"Its not perfect, but its damn close to it !!!"

When KoF 2k came out, I was very disappointed and was actually considering leaving the KoF series once and for all. Then, I caught a couple of videos from 2k1.
I saw combos, specials and new characters, but what I noticed most was that the cheapness had REALLY gone down since 2k. So, I began to get some info on it (note: this is looooong before the game actually came out)
Among the things I saw that a new NEST character was introduced, who looked like Tetuso from AKIRA (A classic Anime) and that he even had the same voice actor !!! I also saw a striker/character selection system in which you can have 3 strikers and 1 character or 4 characters and no strikers, etc... That did it
The day King of Fighters 2001 came out I went, did a nice K9999, Iori, Kyo and Shingo Team and beat the game.
I was amazed. It felt fresh, and even thou the story was not as good as expected and the bosses where cheaper than ever, it was actually fun again !!!
So, after you survived my painful intro, here is my review:

Graphics: 9
While they do not have those cool flame effects from CAPCOM VS SNK 2 nor the superb animation from Garou: Mark of the Wolves, it looks very good and fluid. My only complain is that it doesn't have the same artist for the character selection pics from 2000 (Those where sweet)

Sound: 7
Don't get me wrong, the sounds, voice and (some, yet very rarely) stages are very good. Yet, in most stages (Specially the IGNIS Stage) are some sick Nazi experiment to see how much pain human ears can take. Stick to the KoF 2ki music here.

Difficulty: 8
It depends. Sure, you can play cheaply and just do infinites and so on... But if you decide to actually play a fair game, it will be quite hard, specially the bosses (Infinite Strikers//SDM's). Also, some teams are for some weird reason incredibly hard to beat. Still, a veteran KoF player should be able to pass this game on 1 coin after 2 or 3 tries, probably even less.

Fun & Replay: 10
This is where the game shines. With new moves and combos lurking around every corner, this game will take some time to get boring. And besides, even if you get tired of the game, the crappy/weird speech assures to make you laugh. (Lovable Igins... You would be lieing if you didn't laugh here or at the Japan Team ending of Intro for that matter)

As for replay, with a nice number of teams and new characters, updated old ones and a new striker system to master, this game should take plenty of your money and time...

Overall: 9
Yes, I know that judging from the scores it should have gotten an 8, yet I feel this game deserves more. I only hope 2k2 will be as innovative as this one. For now, go play it and enjoy, its damn well worth your $
Overall, this is another gem in SNK's arsenal

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/02, Updated 01/12/02