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Get ready for the onslaught that is SNK Playmore, and the King of Fighters.

Overview

A couple years ago the unthinkable happened, SNK went bankrupt and left all their fans hurt and confused. Eolith took over for a little while, but to some it wasn’t the same. Fast forward 2003, SNK Playmore is back to own us once again. Stopping us cold with arcade fighters like SVC Chaos, Metal Slug 5, and Samurai Showdown 5, it was also a welcomed return to the US market. No more importing, for some. Starting today, and continuing throughout 2004, expect SNK goodness at it’s fullest. Beginning with their compilation of episodes 6 and 7 of the King of Fighters series. And there is more to come people. Sit back and enjoy SNK most welcomed return to the US console market. Just between you and me, when I saw that SNK NeoGeo USA Consumer Corporation logo at the corner of the box, I shed a tear. Welcome back old friend.

Graphics 8/10
KoF 2000 looks great. All the sprites for each character on top of 3D backgrounds. This is your typical home-to-console port. 2001, however, steals the show. From the menus, artwork, to even the graphics, it has all been upgraded. The rolling clouds in the background while you select the mode, or character, is amazing. The artwork for the characters look fantastic. This is nothing compared to what they did to the graphics. We all heard about the translucent effects during specials, which I can’t really tell. Everything else stands out. The 3D backgrounds look great, also different variations are available. The characters themselves are high res, not quite the quality of Guilty Gear, but better than before. Very impressive and easier on the eyes. They also added animation to most of the characters to give them a more fluid look. Added stuff here and there gives the characters much smoother walking and attacking animations. I thought I was looking at one of the recent Capcom fighters. Of course I could be wrong, I only played 2001 a couple times, but this is a big jump from 2000.

Gameplay/Controls 8/10
For those of you who never played KoF 99, the few of you I should say, they introduced the strikers. What is that you say? Think MSHvsSF and beyond, you got the picture. You have the ability to call out a character to perform a move to set up combos or super moves. This added new strategy to already solid fighting engine. Not to mention, this also began the NESTS story line and introduce our new hero K’. Of course, the kings of fighters stop Krizalid and his agenda. Unfortunately, this saga isn’t over yet. What’s new this time? Now everyone has their own special striker to use. You can still use the fourth selected character as your striker, but now you have the option of choosing him/her or their special striker. Most of these strikers are from previous KoF games, or other SNK games. Some may even have Maniac strikers, which are the hidden ones. This gives you something to think about when choosing that last character. Don’t want to use your power gauge for super special moves? Try Armor or Counter mode. By sacrificing 3 power gauges, you can activate one of these modes. Armor will up your defense and allows you top counter attacks even when hit. Counter mode ups your strength, unlimited use of super special moves, and the ability to super cancel. You have some options there for you power gauge, but use it well.

A new game calls for new characters. Some who weren’t selectable in 99, like Vanessa and Seth, are fully playable. A mysterious girl, Kula takes center stage. How is she connected to all of this? You have to play and find out. NESTS is still out there, waiting to change the world as they see fit. The new boss, Zero, plans to due so with his Zero Cannon. Time to take him down, King of Fighters. Now on to part three of the NESTS storyline, while the game play takes an interesting twist. You can now choose how to set up your team. Want to use one character and three strikers? You got it. Choosing the number of playable characters, affects a couple of things. One is your attack power. A team of one playable character will be stronger than a team of four. Balances it out for fair play. This also affects your power gauge. The less characters you are using to fight, the smaller and the more stocks you can have in your power gauge. Choosing four characters, no strikers, will have a long power gauge with only one stock. For teams with multiple strikers, you can call different characters out one right after another. You can have three strikers attacking to set up some sweet combos. Of course, calling out strikers using up your power gauge, better think before acting. Since this is the last chapter of the NESTS saga, it’s time to rap things up. Characters from previous games have come to join the fight, while more members of NESTS are appearing from nowhere. Team NESTS: Kula, Foxy, K 9999, and Angel are some of the new characters you’ll meet. This all leads up to another match with Zero and the head of NESTS, Igniz. Get ready for a fight! The strikers were an interesting addition. I played the versus series a lot so I’m used to the whole idea. KoF was already a solid and fast series, not as quick as the versus, but adding the strikers puts the game into a higher gear. Characters will be jumping out all over the place, especially in 2001, setting up combos and your downfall. Strikers can’t jump across to the screen to attack, unless it’s because of a move, so you don’t rely on them heavily. It’s still about your skill, which is one of the many reasons I love this series. I prefer the 3 vs. 3, without the strikers, but it’s still fun to mess around with. 2001 sets up all kinds of match ups, from 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, and so on. This makes things more interesting, also makes me like it a little bit more than 2000. The Armor and Counter mode is a neat addition to 2000, but I don’t use them too much. I always liked those super cancels. 2000 was a walk in the park for me, as the first meeting with Zero wasn’t too hard. I wiped the floor with him. Of course, he got his revenge in 2001. He kicked the crap out of me. As did Igniz, who is another badass boss. Good challenge though, which I like indeed. I like all the new characters, but 2001 impressed me more with its addition. The NESTS team rocks, and most of the 2000 crew returned so it was all good for me. All of them were very creative, like always SNK. They have their own style and match with the rest of their team. Cool designs, awesome super special moves. It makes me wonder how they keep releasing them each year.

SNK did pay attention to these PS2 ports, more was given to 2001. 2000 has all the normal crap that is added to a console port of a fighter. Versus, practice, it’s all here. Party Mode is a clever way of saying survival. You fight opponent after opponent. You have a time under your health bar. When it runs out, you will slowly lose health. Thank god your attacks give you health back, all the time, but you have to be on the offensive when that timer hits zero. As you win matches, you unlock new strikers to use like the Sports Team, Orochi Iori, and returning bosses Mr. Big, Krauser, and Kirzalid, just to name a few. These are what they call the Maniac strikers. The one things I don’t like it the lack of pause feature. You can’t pause in this mode so you better use the bathroom, and finish any other activities, before playing. Another addition to 2000 is the Memory mode; this is where you are treated with the intros to KoF 94-99. You have to earn them however, by playing through he various modes and achieving certain goals. There are also 3D backgrounds, just like the DC ports. A little nostalgia is always a good thing. All the modes from 2000, except Memory, are here as well. Party Mode is the same, but you unlock different things. New strikers: Ron, Glugan, and Krizalid, the arcade version of the stages, also the chance to use Zero and Igniz in all the different modes, except Party. I’m glad to see such attention was given to this port, especially the PS2.

The load time is short, a few seconds between matches, next to nothing between rounds. The control takes some getting use to. It’s been a while since I played a 2D fighter on PS2 so it was a hard for me to pull off some of the moves. I got the hang of it though, after a few secession with the cpu. One thing I like to mention, they did censor the ports. No blood, Mai’s bouncing boobs, and the lack of gunplay from Whip, have been taken it out. It’s a little disappointing for the hardcore fans, but nothing that affects the already great game play. After you unlock everything, Versus mode will take up your time. There really isn’t much replay value by yourself, but with friends you will be playing through the night.

Sound/Music 8/10
The music is always good. Each team has their own song, which changes with the character, if needed. They’re not as memorable as other fighting games’ music, but still good. In my opinion, these are not the best two in the series, I prefer 2002 and 98, but they are solid installments that are very enjoyable.

Replay Value 9/10
Like with any fighting game, if you know people who love it, you going to be playing this game until the sun comes up. With all the extra modes and unlockables, you have plenty of reasons to come back for more. Add in the fact that these are two solid installments and you have one hell of a package.

Overall 9/10
This is a great package for all of you starved SNK fans. If you haven’t bought the DC ports, or the home console versions, you can’t go wrong with this package. Two solid KoF for a low price can’t beat that. It’s also worth seeing 2001 in all of its updated glory. Can’t wait to see what SNK does with Chaos or 2002. The game starts losing its momentum after unlocking everything. Versus mode will be the only thing you come back to, unless you really love these installments. It could use some more features and modes. Hopefully they get that censorship thing taken care of, but that doesn’t bother me too much. It’s the game play that counts, which is what SNK fans been saying for years. If you don’t have these games already, go pick this package up now. It’s time to celebrate as SNK is back and here to stay.

- by Cold Man X