru, Kim, Chin, Yashiro, Chris, Andy
• D: Shermie, Billy, King

Without Boss Characters

• SS: Iori e Terry
• S: Japan team, Mary, O.Chris, Chizuru
• A: Joe, Ryo, Robert, Chang, Clark, Athena, Kensou, Mai, O.Yashiro, Yamazaki, Leona, Kim, Kyo 94
• B: Yuri, Ralf, King, O.Shermie, Chris, Billy, Choi, Chin, Yashiro, Shermie
• C: Shingo e Andy

In conclusion (Combining both tier list):

• Orochi Iori and Leona are Tourney Banned due that they are only speedish versions of the normal ones.
• Japan Team(Kyo,Benimaru and Daimon) is the best team in the game.
• Terry Bogard is semi-god due to their Power Charge crouching A glitch infinite,and Yamazaki have one with the dp+B move but isn't useful as Terry one.
• Orochi Chris is the only decent EX version of the boss team of the game.
• Blue Mary and Chizuru are the femme fatales of the game.
• The rest can be mid-tier everyone else except of Normal Shermie and Andy that can be the Low Tier ones
• Shingo is the joke character by excellence.

My (HanzoHimemiya) Personal tier list can be like this:

• Banned: Orochi Iori,Orochi Leona and Orochi
• Top: Iori and Terry
• High: Japan Team,Blue Mary,Chizuru,Orochi Chris,Yamazaki
• Mid: Everyone Else with 94 Kyo
• Low: Andy and Normal Shermie
• Joke: Shingo

--HanzoHimemiya (talk) 20:52, 29 November 2015 (MSK)

Game Versions

• Arcade (Neo Geo)
• Sega Saturn
• Sony Playstation
• Sony Playstation 2 as part of the Japanese Orochi Collection
• Nintendo Wii American Orochi Collection
• Android
• Android HD Remix

Shortcuts and buffers

dp = f d f = hcb f = f qcf

rdp = b d b = hcf b = b qcb

hcf = b d f = db, f = qcb f

hcb = f d b = df, b = qcf b

qcb hcf = d, db, f = qcb b d f = qcb x 2 f = qcb db f

qcf hcb = d, df, b = qcf f d b = qcf x 2 b = qcf df b

qcb db f = d b f = qcb f

C, qcf x 2 + C = qcf + C, qcf + C

C, hcb x 2 + C = hcb + C, hcb + C

C, qcb hcf + C = qcb + C, hcf + C

f = forward

b = back

d = down

dp = dragon punch (f, d, df)

rdp = reverse dragon punch (b, d, db)

qcb = quarter circle back (d, db, b)

qcf = quarter circle forward (d, df, f)

hcb = half circle back (f, df, d, db, b)

hcf = half circle forward (b, db, down, df, f)

Miscellaneous

Are there any ROM hacks for KOF97?

Being one of the most played KOFs in the series, especially within China, on top of being the climax of the Orochi Saga, there are tons of different and unique ROM hacks that have been made for 97 over the years, as well as some pretty unnoteworthy ones. Many of them will add characters, make some balance changes, speed up the performance so as to prevent lagging, hide order select, among many other things that the below list of ROM hacks can only do so much to explain.

WIP

Community Links

• GM Arcade : An other alternative to Fightcade and RedGGPO with better emulation than Fightcade and RedGGPO. This online platform is useful for players who don't live in Asia
• GM Arcade's mail : [email protected] . Useful if want GM Arcade to add video games, remove bugs, fix connections problems etc
• YzKof : The chinese version of GM Arcade. This online platform is especially useful for players who live in Asia
• RedGGPO : A newer alternative to Fightcade with better emulation than Fightcade
• Discord RedGGPO : Official RedGGPO discord for matchmaking and platform discussion
• FightCade : An online plateform for arcade gaming, where people gather to play online and chat about the game