KoF is just about the
best fighting game series ever. All
arcade games, they are done by
SNK for the
NeoGeo (of course, that platform is being phased out soon), and
ported to the
PSX and
DreamCast. The series is set apart by being based upon a
team of
fighters, exceptional
art and
sound, tons of
moves and
desperation moves, a
power meter system, and lots of
characters. (of course,
gameplay is a small factor for it being
popular, too)
The most notable first impression from a King of Fighters game is the sheer amount of characters to choose from. These characters are partially culled from previous games (like the Fatal Fury series) and partially brand new.
Oh, also, there are a few doujinshi series based on KoF, such as Athena and Friends and Yuri and Friends.