The King of Fighters 2001

"The Definitive Review"

First off, I wanna say that I have been playing KOF since '96 and I call myself a veteran. :)

Ok, now on with the review.

Almost everything has already been said by the other reviews so I'll skip all the talk about the plot and storyline and game system.

Fighter Roster: 10/10
Out: Kasumi, Jhun.
In: Heidern, Daimon, Xiangfei.
New: K' 9999, Foxy, Angel, May-Lee.
That brings the fighter roster up to 40 fighters! Cool, eh?
However, Bao is still there!!!! DAM! He really needs to die.

Graphics: 9/10
They are still 2D but that's what I like about it. If you've played the Street Fighter Alpha/Zero series, then this game's graphics will blow u away, although that's not saying much. I like the effects when u perform SDMs, the background goes negative which is pretty. Also, the character sprites themselves have much more realistic proportions than SF. I mean, their feet actually look a normal size. Hehehe...
However, if you have played Guilty Gear X or Street Fighter 3 Third Strike or Capcom Vs SNK 2, the graphics may seem outdated because this game was made on a decade old system, where as the others were made on newer systems.
The new character art is bad tho. I'm sure you've heard all about how awful it is. It's true.

Sound: 7/10
Music in KOF has always been exceptional, however this year, every team's theme is techno. That's right, no guitar for Kyo or saxophone for Iori, everything sounds like the Hero Team from KOF 2K, except worse. Quite disappointing.
Most of the sound effects are the same as last years. The voices for the new characters are cool, especially K' 9999, but May - Lee's voice is soooo irriating!

Gameplay: 10/10
What can I say? It's pretty much the same gameplay as KOF 2K and '99, which is good. I don't mind the supercancels, I did mind the cheap strikers in 2K tho, but they've been toned down which is good.
There is also a new ratio system, similar to that of the Capcom Vs SNK series. In general, I think this is good.

Overall: 10/10
This game is the best 2D fighter out thre at the moment, because it is the most balanced. People say Iori and Kim are overpowered but that's only because the game is new and people haven't discovered tricks for the other fighters yet, but they have recently, there are combo movies which show some of the less popular fighters' true skills.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/02, Updated 01/10/02