KOF'98 UM [Arcade] - Rugal, Goenitz & Orochi

This is a playthrough using the Rugal or '98 UM Boss Team which consists of Rugal, Goenitz and Orochi in the Arcade version of The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match. Read on below for more information...

NOTE: MAX super gauge used.

Rugal (the regular one of course) is a regular playable character. He is a possible mid-boss in the game.

Goenitz is a non-selectable character in this version of the game. He is one of the possible final bosses.

Orochi is a non-selectable character in this version of the game. He is one of the possible final bosses.

For this playthrough, I have alternated between the characters for each match.

===== ABOUT THE RUGAL / '98 UM BOSS TEAM =====

Rugal is an arms/weapons dealer who operates abroad his aircraft carrier called the Black Noah. He is an influential man and feared throughout the political and fighting world. Those who oppose Rugal would be defeated and slain by him, and he would have their bodies preserved in liquid metal to add to his trophy room. He has a pet panther called Rodem, which accompanies him and in KOF98 is seen at the right of the Omega Rugal stage background. This version of him is based on his KOF'94 second form incarnation (nowhere near as powerful of course).

Leopold Goenitz is an integral character of the KOF storyline because he is one of and the head of the 4 Heavenly Kings of Orochi. He has the power to command wind, and is a very powerful character. Significant events involving him include blinding Rugal in one eye and ordering Vice and Mature to watch over him; activating the Riot of the Blood within Leona; eliminated the the-head of the Yata clan and Chizuru's sister Maki; attempted to end the heirs of the Kusanagi, Yagami and Yata clan (Kyo, Iori and Chizuru) all at once, but failing.

Orochi is the most powerful character in the SNK fighting game storyline universe. As his name suggests, he is SNK's representation of the mythical eight-headed serpent of Japanese mythology. The whole of the KOF series storyline mainly revolves around him, as even after he has long been defeated, he still gets mentioned and related to in the post-97 canon KOF games.

===== RUGAL GAMEPLAY =====

As Rugal is a regular character, it means that he is "on the same level" as the other regular characters. This means that he is a much weaker character when compared to Goenitz and Orochi (as well as Omega Rugal of course). You are going to have to work harder to win with Rugal.

===== GOENITZ GAMEPLAY =====

His gameplay generally remains the same as in KOF96 (if you managed to play as him in that), but the significant change is that he has been given a new special move called the Shin Kototsuki Souga which is a dashing grab. Other changes include his Cutting Blades which act as a "catch" on contact (meaning all the subsequent other cuts hit), rather than a "push-away" like in KOF96. He is also able to use his Wind Pillars to hit downed/fallen opponents in certain situations as well.

He no longer has the ability to use DMs without the super gauge.

===== OROCHI GAMEPLAY =====

This guy is absurdly powerful and can have his victi... er I mean opponents beat down quickly. His Light Fireball projectiles cover a large vertical space and inflicts high damage if it lands, and his Shining Light DM is a full-screen super, which speaks for itself. His Energy Pillars can be awkward to use though, because it's one of those special moves where you have to place it in the right area for it to be effective.

===== OTHER INFORMATION =====

---- Despite Goenitz and Orochi being unplayable characters in this version of the game, if you team them up with Rugal and beat the game, you still get a special '98 UM Boss Team image after the credits.

---- Despite being non-selectable characters, Goenitz and Orochi has multiple alternate colour palettes.

---- As Goenitz and Orochi are non-selectable characters, their icons do not appear on the character select screen roster grid.

---- Despite Goenitz and Orochi being non-selectable characters, their icons and names appears perfectly in the Ranking screens.

---- Orochi and Goenitz has special pre-fight intros when facing each other.

---- Orochi's other "lackeys" Shermie and Yashiro (both versions) also has special pre-fight intros against him.

---- In gameplay, Orochi does not have any close-up Normals.

---- In gameplay, Orochi's static "Gen0cide Cutter" kick Normals from KOF97 has become a Special Move in 98UM.

---- In Orochi's pre-fight intro, Chris no longer appears in it.

---- In gameplay, Orochi has new sprites/animations for when he is the "inactive" character in the background plane. This includes the "been defeated" sprites too obviously.

---- Goenitz has a new special pre-fight intro when facing Omega Rugal.

---- Goenitz and Orochi's prior and post match cutscenes (when reaching them) from the original KOF96 and KOF97 are no longer here.