The Orochi Saga's last chapter: three-on-three Neo Geo fighting with a roster of 35, finally off the arcade cabinet.
$5.99
PlayBound does not sell this game. Once you own it, install the PlayBound edition from the header or the Install tab.
That One Thing
You don’t pick a fighter, you draft a team of three, and the order you send them in decides the match as much as your hands do
The King of Fighters '97 is the end of SNK's Orochi Saga, the four-year story that began with '94, and Global Match is Code Mystics' 2018 port of it for modern PCs. It is a 2D fighter built on three-on-three elimination: you pick a team of three, fight them one after another, and only lose when the last of them falls. The format is the series' signature, and it changes how a match feels. You are not just beating one opponent; you are managing a roster, deciding who spends health early and who has to survive to the end.
The roster is large. The game lists 35 playable characters, and six secret characters from the original Neo Geo version are available from the start instead of being locked behind codes. That includes the main Orochi-era cast as well as returning favourites. Two play modes, Advanced and Extra, alter how the power gauge fills and what it lets you do, so a team can be built around very different rhythms. Beyond the core modes, the port adds a gallery and menu music options, the sort of small extras that arrived with the Global Match releases.
The controls follow the Neo Geo's four-button layout, with light and heavy punches and kicks, dashes and rolls for movement, and cancelling moves into specials for combos. GOG lists full controller support, and the game supports local two-player versus on one screen. On Steam it also advertises online matchmaking and Remote Play Together; the GOG page lists multiplayer and local multiplayer but does not describe online play, so treat online as a Steam feature unless you verify otherwise.
The cost is on the modest side. Steam lists $9.99 and GOG $5.99, with a download around 282 MB. The developer publishes a tiny minimum requirement, a dual-core Pentium 4 class CPU, a GPU with 256 MB of video memory, DirectX 9.0 and 200 MB of storage; no recommended tier is given and RAM is not listed. It is Windows only. User reviews on Steam are Very Positive overall at around 80 percent.
For PlayBound, '97 is a good first fighting game: a historic entry from one of the genre's most important series, small and cheap, and best played against someone sitting next to you. We cannot host it online ourselves, because it uses its own matchmaking, but the launcher can find your install, wire the controller, and use the screen-sharing couch party to bring a faraway friend onto the second pad.
We picked The King of Fighters '97 Global Match because arcade fighters from the Neo Geo era are some of the easiest games in history to lose to disappearing hardware, and this is a clean, inexpensive, DRM-free way to keep one of the best of them playable. It is not free, and we say that plainly. But it is a small download, a tiny hardware ask and a landmark entry in a series that shaped fighting game culture — more than a nostalgic curiosity, it is still a sharp game to play with a friend.
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Minimum
Windows Vista or later (the GOG page lists Windows 10) · Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz dual-core · onboard graphics with 256 MB of video memory · DirectX 9.0 · DirectSound audio card · 200 MB free disk space. RAM is not published. Windows only.
Recommended
Not published by SNK or Code Mystics on either GOG or Steam.
No. It is a paid game: $5.99 on GOG and $9.99 on Steam at the time we checked. The GOG version is DRM-free.
Around 282 MB according to a Deku Deals listing for the PC/PS4 versions; we could not confirm a GOG installer figure. The publisher's stated minimum is 200 MB of free space, so leave at least 300 MB.
Windows Vista or later, a dual-core Pentium 4 1.8 GHz, onboard graphics with 256 MB of video memory, DirectX 9.0 and DirectSound. RAM and a recommended tier are not published.
The Steam page lists online PvP and Remote Play Together. The GOG page does not describe online play, and PlayBound does not host it, so online matches use Steam's own matchmaking.
Yes, the GOG page lists controller support. Fighting games are best played on a pad or stick, and PlayBound can apply a controller profile once you locate the install.
They change how the power gauge works and so how a team plays. Pick one before the match; try both in practice.
No. It is Windows only. Steam Deck is rated Playable.
Yes. The King of Fighters '97 Global Match supports up to 2 players. Its multiplayer runs through the game's own online service or menus, so PlayBound Connect parties and PlayBound dedicated servers are not available for it. It also supports local split-screen or couch co-op. There is no subscription and no paid multiplayer tier.
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