Romance on his gaming history, the King of Fighters, and 'La banda KOF'

“It has been some years already,” Romance recalled. “I remember I was a kid when Dad sold a piece of land trying to help with a rough economic situation. My parents came back to Mexico after being in the USA for a whole year working, while my uncles were taking care of my brothers and me.

It was in my small town in Michoacan, Mexico. The buyer offered my father a few cabinets, or arcade machines, to seal the deal. That is where everything started.”

KOFRomance is a notable voice within the fighting game community. Known for his work in the King of Fighters scene, he is making moves to push the series into the spotlight. He sat down to discuss his history in fighting games and his efforts to grow the KOF community.

His childhood played a particularly important role in sparking his love for fighting games. “My passion for video games was about to take over me. Mortal Kombat 1, Street Fighter 2, and more NES games were there.

That other cabinet left... the one made me wake up everyday with the illusion of, ‘Get better and finish it!’ Takuma/Karate was hard to fight. ART OF FIGHTING was my first fighting game.”

“One day, visiting a local arcade, I found out a bunch of people were playing ‘that other game.’ It had Ryo and Robert from AOF! What music, and those characters... it was a unique feeling. I wanted to try the game so bad! Here is a KOF 97' video from PipeCEA Android that shows almost perfectly how the game caught me as a fan of the series.”

Although the games excite him, Romance readily admits that the community is the best thing about KOF for him. “It’s definitely the people. It’s community!”

“KOF friends, ‘La banda KOF,’ brothers, sisters, from all over the world. They are united and support each other for the most part. I'm glad to say that I have also learned about life from my KOF friends, like how to fight outside of the screen against life.

People who also spent their childhood doing and supporting same saga, from different states, countries, and continents all over the world. How could you not give your best support to such a cool community and friends? [They are] family that always help you when there is not Roll Cancel or V-Reversal option!”

Romance believes that the King of Fighter’s newest title, KOF 14, has a lot of potential and should appeal to classic gamers -- not just newcomers.

“Fourteen offers a lot of heroes and villains to play with. The 3v3 format allows you to play with more than just one of your favorite characters and enjoy seeing how many fit your playstyle. [It has] really cool songs, like how in the past editions, some are masterpieces. Check them out as well if you can or want.”

“There are a lot of movement options, but it’s how creative you can be with it that also offers cool, interesting defensive options, which makes it even more exciting. If you like classic games, you will enjoy KOF. KOF14 has some ‘new comeback factors,’ such as MAX MODE.

You will have so much fun working on strategies in how to open up people and use defensive counter attacks. Keep the pressure with safe moves, get some damage with extra juggles, use reversal invisible moves on max mode time, party mode, training room, and more are things you can do in the latest game of the KOF series!”

Romance has a few words for those who might criticize the series without giving it a real, fighting chance. “I want to mention this for some of the wrong labels I've heard traveling in the USA for many years already.

Before blaming a game for being hard, or having a lack of knowledge about its mechanics, please ask yourself if you are a casual player that wants to enjoy things like the ones I just mentioned, or if you want to get better and kick some ass.

For any of both, I recommend you guys to analyze the free time you want to put in for competitive play. Play the game, find out in which level of ‘techniques or mechanics’ (beginner, average player) you are, and see what you should focus on to reach the next level.”

Romance holds that the community is welcoming and offers support for those interested in the franchise. “There are some cool and friendly environments specialized in KOF, like websites with people willing to answer any doubt, give advice in any level, whether you’re trying to become part of The King Of Fighters series, or learn how to improve your game.”

“At the end of the day, we are from an era where games have amazing examples of community leaders, such as LU|Alex Valle, Jebailey, Bear, Markman, Nothingx, Arturo from Spooky, Gootecks, John Guerrero, and more. They just need to follow their path, our FGC path.

I also would like for you to encourage and support your community leaders. Give them ideas, help them create content, if you can, and volunteer. If we want our games to be good, we have to support and bring things to the table, instead of blaming events. Lets work together to get better results for each game and its community.”

Romance is also in the process of bringing more KOF related content to the FGC. Follow him on Twitter @itzRomance and on his Twitch channel His YouTube channel, FGC_Romance, also features exclusive videos, where you can check out more of his work.

That’s not all. Romance is teaming up with NeoPenny has an upcoming event in Las Vegas on December 2nd. Be sure to make it out and enjoy one of the King of Fighters games in this championship competition!

This event has a good deal of sponsors, including SNK themselves, and will be hosting none other than Taiwanese player Huomao|ZJZ Bridget as their special guest. You'll see more details about the event in the promo images below:



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