Doodle - KOF 2002 Athena Asamiya (Patreon)

 So KOF 2001 was underwhelming, but I was still hopeful for the new entry, so you know the deal: as soon as 2002 began I was checking "The Fighting Generation" every day for new info about KOF 2002, and some months later, the first illustrations were up and, once again, I was dissapointed with the art style. Okay, the characters looked a little less cartoonish, but I still thought they looked weird. I was really worried that this was going to be the new art direction for every future KOF game (glad I was wrong).

Just as KOF '98, this new entry was going to be another dream match, so it would be the perfect opportunity to complete the game with custom teams without worrying for a story mode. But, to be honest, I just wanted the game to be good and more interesting than the lackluster KOF 2001, and, you know? it was! Heck, the game was so good that is probably the most played KOF until this day. Even in the very few arcade machines that remain in my city all of them are KOF 2002, and I can totally see why. KOF 2002 is probably the most tactic and adictive game of all the franchise, and with that many characters and options, the posibilities were almost endless. 

As for me... well, I liked the game, but if I sucked in previous KOF, in this one I was f*cking terrible! The new gameplay mechanics were way too complicated for me and the basics combos I knew with K' and Athena weren't enough against those beast of pro players. That and the lack of interesting hidden content such as special teams pictures if you beat the game like KOF '98 made me got bored of the game really quick. 

Still, remember when I told you that for almost a decade KOF 2000 was my favorite game in the franchise? Well, that changed in 2009 when I got for my PS2 the definitive edition of KOF 2002: Unlimited Match!! OMFG, that game had everything I wanted and more!! tons of characters, a simpler gameplay, tons of hidden content, incredible artwork, even better soundtrack. It even had a port of the original KOF 2002 if you wanted to play the classic version! For a couple of years that game was my new favorite KOF... but it has been almost 10 years since the last time I played it, but sadly, I no longer have my PS2 and there's not a port for PS4, so yeah. It would be nice to have it in my hands one more time.

^^ Hope you like it.