The good news for those who hate this game play revision is
that you are able to go back to the old school method. Heck, if you want to, both games allow you to
take your battles down to the one-on-one style that resembles almost every
other fighting game on the market. With
35 characters and plenty of ways to play the game, it’s hard to be too upset
with SNK about this 2003 edition.
Both games feature incredible backgrounds, the type that you
rarely see outside of 2D fighting games.
The best part of SNK’s backgrounds is how they detail them for different
times of the day, so round two will be later in the day than round one, and
round three will often be at night.
There are a lot of fun details for each background, not to mention
plenty of cameos from other SNK characters.
2003’s arenas tend to have more going on, including a few that are
moving (such as a dramatic battle on a train).
The characters may not have improved much in the series 8 installments,
but the backgrounds sure have become more exciting.
With dozens of different levels between the
two games you won’t soon bore of the same level over and over.
Since these two games are packaged together you would expect
them to feature similar Xbox Live experiences, but SNK decided to go a
different route.
When it comes to King
of Fighter 2002 you can frequent a lobby and check your stats.
The 2003 edition also features the stats (as
well as the other basic ways of locating a game, friends, etc.), but instead of
a lobby you get a Competition mode.
This
mode allows you to take part in a multi-player tournament that is set up for a
specific time and must be registered for.
This is a great addition I hope other online fighters use in the
future.
Unfortunately this mode is not
available in the 2002 edition, which features quite a few more characters to
play with.
Although I ran into some lag in my online battles, it was a
pleasant time for the most part.
One
complaint is that the game has a tendency to simply spit you out to the lobby
when you’re done with your fight, which can be kind of frustrating when you’re
ready for a rematch.
Most people will be
able to work around the few online hiccups without too much trouble, but it
would be nice if SNK would get around to making a fully functional online
experience that doesn’t contain these simple problems.
Besides the various arcade modes and the Xbox Live function,
both games manage to offer some extra content.
Beyond the usual art galleries you will find a few different challenge
modes, a few of which may hold your attention for ten or fifteen minutes before
you move back to the standard arcade battles.
By all accounts these two games are pretty bare bones, but considering
that most people have never played them, the amount of the extras hardly seems
important.
If you’ve ever thought about picking up a King of Fighters
game this 2002/2003 set is a great place to start. Chances are you’re not going to find another
SNK collection with this much diversity.
They may not look as good as the 3D fighters of today, but both King of
Fighters 2002 and 2003 are fantastic fighting games with a deep roster of
unique characters to choose from.
B- | The King of Fighters 2002/2003 may not look as good as Soul Calibur or Dead or Alive, but with it’s cast of nearly 50 characters and deep fighting mechanics it’s just as easy to get addicted to. SNK has managed to release a collection that is not only a good bargain but also features two diverse experiences, something you don’t usually say about SNK’s fighting games. |
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