KOF98 is a fighting game released for the arcade and home console. It is the fifth game in KOF series. This installment was advertised by creater as a "special edition" of the series, as it featured most of the characters who appeared in the previous games (from KOF '94 to '97), regardless of whether the character was killed off in the series' ongoing storyline (which would be resumed in the following game in the series with a new story arc). As KOF98 did not feature a plot, the creater staff took this opportunity to add Rugal (who died in KOF95) as well as various alternate versions from various characters to the game. KOF98 has been commonly praised by several video game publications as the best KOF from the series due to its graphics and gameplay. Ultimate Match, however, was criticized for how similar it is to KOF98.