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King of Fighters is one of those series that you either like or don’t. That being said, the amount of fun you’ll get out of KoF 02/03 stands solely on how much you enjoy the series. Those that do will find a great value of 2 solid fighting games in one convenient package. Those who don’t…. well, hey, more for us.

After the flat Maximum Impact, it’s good to see KoF back in 2d where it’s safe and comfortable. While the ’02 edition offers some solid play, your time will likely be spent playing ’03 mostly. 2002 features the classic 3 vs 3 battles where you team up with 2 other characters and take out the opponent team before they have the chance to take out you. One on one matches are still available, of course. There’s about 40 or so characters to choose from in ’02, including many fan favs, and some long time absentees that were missing in action for a few installments. The cast is varied too, which is nice, instead of just being ‘a bunch of guys to pick from’. Each character has their own personality and feel while playing the game, and SNK’s design choices are really kicked into gear for the roster of ’02.

The gameplay in ’02 is about as good as 2d fighting gets. Each character gets their own special moves, obviously, coupled with their supermoves, which are more often than not just really powerful versions of their normal specials. Combos are ever present as you get the chance to juggle your opponent all over the screen, draining their health bar like liquid through a straw.

The ’03 installment of the set is just as good as ’02, if not better, in my opinion. It’s the 2003 game that introduced the ability to take your partners in and out of play during the 3 on 3 matches, a mechanic that will feel very familiar to Capcom vs series players. The addition of the tag feature is small on the scale of content, but it mixes up the game so much more than the ’02 edition, or even any of the editions before it. It allows for more fast-paced battles, and even adds an extra layer of strategy to things.

The roster for ’03 is smaller than 2002, but it doesn’t lack any of the character and unique design that keep it interesting. You still have most the same combos and moves in both versions, so play doesn’t change too drastically between titles, but the tag system still spices things up enough.

No matter which of the 2 games you take a liking to, they both offer hours of solid 2d fighting from a well loved series. It’s great to have them both in one package too, with the ability to play back and forth with the titles to help add some extra value to the purchase.

Along for the ride onto the Xbox is Xbox Live compatibility. Unlike the PS2 version, Xbox’s 02/03 package allows you to take your skills online to compete against friend and for alike. Just like most online games function these days, KoF offers a lobby for browsing matches, a quick match option, and an optimatch option. Match options can be set for many different aspects of the game, including match length, number of people allowed in a room, etc. Online you’ll be able to slightly customize your fighter of choice by editing their colors with an RGB adjuster, which is a sweet addition.

Both games are slightly less impressive in the sound department. KOF 2002 has a nice assortment of language options and KOF 2003 allows players to preview the music tracks and choose between English and Japanese. Nearly all of the songs in both titles have a cheesy, synthesized feel that sound like they were ripped from the credits of an early 1980s sitcom. This isn't necessarily a negative quality, but the music is more passable than it is admirable.

Neither of the titles will impress anyone in terms of graphical prowess, since they’re running off the stone-age handheld NeoGeo, but just as in every 2d fighter before it, you don’t play for the graphics, you play for the game. The audio end of things is decent, offering up the original arcade tunes (and an extra cd-quality soundtrack for ’03) and voice bits from all the characters. The music in 2002 can be painful at times, but they created the mute button for a reason.

Unless you’re already a fighting fan or a fan of the KoF brand, the 2002/2003 combo pack won’t do anything to change your mind. If, however, you’re a gamer on the look-out for some solid old school fighting, King of Fighters 2002/2003 has it in spades. If you can ignore the fact that these games are running on near ancient hardware, you can have hours of fun.