Lost In Translation/King of Fighters '99, The - Millennium Battle

About The Game
The King of Fighters '99, The - Millennium Battle is a one-on-one fighting arcade video game.

Introducing the new 'striker' system! Each team is expanded to four characters, with a total of 30 selectable characters set on defeating Krizalid and his evil feather coat.

Additional Technical Information
Players : 2

Control : 8-way joystick

Buttons : 4

=> [A] Weak punch, [B] Weak kick, [C] Strong punch, [D] Strong kick

Trivia
The Fatal Fury Team music theme is a remixed version of Terry's theme in "Fatal Fury Wild Ambition".

About K' (K Dash) : K' initially sported a slicked back hairstyle, but this was nixed by the powers that be and that's how the 'hairdo' for the hero of the NESTS Chronicles got changed. The reason for his hair being bushier than need be may be a reflection of the conditions around him. "Garou - Mark of the Wolves" was being developed concomitantly with KOF '99, so the staff learned that MOW's main character (Rock) looked like K' (causing the supervising designer to lose a few pounds from panic).

Maxima
With the growing influence of teenagers, it seems the concept for Maxima evolved from a desire to introduce a sober and reliable middle-age character (sad state of affairs though when a twenty-something male is referred to as 'middle-aged'). The designers were initially supposed to design a character that used body slams, but the finished character became a fist-fighter. Strange how things happen, isn't it? Maxima was originally modified by the male scientist Dr. Makishima, but in a serialized KOF comic that came out in Hong Kong, he, for some reason, became a 'beautiful woman doctor'. This comic is hard to get your hands on in other parts of the world, but check it out if you have the opportunity.

Whip
The plan was to introduce this character in KOF '96, but since Leona was already a part of the Ikari Team she began her series of appearances in KOF '99. Since Leona exposes comparatively more skin, Whip sports less revealing but body-hugging fashions that leave a little more to the imagination. The number of dots used on Whip's whip were reduced to express a feeling of speed and power - a daring method of expression. The supervising designer was sweating bullets over this when the design was checked (he feared he'd be accused of slacking off), but in the end the concept was approved without incident. The designers hoped that she would be accepted as an independent, whip-brandishing character rather than just another member of the Ikari Team.

Pao
Due to circumstances regarding the game structure, a new character had to be added to the Psycho Soldier Team, and various ideas for this additional character were formulated. Some of these included: 'a younger idol from Athena's agency'; 'a love rival pitted against Kensou', 'a mighty male character with a scary appearance but a heart of gold and a love of nature', 'an old woman who looks after Chin Gentsai', and many others. With the appearance of Pao, the average age of the Psycho Soldier Team dropped dramatically...or was supposed to, but things didn't actually change that much (it dropped from 42 to 34 years old).

Li Xiangfei
When development began for KOF '99, the designers grappled over which character from Real Bout 2 to choose, Rick Stroud or Li Xiang Fei. Giving the reasons that a cute female character and a Chinese boxer was desired, they unanimously selected Li Xiang Fei. Needless to say, the designers who came to this decision were all men. Typical! With the actual execution of this, however, the designers struggled to bring the character into the KOF world without ruining her image created in the Fatal Fury series. As you all know Li's move names in the Japanese version are all derived from place names in Osaka, so the designers enjoyed the work of coming up with names following this rule when new moves were added. Moves like Eiki Shuho (Vanguard Blast, in English) and Daikoku-cho (Big and Ugly Ultimatum) give her twice the appeal for local fans...

Jhun Hoon
The savior of Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge, an evil fighter who's Kim's alter-ego, a fellow disciple who looks like Kim - these were some of the concepts for Jhun, but as you can gather from the current character he's way different from what was planned. And since he's not an evil character, this naturally meant Chang and Choi would not be saved from their predicament; so, sadly, they continue to walk the slow and steady path to redemption that they've been walking these long 10 years. Jhun is also the first character in KOF history to adopt the concept of the 'pose'. Coming up and creating this kind of move really put the designers to the test.

Kyo Kusanagi-1
Actually Kyo Kusanagi-1 and Kyo Kusanagi-2 were not scheduled to appear in KOF '99 at the time. Nor were Kyo or Iori Yagami supposed to either. Designers initially decided to leave them out because of the new storyline and wanted to focus more attention on the new character of K'. But for various reasons, designers came to the conclusion that designer couldn't leave these popular characters in limbo, so they got a reprieve (and a new wardrobe, too). Designers also felt the old Kyo dressed in his school uniform was necessary and hurried to include him in the game (See Kyo Kusanagi-2 for more details).

Kyo Kusanagi-2
Production was reaching its climax when the idea for including various Kyos was hit upon... While the staff kvetched - "Should the design for Kyo in a student's uniform come from KOF '94 or KOF '95?"; "We don't have time to think this over!" - the project head said : "Make two designs". The staff objected timidly : "Are you nuts? We don't have time for that!". So the project planner remarked, "OK, then. I'll design them". Having hung up his character-designing clothes years ago, the head planner whipped up designs Kyo Kusanagi-1 and Kyo Kusanagi-2 in no time. Naturally, designers were blown away by his mastery and speed rivaling that of a street-performing sketch artist.

Leona, Ralph and Clark are playable characters in the Foma 90x Series Mobile Phones game 'Metal Slug Survivors'.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (The King of Fighters '99 - PCCB-00387) on 18/08/1999.

Play as 'Real' Kyo Kusanagi or Iori Yagami
(you need to get 'K.I' on the logo screen to be able to use Kyo or Iori).
 * 1) To get 'K', you must use a team of 4 random characters consisting at least of three of these characters : K, Maxima, Benimaru, Shingo, Whip, Kyo-1 or Kyo-2.
 * 2) To get 'I', you must use a team of 4 random characters consisting at least of three of these characters : Leona, Athena, Bao, Xiangfei, Kasumi, Kim or Jhun.
 * 3) Then you must defeat Kryzalid and a screen will show you how to do the code.
 * 4) For 'Real' Kyo Kusanagi, highlight the roulette selection box. Then, hold Start and press Left, Right, Up, Left, Down, Right. Kyo's picture will replace the sun symbol to confirm correct code entry.
 * 5) For Iori Yagami, highlight the roulette selection box. Then, hold Start and press Right, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left. Iori's picture will appear replace the cresent moon symbol to confirm correct code entry.

Fight Kyo Kusanagi or Iori Yagami
To fight Kyo Kusanagi or Iori Yagami you must : Choose one of the 7 full teams to battle with the computer. After clearing the 5th stage take note of your Battle Ability. Defeat Kryzalid. After finishing the Boss Stage, if the Battle Ability after the 5th stage is between 200 and 280 points Iori will appear. Otherwise if the Battle Ability is above 280 points Kyo will appear.

Display Character Order
Hold Start when selecting your character's fighting order.

Select Victory Pose
Press a Punch or Kick button immediately after winning a match.

(BUG) The Power of The 'Ko'ou Ken'
When using Takuma, activate the Counter Mode, then go to the opposite edge of the screen. Now, send a Weak (slow) Ko'ou Ken at the opponent and complete the movement for the special. The special will hit first and then the Ko'ou Ken hits the opponent in the middle of the attack. The opponent gets frozen even when it should be dizzy for the finish of the special.

Special Endings
Finish the game using one of these combinations to see the special endings :
 * 1) Kyo Kusanagi with anyone except Iori Yagami.
 * 2) Iori Yagami with anyone except Kyo Kusanagi.

There is a different ending for some predefined Teams if Krizalid will be defeated while using a specific fighter :
 * 1) Fatal Fury Team (Mai)
 * 2) Psycho Soldiers Team (Kensou)

Series

 * 1) The King of Fighters '94 (1994)
 * 2) The King of Fighters '95 (1995)
 * 3) The King of Fighters '96 (1996)
 * 4) The King of Fighters '97 (1997)
 * 5) The King of Fighters '98 - The Slugfest (1998)
 * 6) The King of Fighters '99 - Millennium Battle (1999)
 * 7) The King of Fighters 2000 (2000)
 * 8) The King of Fighters 2001 (2001)
 * 9) The King of Fighters 2002 - Challenge to Ultimate Battle (2002)
 * 10) The King of Fighters 2003 (2003)
 * 11) The King of Fighters NeoWave (2004)
 * 12) The King of Fighters Maximum Impact (2004, Sony PlayStation 2)
 * 13) The King of Fighters XI (2005)
 * 14) The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2 / The King of Fighters 2006 (2006, Sony PlayStation 2)
 * 15) The King of Fighters Maximum Impact - Regulation A (2007)
 * 16) The King of Fighters '98 - Ultimate Match (2008)
 * 17) The King of Fighters XII (2009)

Staff

 * Producer:
 * Takashi Nishiyama


 * Chief Director:
 * Hiroto Namada (as 'Namadachan')
 * T. Hosokawa


 * Sub Director:
 * Haruo Tomita
 * Sexy-Dynamite-Kaju
 * K. Hikida (Yanya)
 * Tomonori Kamio
 * Strass(Woo)
 * Toshiomi
 * Yukixyuki
 * Lonely Aoki


 * Design Chief:
 * Regeon.Toyanaka, (^_^)


 * Front Designers:
 * T. I-NO-U-E (K'/Kim)
 * Shinsuke Yamamoto (Maxima/Terry)
 * Miki Asakura (Benimaru/Chin)
 * Mina Kawai (as Kawai.Sama) (Yuri/Takuma/Choi)
 * Shio Shio Shio (Ryo/Robert)
 * Winnie the Whipooh (Leona/Whip/Mary)
 * Youki.T.Ohyama (Ralf)
 * M.Endo (Clark)
 * Akiko Yukawa (Shingo/Athena/Kasumi)
 * Miho Uematsu (Xiangfei/King)
 * Mitsuru Kawasaki (Kensou/Bao)
 * Styleos (Kyo/Chang)
 * Roppongi Marito (Jhun/Joe)
 * C.A.C. Yamasaki (Krizalid/Andy/Mai/Iori)


 * Back Designers:
 * Manoru (Sewege.Sys)
 * K. W (Park)
 * Muneki Raishi (Alley)
 * Tohru Nakanishi (Airport)
 * Tsugumi A. (Museum)
 * Nobuyuki Kobayashi (Boss)


 * Demo Designers:
 * Kalkin Mizuno
 * M. Yokoyama
 * Khozoh Nagashima (as K. -G3- Nagashima)


 * Special Effects:
 * Aooon


 * Programmers:
 * Cyber Kondo
 * Souta Ichino
 * Abetak


 * Sound:
 * Sha-V
 * Zoe
 * Marimo
 * Usako-X
 * Tate Norio
 * Toshio Shimizm (as 'Shimizm')
 * Hori-Hori


 * Adjusters:
 * Kiyoshi Asai
 * Toshiyuki Hata
 * Haruo.K
 * Tomoaki Kawamoto


 * Bug Checkers:
 * T. Seko
 * M. Sawa

Voice Actors

 * K':
 * Yuuki Matsuda


 * Maxima:
 * Katsuyuki Konishi


 * Benimaru Nikaido:
 * Monster Maetsuka


 * Shingo Yabuki:
 * Takehito Koyasu


 * Terry Bogard:
 * Satoshi Hashimoto


 * Andy Bogard:
 * Keiichi Nanba


 * Joe Higashi:
 * Nobuyuki Hiyama


 * Mai Shiranui:
 * Akoya Sogi


 * Ryo Sakazaki:
 * Masaki Usui


 * Robert Garcia:
 * Mantaro Koichi


 * Yuri Sakazaki:
 * Kaori Horie


 * Takuma Sakazaki:
 * Eiji Tsuda


 * Leona:
 * Masae Yumi


 * Ralf Jones:
 * Monster Maetsuka


 * Clark Steel:
 * Yoshinori Shima


 * Whip:
 * Shiho Kikuchi


 * Athena Asamiya:
 * Haruna Ikezawa


 * Sie Kensou:
 * Eiji Yano


 * Chin Gentsai:
 * Toshikazu Nishimura


 * Bao:
 * Kanako Nakano


 * King:
 * Harumi Ikoma


 * Blue Mary:
 * Harumi Ikoma


 * Kasumi Todoh:
 * Masae Yumi


 * Li Xiangfei:
 * Mami Kingetsu


 * Kim Kaphwan:
 * Satoshi Hashimoto


 * Choi Bounce:
 * Monster Maetsuka


 * Chang Koehan:
 * Hiroyuki Arita


 * Jhun Hoon:
 * Kazuya Ichijo


 * Kyo-1:
 * Masahiro Nonaka


 * Kyo-2:
 * Masahiro Nonaka


 * Krizalid:
 * Yoshiyuki Iwamoto


 * Kyo Kusanagi:
 * Masahiro Nonaka


 * Iori Yagami:
 * Kunihiko Yasui

Ports

 * Consoles :
 * SNK Neo-Geo CD (1999)
 * Sega Dreamcast (1999, "The King of Fighters '99 Evolution")
 * Sony PlayStation (2000)
 * Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2002, "The King of Fighters EX - Neoblood")
 * Sony PlayStation 2 (2006, "NeoGeo Online Collection Vol.5 : King of Fighters Nests Hen")


 * Computers :
 * PC (MS Windows, 2000, "The King of Fighters '99 - Evolution")