"Pretty sweet... but it's been done before..."

Graphics(9)
Highs: Looks like Eolith has been doing its homework. Backgrounds have improved vastly over 2001's shoddy backgrounds. BGs have returned to a quality like that of 98, they change with each round, and have much more detail and color. Old and new characters alike recieve new animations, like Vice and Orochi Chris' new stances, to K9999 and Angel's new intros.

Lows: As usual, no one besides Athena actually knows how to dress in clothing outside of what they wear every year, most characters STILL have sprites from kof 96! Besides that, the new animations for old characters seem out of place and/or inferior when compared to the originals (Vice's isn't bad, Orochi Chris' new stance is terrible).

Sound(9)
Highs: Music is improved, some characters have recieved new voice samples, some of which sound awsome. Angel's being voiced by the same actress who did Haruko from FLCL is my personal favorite (Hell, if you were to compare voice samples from Angel in 2k2 and Haruko from FLCL, you simply wouldn't tell the difference). New music scores combined with remixes of classic tunes (sounds like they styled the Garou team's music after Team USA's from '98) make for an impressive soundtrack. Terry apparently is making that transition from his KoF self into his Garou self, with his voice samples spouting his lines from Garou.

Lows: Some voices just sound terrible. Many of the returning characters don't receive new voices at all. Some characters simply don't have that same quality that was in their voices in past KoFs, like Orochi Chris, who sounds rather bland. Rugal just doesn't work for me at all. And what's up with Kusanagi's voice? O_o Doesn't fit him at all.

Gameplay(8)
Highs: Return of the 3 vs. 3 style, no strikers, no Bao and no Hinako seems to have made many people happy. Characters have new moves and everyone has a new SDM. Same old, solid KoF, really.

Lows: Absolutely nothing new added to gameplay outside of the new MAX mode, which in of itself has little to offer besides move cancelling. Many characters that could have made it in didn't (The sheer number of characters could have exceeded 60 easily). No King, no Shingo, no Lin, no Heidern, STILL no Saisyu, Rugal is back as boss and no longer has a playable version (outside of console mode). I'm still waiting for that true dream match, featuring EVERY popular character from the KoF, AoF, and FF storylines.

Replay Value(8)
Highs: every wanted to see who was more evil between NESTS and the Orochi clan? Now you can. Ever wanted to pit '95 Kyo vs. 2001 Kyo? Now you can. Wishing that Eolith would bring back Vice and Mature? They just did. Though for just one game, its better then nothing.

Lows: No true endings, no new characters, few new moves. The only reason one would play this game would be for practice or to find every one of the new SDMs. Outside of that, there is virtually nothing new in this game.

Bottom Line: This is basically an updated KoF '98 with modern characters mixed in with the classics, which allows me to finally make the anti-flame team, as it should be (Iori, K9999, and Orochi Chris, of course). Besides, with Angel, Mai, and Shermie all in one game, that team alone is a fanboy's dream. Besides that, if you want something new, play something else.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/02, Updated 12/17/02