ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2003 - (Hero Team, Level 1 Difficulty, English Version)
0Our yearly gathering of fighters comes storming around again for the tenth time! The King of Fighters 2003 - the final KOF game to developed the NeoGeo MVS hardware - with SNK Playmore still the driving force behind it, of course. With this newest entry, this also brings about some new elements and revelations - now with the NESTS Saga behind us, we're now beginning the Tales of Ash Saga.
The usual invitations sent out to our zany cast of characters come with some titillating (and I'm not talking about Mai's chest, although I wouldn't mind discussing that subject at anytime) information. This tournament still has the three vs. three rules, but with game changing... well, change! You can tag in and tag out a teammate during the heat of battle! Exciting and unexpected! So who's working the strings behind this year's tourney?
Apparently, a group called "His Distant Land" are plotting something - not only that, newcomer Ash Crimson has something up his sleeve as well. Pretty boy - while good looking, just exudes an "don't trust him" kind of vibe. Maybe he isn't so bad, but considering he's looking to steal Chizuru Kagura's powers, maybe he is.
Not only we have Ash joining the fray, we're also introduced to Duo Lon, Shen Woo, Malin, Tizoc, Gato, and the return of Kusanagi, even. We also have Maki Kagura, Chizuru's older deceased sister - and Adelheid Bernstein, Rugal Bernstein's son makes an appearance as an end boss (but only if you meet specific requirements). He also has a sister named Rose. Last but not least, the true final boss, Mukai, part of the organization "Those From the Past" (these villains don't seem to be very thoughtful when it comes to group naming - at least try to sound a LITTLE more intimidating).
KOF '03, I ended up liking - probably my fourth favorite title in the series. The overall gameplay is much faster and doesn't feel like a huge time sink as matches go by at a fast rate, and the tag-in system is highly refreshing when you can call in a teammate at any time.
Difficulty actually matches what's on the tin - and considering I used to own the PS2 version of the game way back when, I remember getting trashed a lot on Level 4 difficulty - specific bosses Chizuru and Maki, Kusanagi, and Mukai were terrors to deal with since the CPU loved spamming frame perfect counter attacks to my efforts, which is why I decided to play through on Level 1. I almost bumped it to at least Level 3, but didn't feel like spending more time than I needed to get through the game. Overall, I still like KOF '03 for what it is.
This pretty much concludes the adventure through the mainline KOF games - obviously I can't show you KOF Neowave or KOF XI, because I highly doubt these two titles will EVER see the light of day on the Arcade Archives platform - although I did own both games on PS2 in the past. If they at least ever port over KOF XI, you may see that from me in the future. It's definitely my fifth favorite game.
Anyway - this is pretty much it. I plan on playing a few more ACA NEOGEO games soon. Expect to see titles like Spin Master, Fatal Fury, Sengoku, and some others. I'm currently suffering from major gaming burnout so I'll be taking a break for awhile, but I'll be back.