King of Fighters '97 (alt) [Arcade] - play as Orochi

This is a playthrough using Orochi in an alternative Arcade version of The King of Fighters '97. Read on below for more information...

Orochi is the final boss of the game. He is a non-selectable character in all three NeoGeo versions of the game (MVS, AES and NeoGeo CD). He cannot even be selected through any debug dipswitch settings either.

===== ABOUT OROCHI =====

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, referenced and related to in the post-97 canon KOF games.

===== DESIGN =====

He is quite literally a deity in designer jeans with a snazzy tattoo on his chest.

His animations has always seemed a bit "stiff" and "limited", but this is to be expected given that he is an unplayable boss and the type of character he is. For comparison, his clone Mizuchi, who appears in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, looks better and has more fluid animation.

===== GAMEPLAY =====

This guy is absurdly powerful and can have his victi... er I mean opponents beat down in seconds. 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. Another "weakness" is that he is a tall character, so he's a large target. Interestingly, his standing WK and HK are like a standing version of Rugal's Gen0cide Cutter. Here's the other information on him:

---- He cannot crouch, and he has no "Down + [X]" Basics either.

---- All of his jumping attacks are a flying kick, meaning that he has no jumping punches.

---- He has a projectile Absorb and Reflect special move. Interestingly, when he "reflects" the projectile it no longer looks like the original projectile he absorbed. I don't think I've ever seen the CPU Orochi use this.

---- Normally there is no instance in the game where he is part of a Team. Yet despite this, he has a perfect team icon image when he is on the sidelines.

---- In gameplay, when he part of a Team and is on the sidelines waiting, his sprites for this is "wrong". You can see this in the video.

---- In gameplay, if he is not the last member of a Team and he gets defeated, his "lost" sprite on the sidelines is "wrong" and is the same as his waiting sprites.

---- In gameplay, if he is on a Team and is on the sidelines waiting, he actually has an Assist/Helper move for the active character... it seems the active character has to be Orochi as well. The move is glitched and does not harm the opponent.

---- When he is on a Team, and wins a match where he isn't the main victor, his secondary or third portrait image on the winning screen is of Kyo Kusanagi.

---- He can appear perfectly on the Ranking screens.

---- He does not appear to have any endings.

===== THE SPEECH IN THE INTRO =====

" They're back through the heat for an answer they have long been searching for.

Is it the fate or just budding coincidence?

It shall be clear as three powers will be as one.

Now, the forth phase is about to begin.

The king of fighters ninety-seven.

The story moves towards it's final destiny. "