The King of Fighters 2000 (Neo Geo)

The King of Fighters 2000 is a very important entry, mainly in the fact it was one of the very last games released by SNK prior to its bankruptcy (itself the end result of many an ill-advised business decision). Many devs on the game left midway through development both due to low morale and uncertainty regarding SNK's future, and the closure of the company's non-Japanese offices left the game without any chance of a home port outside of Japan for years.

Regardless, the devs did not compromise in at least going out on a bittersweet note, bookmarking the NESTS Saga's second episode with a refined battle system, a load of new varied characters, and an expanded Striker system that doubles as a tribute to SNK's storied history until that point. The end result, even despite noted compromises from the devs in animations and content, is a game that, though not as beloved as certain other games in the series, is still well-regarded in its own right.

Unused Graphics#

Benimaru Nikaido#

Unfinished frames present in Benimaru's data. They seem to have been for his taunt.

Cosplayer Kyoko#

Shingo's Striker, Kyoko, has additional frames for her Striker action that are normally never seen, as she is off-screen during this portion of the attack.

More curiously, she also has a full set of sprites that replicates Kyo's idle animation. Kyoko normally only displays one sprite for an idle before exiting.

Seth#

Unfinished frames present in Seth's data.

Goro Daimon#

Seth's Striker, Daimon, has an unused frame for him assuming a counter stance. In gameplay, Daimon either does his taunt if not touched by the opponent, or goes directly into his grab if he is, meaning this frame never has a chance to display.

King#

King has some leftover sprites from her '98-'99 design that were not altered at all for this game.

Some frames from her intro animation. Others were discarded or redrawn into new sprites for this game.

Her special intro vs. Ryo in '99. One may notice in both cases that her head has some strange coloring here, indicating that her palette was changed for 2000.

King's special intro vs. Joe from '98. This animation notably was redrawn to match King's 2000 design hence it was likely intended to be used, probably also as a special intro for this game.

Shermie#

Clark's Striker, Shermie, has unused frames showing the full animation of her Shermie Spiral special move. In-game, Shermie normally cuts directly to the throw, showing only one frame of the start-up that's misaligned with the opponent but shown too fast to be noticeable in practice.

Kyo Kusanagi#

Unfinished frames present in Kyo's data. The first was intended as an in-between frame in his 182 Shiki DM. It seems to show a number on it, which may either be a date of creation or a sprite number count.

Kyo's '99 HUD icon also remains in his data unused.

Iori Yagami#

Unfinished frames present in Iori's data. These seem to be copies of frames that appear during his Ura 1207 Shiki: Yami Sogi DM.

Iori's '99 HUD icon also remains in his data unused. The palette data for it seems to be lost or broken.

Another Iori#

Iori's Maniac Striker, Another Iori, has unused frames showing extra movement on his coat during his summon animation.

Regional Differences#

Even though the MVS and AES versions were never released outside of Japan, the game can still be played on other language settings if played on US, European, or Asian devices, similar to most Neo Geo games. All of the game's text is translated (with the exception of all special victory quotes and some generic victory quotes).

Japan	Other

The part of the logo showing the game's title in Japanese is removed.

Warning Screen#

If played on a US MVS machine, the above screen appears on startup.