As you may have noticed, Disposable Media likes versus fighters, although I haven’t really played a whole lot of KoF. Blame it on growing up with 16-bit games and not getting a whole lot of opportunities to visit arcades and see what the new coin-ops were. Happily, various re-releases and compilations (not to mention sequels on more recent consoles) have made it easy for anyone to at least take a look at the King of Fighters universe, even if it’s slightly more demanding than other, more accessible fighters. And even if I’m no good in a match I still love that universe – the characters, the backstory, the locations, the atmosphere. I even have that 2011 movie with Maggie Q thanks to fellow gaming acquaintances who recognise my admiration for versus fighters. And now, The King of Fighters Destiny has arrived, bringing the characters and world back to a new audience who may have overlooked the games.
The King of Fighters Destiny – a new animation
The King of Fighters Destiny is a new animated series by SNK that follows the adventures of Terry, Kyo and the others over several episodes. If you visit the SNK Playmore YouTube channel then you will find trailers for the series as well as some of the first episodes. (We’ve since discovered that you can find it on Steam as well.) At the time of writing there are two episodes of the King of Fighters Destiny series in the dedicated YouTube playlist, and each one is around twenty minutes long. They feature 3D CG characters, Japanese voices and English subtitles, and largely begin by establishing the characters and the arc of people making their way into the King of Fighters tournament. The second episode establish’s Terry’s backstory with flashbacks to the death of Terry and Andy’s father, then cuts back to the present, with introductions of Billy Kane, Benimaru and more.
The King of Fighters Destiny – a promising start?
Whilst I’m not the best person to talk about the lore of the KoF universe, I still love the characters of the games, and upon seeing the introductions of these characters in KoF Destiny… well, I thought they were goofy but still quite endearing. Anyway, I’ll definitely keep watching if SNK Playmore continue to publish more episodes on their channel, and I’ll be keen to find out what other fans of the series think. Of course, if you’ve watched the King of Fighters Destiny episodes and have some thoughts that you’d like to share, leave a comment below.
You can watch episodes of The King of Fighters Destiny on the SNK Playmore YouTube channel or on Steam