Game:

The King of Fighters '94 (1994)

Duration: 31:02

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2

A 1-credit clear of the arcade game King of Fighters '94 [kof94], played with WolfMAME 0.261, using Team Italy. Score: 198,400.

This is a hard game to 1cc: You need to learn how to play three different characters and fight 25 different opponents. I didn't come up with a degenerate strategy that worked for everyone. Here are some notes on making it a little easier:
- You do more damage when you have meter charged up. You charge meter by holding A+B+C together. (You can hold the joystick down while doing this, to ready a rising tackle). Hitting the opponent while they're charging meter is good if you can pull it off. Omega Rugal always charges to full, so if he is low on meter and starts charging, you have an opening. If your opponent has MAXIMUM meter, consider keeping away until it wears off.
- A great combo with Terry is: Jump in D, standing C, burn knuckle A. This will dizzy them, letting you do the combo again, which should nearly finish them off from full health. The speedrun WR uses this extensively. However, landing the combo is easier said than done! On many opponents I try this at the start of the round, or I get some distance, charge meter for a bit, then try it. Sometimes I hit them when they're charging meter, or recovering from some other move, or just decide not to block. Other times they block and it's time to either jump away and repeat or go to plan B.
- If you flip back and forth very fast between stand and crouch block, the CPU often gets confused and doesn't do anything, so you can timer-scam. This is a solid way to finish off Rugal, in particular.
- With Terry: If the opponent is all the way across the screen, power wave A, follow up with burn knuckle C. This will hit them (or trade damage) if they jump, and you should be able to safely jump away if they block. If they sidestep while you're punching in, spam A to damage them as their invincibility ends. This is *often* very effective (e.g. against Lucky) but some opponents don't ever seem to fall for it.
- Joe: Ducking block, punish blocked specials
- Terry, Goro, Mai: Jump back + hit D to (try to) kick them in the head
- Choi, Athena: Spam ducking A (block if Athena throws a fireball), rising tackle if they jump in
- Kim: Ducking block. Rising tackle if he comes in, ducking C to punish a ground special after blocking it.
- Heavy D: Jump in + early B, standing C, burn knuckle A
- Lucky, Yuri, Heidern: Provoke fireball (ducking A), jump in and attempt combo
- Clark: Start by jumping in and attempting the combo. Back away, standing, and C as he approaches or jumps in.
- Ralf: Start by jumping in and attempting the combo. Crouch block, C if he walks up, rising tackle if he jumps in.
- Sie: Play defensively. Punish his 3-part attack with a throw, or standing C then burn knuckle A.
- Chin: Ducking B to provoke his silly gourd-on-a-rope move then jump in with D to crouching C.
- Rugal phase 1: From slightly closer than starting distance, jump in + A, then throw after he blocks and you land. Repeat! Spacing is a little fiddly.
- Rugal phase 2: At round start, do burn knuckle C for a knockdown. From FAR AWAY, do burn knuckle A to provoke his genocide cutter, then immediately burn knuckle A again. Back away and repeat. If you lose Terry but Rugal is hurt, try to get distance then do fuzzy block to timer-scam your way to a win.