THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002

Great core game, but controll out bizare and cannot be change AT ALL!!!!! And the port has virually no options to play with at all. This is not even close to an acceptable port. DO NOT BUY THIS VERSION!!!

For this installment of A Casual Fighting Game Player Reviews..., I’ll be reviewing ‘The King of Fighters 2002’. Having recently played ‘KOF 14’, I decided to dig this game out of my backlog and try it out. This version of ‘KOF 2002’ is an arcade ROM running on an emulator. GRAPHICS: ‘KOF 2002’ is not an ugly game, but it’s not a great looking one either. Compared to its peers at the time (e.g. ‘Street Fighter III’, ‘Guilty Gear X’), the graphics in this game seem behind the times. While I like the game’s detailed and atmospheric backgrounds, they’re a bit static for my taste. GAMEPLAY: ‘KOF 2002’ is a fast-paced 3-v-3 fighting game. Given it’s an arcade port, there’re no command lists for you to refer to, no tutorials, and no training stages. There’s a steep learning curve given how fast the game is. Some trial and error will be needed to learn the game, and you may need to refer to a list of special moves somewhere on the Internet. That’s not hard to do if it weren’t for the controls. This game is made worse by the emulator that runs it. Setup options for it aren’t clear, and you can’t remap keys. The keyboard controls shown on screen are also incorrect! Whoever suggested mapping the 4 action buttons to Q, W, X and C keys should be fired. GOG support clarifies that the keys should be, Z, X, C and A? A?! Why not V? Whoever mapped those keys should be fired, too. At least the emulator allows for game state saving. That made the game more tolerable given how challenging the final boss is. Nothing that came before in this game prepared me for the boss fight. Thankfully, the game offered merciful continue options (e.g. lowering difficulty, reducing enemy’s health to 1/3) that helped me to finish the game. FUN FACTOR: This game is honestly not that much fun, mainly because of the emulator. The sharp increase in difficulty for the boss fight was done to trick you out of your money at the arcades. SHOULD YOU PLAY ‘KOF 2002’? No.

Maybe it is a good fighting but because you can't change controls i can't enjoy it.

The other reviews have already covered the locked controls and that is the real game breaker. Being used to the WASD format, it just makes this game unplayable. And yet, I don't regret this purchase. Why? Because its the "original' KOF 2002. To explain: KOF 98 UM gives the player the option to play classic 98. 2002 UM does not. Thus, if you want to revist your nostalgia and play on stages like Holland and Napolitan trance, then this game is your best bet and nets the only star for this review.

Locked control and not work some combos.