I'm actually a big fan of AOF1. Obviously it's lacking as a fighting game (unbalanced roster), but as a game it's really fun. Honestly, it and the original Fatal Fury are the two best SNK fighting games in terms of single-player.
- The story is just plain fun. Love that goofy voice acting. And great lines like "I'll kick every guy in town."
- The music is awesome. Most later SNK soundtracks would have superior arranged versions, but AOF was very clearly made with its hardware limitations in mind.
- The graphics are still really cool. I still love to see John's glasses get knocked off, or King's shirt explode. So much fun to watch.
- Oh, I love the bonus games and the fact that they allow you to customize your character. You only get access to them three times, but you can choose to increase your health or spirit twice. I never thought about it before, but this might also be one of the first fighting games to allow you to alter your character's stats?
- The gameplay is nice and slow, which I actually enjoy sometimes. It makes everything seem very deliberate, and lends weight to all the action. The controls are stiff, but that's my only real criticism.
It's a shame we never got an AOF4. If they could have just combined AOF3's graphics with a balanced system (and maybe added some of the cool AOF2 characters), we'd get a Real Bout Fatal Fury for the AOF series. A missed opportunity.