Best SNK PS2 Fighters?

[Johnny]

I've dabbled in the KoF series before and enjoyed the games but in anticipation of the upcoming Art of Fighting Collection, what other SNK 2D fighters on the PS2 would you recommend?

I've been looking at Samurai Spirits Zero, KoF Neowave and Last Blade 2-in-1.
Is it worth going for these and others individually or Neo Geo Battle Coliseum which seems to feature the most characters etc?

[Kubrick]

Haven't played the newer ones yet, but I'd recommend '02 out of the traditional KOFs.
Last Blade 2-in-1 is slightly disappointing because the ports aren't perfect, but both are GREAT games. Garou Mark Of The Wolves is also excellent and a much better conversion.

[?L?w?]

On a related note, does anybody know for certain if KOF2003 is out in the UK yet?
I haven't seen any in the shops, but amazon have the Xbox version as released already - shipping in 2-3 weeks?!

[Sane]

Personally I would say KOF Neowave is a great game, however loads of people seem to disagree with me on that one. NTSC did a review of it a little back, it's still on the front page I think. SS Zero I haven't played, but SS Tenkachi is very good, it's like a SS dreammatch, running on atomiswave I believe. It has some nice crisp visuals and a really good soundtrack and a bucketload of content. Each fighter can select 6 different styles which are like the grooves in CvS2 and there's a lot of fighters.
Other than those, you can't really go wrong with Garou, one of the best 2D fighters ever made. Although I must say that I found the DC port better looking and faster loading than the PS2 version, despite it having some other issues the DC one is still the one that I play rather than the PS2 version.

[Big Seany]

Get the KOF 00-01 double pack first - can be had for under ten quid these days ffs! Two class games, stacks of characters, decent enough ports, cracking boxart.

Then I would go for Garou if you have no other version of it, followed by KOF Neowave. Avoid Neo Geo Battle Collisseum if you can't stand loading times. 'Tis a good game, but save up for the arcade hardware instead on that one. Nice boxart though.

94 Re-Bout is worth getting if you can obtain the ltd version with book and controller cheaply. it is very endearing and a good laugh, albeit with unfamiliarly crisp sprites. book is nice, mind. Roll on 98 Re-Bout......

Although 02 is ****ing superb and one of the best in the series, I think (and this is a personal opinion, although I did review it for NTSC) that Neowave does all that 02 does, but with knobs on.

Another thing you can do is pick up a cheapo Dreamcast and get 99 Dream Match and Evolution - two superb verisons with lots of extras like intros and **** - I still play those two despite also owning the neo geo originals. Sad, eh?

That said, you can also get 02 for under a tenner, and all the PAL KOFs have a 60hz option to boot.

[nightstalker100]

I'd say stay away from the king of fighters series in general but i risk a public flogging. Get garou, its far better than the out of sync dc version and a damn sight cheaper than the aes counterpart.

SSV - stay away from, utter tripe. Recycled sprites, missing frames of animtaion, an awful effort from Yuki.

LB1/LB2 - effin emulation! How lazy. The dc version of the sequel is good though