The King of Fighters 2002 (KOF 2002, or KOF ’02) is a fighting game produced by Eolith and Playmore for the Neo Geo in 2002. It is the ninth game in The King of Fighters series and the second one to be produced by Eolith and developed by Playmore (formerly Brezzasoft).
The King of Fighters 2002 was ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and the Xbox, where in the PS2 and Xbox versions were released in North America in a two-in-one bundle with the following game in the series, The King of Fighters 2003. The Dreamcast port was released only in Japan, it was also the last game in the series to be officially released for the Japanese Dreamcast.
Gameplay of The King of Fighters 2002
The King of Fighters 2002 brings back the team play composed by three characters each that was a tradition in previous games. The game has also several important changes in the gameplay, like the “Free Cancel System” or “Max Mode System”, the “Quick Emergency Evasion” and “Quick MAX Mode Activation”, aside from the countless changes in each character’s special moves and their properties.
Max Mode compared to the previous The King of Fighters 2002 games, while it enables Free Cancels (which use up a set duration of the mode), now halves the damage done at a cost for its duration. Normal DM’s now no longer use up an extra gauge stock when performed, and now only instantly end Max Mode. SDM’s instead use one extra stock while also ending Max Mode as well.
One of the most notable changes is the inclusion of MAX2 Desperation Moves (also known as Hidden Super Desperation Moves), which are DM’s that can be used only with 3 stocks and at a certain threshold of low HP.
Characters and Arenas
Perform the following actions to unlock more characters.
- Kusanagi – Highlight Kyo on the character select screen and enter this code: UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT, DOWN, UP, LEFT, RIGHT
- Omega Rugal – On the character select screen, choose the black panel under Kyo’s team.
- Orochi-Chris, Orochi-Shermie and Orochi-Yashiro – Choose any picture and hold START.
