A new week, a new King of Fighters installment! This week we're discussing The King of Fighters 2000, the 7th epidose of SNK's epic fighting games series. Simultaneously it was also the last real King of Fighters made by the original development team of SNK, from KoF 2001 on the series has been developed by Elioth and SNK Playmore.
Give it a try in Priest's High Score Challenge and don't let you irritate by the strange scoring system which already has been used in KoF '99...
The King of Fighters 2000
Genre: Fighting Players: 2 Size: 688 MEGS Released on: MVS, AES, Sega Dreamcast, Playstation 2, PC (GameTap)
Brief Description:
The final King of Fighters game released by SNK in its original state, The King of Fighters 2000 expands on the story and gameplay presented in The King of Fighters '99. This year's tournament is sponsored by the Ikari Warriors in an attempt to discover more about the NESTS organization, and to derail the plans of potential NESTS agents K' and Maxima. Not everything is as straight-forward as it usually is, however, and even the Ikari Warriors themselves are at risk of being betrayed from within by the end of the tournament.
This is the only other KOF that I own, besides '99 and '02.
The stages are ugly and bland and the music is sort of meh. Those are the bad things.
The good...
The appeal, for me lies in the gameplay. I really like all the assorted strikers (from all over the SNK universe). I love the selection of moves and SDMs for almost everybody on the cast. Each character has a good to decent move set.
This is the game that introduced us to one of SNK's best female designs, Vanessa. I absolutely love Vanessa, her design and personality are great. To have a female boxing character... unheard of.
The in-game character art is absolutely gorgeous and the dialogue isn’t bad either. The only other KOF that I'd say has better in-game art is 99. Not to mention the cut-scenes look great and are actually animated in some parts. They really made an effort to give this installment a plot, the best episode of the NEST saga. Southtown getting nuked was great. Each of the Team endings really are a treat to watch. Probably the best set of endings in the KOF series.
Had the music and stages (boy are they crappy) been a tad bit better, this would have been my absolute favorite of the series.
Also, the song that plays when facing Zero, really is ominous and adds to the battle
The ending theme really is one of my favorite KOF tracks.
YouTube Video
So, one of the best of the KOF series, IMO. Yes, I know I'm in the minority here.
Edited by LIFE_IN_2D on 18. March 2012 19:40
shot in the eye
shot in the brain
shot in the ass...
This is one of my favorite KOF games. I would put this on my top five. I voted for very good fighting game. Yes the stages aren't good could have been much better but i like the gameplay. Much better than KOF 99, the striker system is done very well, i like that you can use your striker anytime . I played KOF 2000 a lot with a friend at arcade, very fun game for vs play. Having characters from other neo geo games as striker is a nice touch.
I originally played this on the PS2 as it came on a double disk with KOF01 and at the time it did not really stand out for me and was ignored for years along with 01. I got this as an MVS kit a few years ago as it wascheap for a kit and I always fancied owning one. I was actually very impressed once I spent time with it.
I know some of the backgrounds are poor, yet some like the alleyway/shops are very nice, but it wins on the gameplay as it feels solid like 98/99. I think its a underrated KOF game that is really worth having ( although I would not choose it over 98/99/03) its still a great game and much better than 01 which I never play at all.
It was a strong way to end the decade.
Edited by STE C on 19. March 2012 20:21
There's not a lot to say about 2000 because there isn't much to the game. It's just a recycled version of '99. 1999 was a good, solid game, therefore, by proxy, 2000 is a good, solid game when judged in a vacuum. However, historically, in terms of improving the series, SNK gets a low grade for that. It is understandable, though, since SNK was going through financial turbulence at this point. I'm surprised they released a game for 2000 given all the financial stress they were under. They get props from me for "finishing strongly," as STE C said. The assisting character was ripped off of MvC, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, and that's not to say Capcom hasn't stolen from SNK (hello, Street Fighter 3?).
The annoying thing for me is how long it took SNK to recreate the characters from scratch! By 2000, only hardcore SNK fans were following the series, while most other gamers were thinking, "Same character sprites, same gameplay with a gimmick or two thrown in, no thanks!"
Edited by Tobalman on 19. March 2012 20:52
I think I can agree with all you guys about the backgrounds, some of them are quite a joke (except for the Egypt stage). Take the aquarium stage for example, then think back to Mai's stage in Fatal Fury 3. Quite a step backwards isn't it?
The soundtrack has many lacks as well, but on the other side it has some timeless tracks on it as well. 'The Trooper', 'Wild Party' and 'Goodbye Osaka' are real beasts amongst the OST album, if not amongst the whole KoF history.
YouTube Video
The gameplay itself with all the fancy Striker variations might be better than the one of '99, but I still prefer the prequel in terms of presentation, music or backgrounds. I even think KoF 2001 is a fair way better than this installment, actually one of my favorite KoFs (stone me to death if you want, I don't care).
And yeah, just like 2D already mentioned, the endings may be the very best thing about KoF 2000, these are indeed brilliant. I think the Psycho Soldiers ending was quite epic as far as I remember.
My favorite KOF!
Great, big roster without the somewhat awkward moveset choices for some character in '99. Awesome selection of strikers. And fantastic music.
The stages could be somewhat better,
but the street and aquarium stages are still some of my all time favorites.
Definitely one of my fave KOF games, and one of my firsts! I absolutely love the intro, its what made it stand out at the arcades for me. The battle system is great too, I love all the fun little extra strikers you could use.
KOF 2000: NICE GAME...
but then, I'm in the minority of PPL who thinks KOF improved over time. I don't know, the KOF series is a bit of an odd thing for me.
Whilst I prefer the music and presentation of the mid-range titles (96-98) I prefer playing the newer iterations (99[evolution]-03). I recently acquired 96 for AES. It's a game that, in terms of GAMEPLAY, I find exceptionally dreadful. The worst KOF by far where the gameplay is concerned. Ahem, I digress
HOWEVER, AS FOR KOF2000...
It is, as has already been said, a solid entry. I don't *mind* the bkgds personally, although, yeah... they're not setting the world on fire. But then, I'd say they got progressively worse into '02. The only thing I really dislike about th egame is Clone Zero. He's just super-weak as far as SNK bosses go (in terms of design). KOF 01's ZERO just blows this guy away - in every way: music, design, stage and intro.
KOF2000 is one of the better KOFs imo. I'll grab it for AES eventually...
STE C stated plain, actual hard facts on 26.11.11... "SF4 & MVC3 can go s*ck my knob because KOF (XIII) is king... again"
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