The King of Fighters ’96 was developed and published by SNK, released for arcades in 1996 as the third entry in the annual King of Fighters series, continuing its three-on-three team tournament format pulling characters from across SNK’s other fighting franchises. It introduced a reworked dodge system and a faster, more aggressive movement style than its predecessors, changes that many longtime players consider a turning point toward the more fluid combat the series would refine in later entries. The Orochi storyline, one of the series’ most memorable ongoing narratives, continued to develop here with new characters tied to that plot thread joining the roster alongside returning favorites from Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and Ikari Warriors. Its combination of a deepening story, tightened mechanics, and SNK’s reliably detailed sprite work made ’96 a fan-favorite entry, frequently ranked among the strongest King of Fighters games of the Neo Geo era.