The King of Fighters '97

The King of Fighters '97
Arcade flyer featuring (from left to right): Iori Yagami, Billy Kane, Kyo Kusanagi, Shingo Yabuki, Blue Mary, and Chris.
Developer(s)	SNK Yumekobo (Saturn) Ukiyotei (PS1) Code Mystics (Global Match)
Publisher(s)	SNK SNK Playmore (Global Match)
Director(s)	Toyohisa Tanabe
Producer(s)	Takashi Nishiyama
Designer(s)	Akiko Yukawa Aska Tahara Chikara Yamasaki
Programmer(s)	S. Fujinuki Souta Ichino
Artist(s)	Toshiaki Mori
Composer(s)	Akihiro Uchida Hideki Asanaka Toshio Shimizu
Series	The King of Fighters
Platform(s)	Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Release	July 28, 1997 Arcade WW: 28 July 1997 Neo Geo AES WW: 25 September 1997 Neo Geo CD WW: 30 October 1997 Saturn JP: 26 March 1998 PlayStation Original release JP: 28 May 1998 Re-release JP: 24 June 1999
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system	Neo Geo MVS

The King of Fighters '97^[a] (KOF '97), which is the fourth game in The King of Fighters (KOF) series, is a fighting video game that was produced in 1997 by SNK for its Neo Geo multi-video system (MVS) arcade platform and its AES home console. The game was ported to the Neo Geo CD console and released worldwide; it was also ported to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles and released in Japan. KOF '97 is the last game in the "Orochi Saga" storyline, which begins in The King of Fighters '95. The new tournament focuses on the servants of the demon Yamata no Orochi, also known as the "Will of Gaia", who plan to revive their master by gathering energy and sacrifices from the fighters in the KOF tournament. SNK created multiple playable characters and enhanced versions of five characters who serve as both hidden and boss characters.

KOF '97 was the first game in the series to be directed by its battle system's designer Toyohisa Tanabe. He replaced Masanori Kuwasashi, who stopped working on the series after The King of Fighters '96. Creation of the game's characters was difficult due to the need to create bosses, most notably Iori Yagami's berserker form, andthe final boss Orochi, to properly tell the game's story in an appealing fashion. Among its several ports, SNK developed a version of KOF '97 subtitled Global Match that has online features.

Upon its release, game designers praised KOF '97 for the handling of its narrative, though critics wondered if the controls and balance were better than those of previous installments. Each port of the game sold fairly well, and it was followed by The King of Fighters '98, which includes most of the Orochi arc cast, who fight in a non-canonical tournament. In 1999, SNK released The King of Fighters '99, which has a new story arc and cast. Yumekobo also created a visual novel with role-playing game elements titled The King of Fighters: Kyo, which retells the events of The King of Fighters '97 but primarily focuses on Kyo's life. A spin-off light novel titled The King of Fantasy was written in 2019.
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