The definitive SNK boss makes his comeback in King of Fighters XV on April 14
SNK, the company responsible for the Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, and King of Fighters games, as well as the Neo Geo, have announced Omega Rugal is coming to King of Fighters XV (KOFXV) as free DLC. The Orochi-powered incarnation of King of Fighters‘ iconic boss, Rugal Bernstein, comes out on 14 April 2022.
If you aren’t familiar, Rugal is one of the most famous villains in the KOF series. An absurdly powerful arms dealer with unprecedented martial ability, his ruthlessness was only matched by his fine taste in attire and wine. From aboard his private aircraft carrier, the Black Noah, he wasted no time in eliminating all threats to his business and adding moves to his repertoire. After making enemies of half the cast with his numerous atrocities he eventually died.
Unfortunately, Rugal’s hobbies include hanging out with his pet panther, encasing martial artists in liquid metal, and coming back from the dead. Omega Rugal is the embodiment of absurd difficulty. In King of Fighters 95, he was so strong in both game and story in that lore, his eventual defeat was from his not being able to control his Orochi power. He would reappear in non-canon dream canons to remind everyone the nightmare wasn’t over. His playable appearances also saw him being banned in arcades.
KOFXV seems him come back to life again after having his soul trapped in Verse in the previous game. In acknowledgement of his legacy as a formidable boss character, Omega Rugal’s addition to the roster is accompanied by a new game mode: “BOSS CHALLENGE” mode. In this mode, you’ll have to overcome the infamous CPU-controlled Omega Rugal, and if you’re victorious you’ll get his nifty Ω armour costume as a reward.
With a further 9 DLC characters coming to the game this year to give it an impressive roster of 52 characters, and a confirmed spot at Evo, it looks like modern KOF will enjoy tangible relevancy in the fighting game community for a long time to come. We eating good every night, fellas!
King of Fighters XV is available on Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox Series S and X, Windows, Steam, and the Epic Games Store! Or try out the previous games in the series on those storefronts to immerse yourself in the wacky anime tournament-arc story!
He/Him
A flamboyant ultra nerd, Dave participates in the Underlevelled Tournament both for the thrill of the fight, and to avenge the orphans lost in the climax of the previous tournament.
Born: London
Height: ???
Weight: ???
Hobbies: street dance, collecting manga volumes, reading, editing
Likes: short-to-medium walks on the beach, pointing out how things can and will be misconstrued as racism, fighting games, RPGs, anime, Hades, alternative hip hop, conscious hip hop, Mara Wilson, overly long bios, ice-cream
Dislikes: insincere media, his own uncanny resemblance to Richard Ayoade, mayonnaise
