Ranking The King Of Fighters Intros From Worst To Best

The King of Fighters series is renowned for its legendary gameplay, memorable characters, and rich legacy in the fighting game genre. But a big part of what makes KOF so special is its intros—stylish, action-packed sequences that set the tone and hype for each installment. Today, I’ll be ranking all the mainline KOF intros, with no spin-offs included.

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Timestamps:
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0:00 : Intro
1:01 : . 17
1:51 : . 16
2:37 : . 15
3:30 : . 14
4:09 : . 13
4:53 : . 12
5:47 : . 11
6:47 : . 10
7:44 : . 9
8:35 : . 8
9:22 : . 7
10:20 : . 6
11:21 : . 5
12:12 : . 4
13:06 : . 3
14:12 : . 2
15:11 : . 1
16:24 : Like & Subscribe

Music:
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"Who Likes To Party" by Kevin MacLeod

"Aurea Carmina" by Kevin MacLeod

[dijonae]

"It all began in '94" 🔥🗣

[titoleon]

2000 is totally the best one for me. Short but direct, hype and powerful.

[ethankanig]

The intro to KOF 94 is special to me because it was used in Terry Bogard's Smash trailer. Terry's presence in Smash is what what got interested in learning about SNK and becoming an SNK fan. The fact that 1994 is my birth year is an extra bonus.

[RyomenAyeni]

Ngl 94’s is my absolute favourite, the buildup, Kyo catching the envelope, Terry’s “ok!”, Ryo’s “Ora Ora!”
The teams getting shown, Kyo’s full appearance being revealed
PEAK 🔥

[farhanfmx]

I love listening to the KOF soundtrack from time to time, the intro music almost always was a banger

[meganinten]

Say whatever you want about KOF 2001, but the intro is awesome!

The theme is actually a remix of the opening theme from the original Fatal Fury (1991)

I like the scene where K' is seen wearing his new special red glove, the hero rising from the ashes
Meanwhile, NESTS' latest bioweapon awakens (K9999), raising his hand showing his own special blue glove
It's kind of a parallel between the hero and the antagonist

Also there's that amazing scene where you see Kula, K' and K9999
Probably the reason why some fans see them as the 'Sacred Treasures' of the NESTS Saga

And finally the logo, the logo of KOF 2001 is the best one of the NESTS Saga games
If you look closely, you'll see that the colors of the logo are a reference to K9999
It is clear Eolith wanted K9999 to be the face of the game (and they succeeded!)

Good work KOF 2001/Eolith 👍

I'll never forget the first time i saw the 2000 intro it was by far the best, kof 2000 was so much trying to push things forward while saying it's goodbye to the fans.
it's the last glims we have about "what could have been" with these games but, we have to do with what we have

[memedelacreme]

Something I don't like about the XI, XIV, 2002 and 2002 UM intros is that they keep emphasizing the Kyo-Iori rivalry instead of highlighing the protagonists of the saga in question. K' and Kula should have been the highlights of the 2002 intro, while Ash & Elisabeth of the XI one respectively.
I love the 2001 one. It looks very dark and climactic.

Great vid, Shoryu! Keep them coming! Always looking forward to watching your content!

[Shozuki]

I absolutely love the intro to KoF 99 Dream Match on Dreamcast - that's probably cheating a bit, but it was so great to see an anime fully animated intro...

[vividleo]

Happy holidays to you and your family Shoryugame!

[NuBlanco]

Yes! Yes! Yes! We needed a video like this! My favourite intro was KOF2000! Im happy you gave it the no.2 spot.
Overall really good ranking.

[vichyssoise]

The more I thought about the choices for #2 and #1, it makes a lot of sense. At first, I thought some of them were ranked a little low, but it was your explanation for your second pic that more me appreciate it. It is EXCELLENTLY done as an intro. It says so much in the time it's given.

I was thinking I bet it's 98, and even though I absolutely LOVE that intro (the music adds to it), I thought you were going to pick the intro that was the fully animated one for 98 (Kyo and Iori facing off in the alley). But sometimes, an intro doesn't need to be super animated to get its point across. Like how you ranked everything!

My favorites are 98, 97, 96 especially, 94 for nostalgia (they went all out for Rebout, but 94 is great to look back on), and 2003 (it felt like it was calling back to the Orochi Saga after the NESTS saga ended).

[Sophia-srsw]

1 - KOF 98
2 - KOF 97
3 - KOF 2003
4 - KOF XV
5 - KOF 96
6 - KOF 2000
7 - KOF XI
8 - KOF 95
9 - KOF XIII
10 - KOF 2001
11 - KOF XIV
12 - KOF 99
13 - KOF 94
14 - KOF 2002
15 - KOF XII

My List

[nathanbalazonbautista]

The UM intros remains godlike perfection.

[bananabike]

Pretty accurate list, I totally forgot XV had a fully animated intro cinematic!
Although I like the pacing of the original 98 opening more, the remixed song of 98 UM is catchy as heck

[АлександрА-рым]

To me, nothing beats the 96 intro. Still my favorite.

[PaperPrincessChannel]

Personally, I would have put 11 and '01 higher. I enjoy their use of symbols to showcase the characters, rather than focusing on the characters as a whole. I especially enjoy '01 as my favorite. The use of the iconic gloves on the clone characters highlights the heart of the conflict in a way that just tickles me.

[gasury]

now we need a top video about every KOF ending

[InitialDL]

KOF '98 (both original and UM), 95', and Dreammatch '99 on Dreamcast are probably my most favorites!

*After watching the rest of the video*: Add 2000 and '97 in there too!

[ragenstorm]

Ha! I was gonna say, i don' t remember seeing the KOF XV intro. Glad you explained that I have to load it up, which is really a odd decision. Great list Shoryu!