Just got this game this morning. I think I'm going to do a full write-up a bit later, but not sure what to do about pictures-- don't have a capture card and this game doesn't have a clean pause screen.
Despite this essentially being the THIRD version of KOF 2002 (following the original and Neowave), it's shaped up very nicely. There's a whopping 66 characters to choose from, culling from KOF '99-2002. All of the bosses have been made fully playable (look, they can crouch now!), and Goenitz and Geese, from the PS2 port of 2002, have also been thrown in. In fact, Geese has a disgustingly-powerful EX version available that makes him into Nightmare Geese from RBS.
The game has one "new" character in the form of Nameless, who replaces the one missing character from the original games not to make it in. SNK removed K9999 apparently due to legal problems; the character resembled Akira's Tetsuo far too much (not just in design, he even had the same voice actor!), so Nameless takes his place with a similar set of moves.
The sprites are the same as the past games, although some characters have gotten new moves. All of the old backgrounds have been scrapped and replaced with brand-new 3D fight locales that are bursting with color, animation, and tons of character cameos. 2002 was pretty dull background-wise, and this game really makes up for it. The music is also completely brand-new, being new versions of classic themes. It's arranged-only this time, which is also a good thing.
But it's hard for me to get too excited over this game with KOF '98 Ultimate Match heading to XBLA, and more importantly KOF XII on the horizon. Plus the lack of online play means more time is going to be spent on the recently-released Street Fighter IV. In comparison to last year's '98 Ultimate Match, 2002 definitely stacks up, but I think I prefer the former; I like the earlier KOFs over the later versions, and have a preference for those characters' play styles. '98 Ultimate is also more visually-impressive, I think, and has a ton more music, although it's all old tracks.
Still, if you like KOF, you definitely can't go wrong.
NCSX has some pictures up.
