The King of Fighters '94 (officially abbreviated KOF '94) is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo-based arcade system in 1994, as the inaugural game in The King of Fighters series. The game was soon also released for the Neo Geo home console systems, including a Neo-Geo CD version. In 2008, KOF '94 was one of sixteen games included in SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii.
KOF '94 is a crossover featuring characters from SNK's previous fighting game properties Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. It also includes revised versions of characters from their pre-Neo Geo games Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier, as well as original characters created specifically for the game. The plot features the creation of a new King of Fighters tournament created by the criminal Rugal Bernstein.
SNK developed KOF '94 with the initial idea of using several games from the company in order to attract gamers who played these games. The characters' designs, as well as its innovative gameplay system based on using teams of three members, were both well received. The success of the game allowed SNK to produce a long collection of sequels in The King of Fighters series.
In 2004, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the series, SNK released a remake titled The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout. It features the original game and a new version with higher resolution graphics.
