Introduction

Notation

Joystick Notation

                    .- up (u)
                    |
  up-back (u/b) - 7 8 9 - up-forward (u/f)

       back (b) - 4 5 6 - forward (f)

down-back (d/b) - 1 2 3 - down-forward (d/f)
                    |
                    `- down (d)

Note: These numbers can be easily referenced by looking at your keyboard numpad. Think of it as a joystick/controller that is facing to the right. "5" is used to signify "neutral".

Motion Abbreviations

qcf - 236 - Quarter circle forward/Hadouken/Fireball motion - In one smooth motion move to down -> down-forward -> forward.

qcf - 214 - Quarter circle backward - In one smooth motion move to down -> down-back -> back.

hcf - 41236 - Half circle forward - In one smooth motion move to back -> down-back -> down -> down-forward -> forward.

hcb - 63214 - Half circle backward - In one smooth motion move to forward -> down-forward -> down -> down-back -> back.

dp - 623 - Dragon Punch motion - In one smooth motion move to forward -> down -> down-forward.

rdp - 421 - Reverse Dragon Punch motion - In one smooth motion move to back -> down -> down-back.

Charge - Hold the given direction (usually back/down) for around 1 second, before moving to the next command (usually forward or up a button).

tk - 2369 - Tiger Knee Motion - qcf, then move to up-forward.

Attack Notation

A - LP - Light Punch

B - LK - Light Kick

C - HP - Hard Punch

D - HK - Hard Kick

CD - Blow back attack, press C and D simultaneously.

P - Any punch

K - Any kick

Other common abbreviations

j. - Jump/jumping - Press up-back, up, or up-forward.

sj. - Super-jump - Tap down, down-back, or down-forward, then quickly press up-back or up-forward.

sh. - Short hop - Lightly tap up-back, up, or up-forward.

hh. - Hyper hop - Tap down, down-back, or down-forward, then quickly and lightly tap up-back or up-forward.

cl. - Close, as in a close normal attack.

cr. - Crouching, as in a crouching normal attack.

st. - Standing, as in a far standing normal attack.

Gameplay Overview

Advanced Mode

Block - Hold back - While blocking, you take no damage from normals and a single pixel-per-hit when blocking special/desperation moves. You can also block in the air while jumping up or back. Ground normals cannot be air guarded.

Backdash - Tap back twice quickly. During a backdash, you can perform air command normals and air special moves. Using a command normal will cause the trajectory of the backdash to change.

Run - Tap forward twice quickly. Hold the second tap to keep running. In KOF98, when you simply tap f,f to run, you will run a certain distance before you stop. This can be canceled by jumping, crouching, or attacking, but not by blocking. You can use this period to buffer moves such as command throws. For example with Ralf or Clark, you can tap f,f, then do the hcf motion for their command grab while you are moving forward, without having to keep holding forward over that first couple character spaces.

Also, there is a small recovery when you release f to stop a run. When running in to attack, keep holding forward if you're going to do a standing attack, or move to d/f for a crouching attack. This makes attacking from a run seamless. You can also hold d/f to keep charge a charge-down special move while running.

Roll forward - Press A and B simultaneously. Rolls are invulnerable from the very start, and vulnerable at the end. You can be thrown out of rolls as well. Since they are invincible at startup, you can use rolls as a wakeup 'reversal'. But unlike in later KOF games, you cannot mash the input. In KOF98, if you are not fully recovered from something and try to input A B, you will get a standing A attack. Using that as a reversal will get out hit on counter, so be accurate with your roll timing.

Roll backward - Press back and A and B simultaneously.

Recovery roll (tech roll) - Press A and B simultaneously as you are touching the ground from getting knocked down. Some moves/knockdowns are not rollable. You can mix this up with staying on the ground to mess with your opponents setups on wakeup.

Throw break - Press back/forward any button immediately after you are thrown. Some normal throws are not breakable, and instead you can mash all the buttons and directions to lessen the damage and get out faster.

Guard Cancel Roll (emergency roll) - Press A and B simultaneously or while guarding a move (hold back to roll backwards). This uses one power stock.

Guard Cancel Strike (CD counter) - Press C and D simultaneously while guarding a move. This uses one power stock.

MAX mode activation - Press A, B, and C simultaneously. This will use one power stock and give you a meter that shows you how much time you have left in MAX mode. While in MAX mode you get a large damage bonus (25% increase), more pushback on hit for all attacks, and any Desperation Moves (supers) performed during this time will become Super Desperation Moves, and will take one power stock in addition to the one you used to go into MAX mode. These SDMs are enhanced versions of the normal supers and will do more damage/hits, etc.

Quick SDM -

Extra Mode

Block

Backdash

Dash - 6,6 (quick hop)

Evade - AB

Counter Attack - During Evade, P / K

Recovery Roll

Throw Escape - You cannot escape any throws in EX mode.

Guard Cancel Evade - Block, AB

Guard Cancel Strike - Block, CD

Charge Power Gauge - ABC (until Power Gauge is at maximum capacity).

Quick MAX -

Power Gauge

Ultimate Mode

Advantage System

When a character is defeated, the winning character regains a small amount of health. In addition, losing a team member gives the losing player an advantage.

In Advanced mode, you can have an extra stock slot after each fighter is lost. The first fighter has a maximum of 3, the second fighter has a maximum of 4, and the last fighter has a maximum of 5.

In Extra mode, your bar doesn't shorten like in old KOF '98, but your life goes into flashing red earlier for each defeated character. It's around 25% for 1st, 30% for 2nd, and 35% for 3rd. - (Dandy J)

Mechanics/Notes

Some additional things you should know about KOF98.

Reversals - Reversals in KOF98 work mostly the same as in other games. There isn't a reversal message, but the window is very large (about 5 frames). The main difference between this game and others is that most 'invincible' moves aren't completely invincible. A lot of the time they are only invincible up to the hit, in which case they will trade with meaties. You will have to refer to the character-specific sections concerning which moves do what. Universally speaking, rolls, instant command throws, and super instant command throws can be used as reversals.

Alternate guard - This is a technique to avoid being thrown while blocking. First, you must block an attack or be put in blockstun by an attack (ie by it being whiffed close to you). Then you must alternate between back and down-back very quickly. This will keep you in perpetual blockstun and unable to be thrown by any throws, including proximity unblockables. To beat alternate guard, you must be able to hit the opponent by using fast lows/overhead mixups etc. to break their defense. Tactics like repeated/delayed cr.Bs can be hard to alternate guard without thinking.

Another side effect of KOF98's blocking system that you need to be aware of is whiffing jumping attacks into a throw. When you are performing an empty jump, then landing and throwing, you should not perform any attack during the jump. If you do, it will put the opponent into blockstun and your throw will whiff. It is possible for this to work though, if your opponent tries to attack or roll after they are put into blockstun but before the throw, or if they do not attempt to block at all.

Proximity unblockables - This is a special type of throw that is exclusive to KOF. Some examples of proximity unblockables are Robert's hcf+K throw, Kensou's dp+P throw or qcf,qcf+P super, or O.Chris's hcf+K throw. Unlike command throws, they can only be performed when close to an opponent who is in a throw-able state (ie in hitstun or not in blockstun). Because of this, it is usually impossible to whiff a proximity unblockable, making them safer in some situations than command throws. You will simply get a normal move if the opponent is not in a throw-able state, or a different command normal/special if you tried to combo into one. On the other hand, they do have startup, and it is possible to trade hits instead of simply throwing. It is also possible to whiff a proximity unblockable if you combo into one in such a way that it pushes the opponent out of range after the proximity unblockable has started. As for rolls, in most cases they will be stopped by a proximity unblockable as if you were a wall.

Counter-hits - Whenever you interrupt a jumping attack, special move, or super move, you score a counter-hit. This causes a screen flash and a "counter-hit" message to appear. The hit gets a 25% (usually) damage bonus, pushes back further (ala MAX mode hits), and allows you to juggle with another hit if the attack knocks down. For example, if you score a jump CD counter-hit, you can hit the opponent while they are in the air. Other examples are Chang's Ball Swing or A Belly Flop hitting twice on counter.

Corner cross-ups - You might have seen in a video or something, someone crossing up another player in the corner after a knockdown. This true corner cross-up ability is only available on the 2P side (ie only available to the player who's life/super bars are on the 2P side).

Although this may seem like an unfair advantage, the 1P side also has it's own corner cross-up ability. Whenever the opponent is knocked down in a back turned state (ie face up, head toward or face down, feet toward), you can perform a pseudo cross-up. Simply jump toward (superjump preferred) their head and time/position a move that has some cross-up ability the same way you would normally perform a cross-up. This must be blocked in the direction away from the corner. In some ways this is more difficult to block than the 2P side bug, because you remain on the same side no matter which direction the move has to be blocked.

The Characters

Japan Team

Fatal Fury Team

Art of Fighting/Kyokugenryu Team

Ikari Warriors Team

Psycho Soldier Team

Women's Team

Korea Team

Orochi Team

'97 Special Team

Yagami Team

'98 "Father" Team

US Sports Team

Boss Team

Orochi Unleashed Team (Secret Team)

Edit Characters

EX Characters