The King of Fighters 2002: Challenge to Ultimate Battle

"The system 3-on-3 is back, expanding the battle on who will be the next competitor! Seven fearsome figures from King of Fighters '96 to '98 take part in the fights! This year, the dream fight is guaranteed to heat up! The Dream Match is happening again. BE THE FIGHTER!"

-Tagline

The King of Fighters 2002: Challenge to Ultimate Battle is the ninth game in the King of Fighters series, and is the second and final King of Fighters game produced by Eolith. Much like The King of Fighters '98, this game is more of a "Dream Match" for characters from all previous King of Fighters games, including killed-off characters. The series' canon storyline would resume in The King of Fighters 2003 - adapting, however, a character introduced in this game, Kusanagi.

It was later released for the Dreamcast, this time adding two characters absent from the original version, King and Shingo Yabuki. The PlayStation 2 version included Orochi Iori, Goenitz and Geese Howard.

Characters were directly ripped from this game for use in The King of Fighters Neowave, which was a hardware test before the production of The King of Fighters XI.

An upgraded version of The King of Fighters 2002 known as The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match was eventually released in Japan on February 26, 2009. It later released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation Network, Steam, Humble Bundle, GOG and Prime Gaming, worldwide. The PlayStation and GOG versions uses the NeoGeo mode in the remake.

=Gameplay= The game brings back the team play composed by three characters each that was a tradition in previous games. The game has also several important changes in the gameplay, like the "Free Cancel System" or "Max Mode System", the "Quick Emergency Evasion" and "Quick MAX Mode Activation", aside from the countless changes in each character's special moves and their properties. Max Mode compared to the previous games, while it enables Free Cancels (which use up a set duration of the mode), now halves the damage done at a cost for its duration. Normal DM's now no longer use up an extra gauge stock when performed, and now only instantly end Max Mode. SDM's instead use one extra stock while also ending Max Mode as well.

One of the most notable changes is the inclusion of MAX2 Desperation Moves (also known as Hidden Super Desperation Moves), which are DM's that can be used only with 3 stocks and at a certain threshold of low HP.

Another notable changes are the allocations of both normal DM's and SDM's, as not all normal DM's have SDM versions and some SDM inputs may be completely different attacks depending on the character(s). Nearly all SDM commands end with 2 of the respective buttons for their inputs (A+C or B+D) due to the fact that Normal DM's can be used in Max Mode.

=Characters=

Console Exclusive Characters

 * Note: All of these characters can also appear as mid-bosses.

NPC Characters
Characters who accompany the playable characters of the game.
 * Kogoro Daimon - appears in Daimon's round start intro
 * Rock Howard - appears in one of Terry's round win poses
 * Candy Diamond - appears in one of Kula's round win poses and two of her Desperation Moves
 * Diana - appears in one of Kula's round win poses and two of her Desperation Moves
 * Foxy - appears in one of Kula's round win poses and two of her Desperation Moves
 * Antonio - appears in Mary's intro and one of her win poses
 * Asuka and Maria - appears in one of Athena's intros and in one of her HSDMs

Original Characters

 * Bao (KOF '99) - in China Stage (Day)
 * Lin (KOF 2000) - in China Stage (Day)
 * Jhun Hoon (KOF '99) - in Korea Stage
 * Kang Bae Dal (KOF 2000) - in Cambodia Stage
 * Heidern (KOF '94) - in Mexico Stage (Day) and Italy Stage
 * Heavy-D! (KOF '94) - in Japan Stage (Day)
 * Lucky Glauber (KOF '94) - in Mexico Stage (Day)
 * Brian Battler (KOF '94) - in Mexico Stage (Day)

Fatal Fury/MOTW series

 * Geese Howard (Fatal Fury: King of Fighters) - in Japan Stage (Evening), only in arcade version
 * Jubei Yamada (Fatal Fury 2) - in Japan Stage (Evening)
 * Marco Rodriguez (Garou: MOTW) - in Japan Stage (Evening)
 * Tung Fu Rue (Fatal Fury: King of Fighters)- in China Stage
 * Jin Chonshu (Fatal Fury 3) - in China Stage (Day)
 * Jin Chonrei (Fatal Fury 3) - in China Stage (Day)
 * Li Xiangfei (RBFF 2) - in China Stage
 * Hon-Fu (Fatal Fury 3) - in China Stage (Evening and Night)
 * Cheng Sinzan (Fatal Fury 2) - in China Stage
 * Kim Jae Hoon (Garou MOTW) - in Korea Stage
 * Sokaku Mochizuki (Fatal Fury 3) - in Holland Stage (Day)
 * Bob Wilson (Fatal Fury 3) - in Mexico Stage (Day)
 * Duck King - (Fatal Fury: King of Fighters) in Mexico Stage (Day)
 * Tizoc (Garou: MOTW) in Mexico Stage (Day)
 * Ryuji Yamazaki (Fatal Fury 3) - in Mexico Stage, on a wanted poster
 * Wolfgang Krauser (Fatal Fury 2) - in Italy Stage

Art of Fighting series

 * Eiji Kisaragi (AOF 2) - in Japan Stage (Evening); he also appears in the special intro Billy vs. Iori, and one of Billy win poses
 * Ryuhaku Todoh (AOF 1) - in Japan Stage (Day and Evening)
 * Kasumi Todoh (AOF 3) - in Japan Stage (Day and Evening)
 * Lee Pai Long (AOF 1) - in China Stage (Evening and Night)
 * Wang Koh-San (AOF 3) - in Holland Stage (Day)
 * King (AOF 1) - in Mexico Stage (Day), only in Arcade version
 * Mr. Big (AOF 1) - in Italy stage

Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter series

 * Kim Sue-il (Kizuna Encounter) - in Cambodia stage

=Stages=


 * Note 1: In the PS2 and Xbox versions, the stages have been remodeled in 3D, although it is still possible to play with the 2D versions via the option menu. In all other versions, they are only available in their 2D forms.


 * Note 2: The NESTS Team/Kusanagi's and Omega Rugal's stages look very different in the PS2 and Xbox versions. The NESTS Team/Kusanagi's stage also appears immediately before the Final Boss in these versions, rather than before the last match against a regular team/character.


 * Note 3: In this game, the stage are randomly chosen by the game's system.


 * Warning: The sight of some stages can cause epilepsy.

Normal Stages

 * Japan: The garden of the Ryoanji Temple, in Kyoto. The fight occurs in a balcony. Can be seen some people cheering, the other side of the temple, trees and shrubs, two geishas, a small lake and two giant fans, one of them with tiger print, a sun umbrella and two flags. The game's name can be spotted on the floor of the temple and on one of the flags.
 * Changes: in 1st and 2nd round, it's afternoon; in the 3rd round, sunset; from the 4th round, night of full moon and the stage partially empty.
 * Korea: A boat in the front to the 63 Building and the Hangang Railway Bridge, in Seoul. Can be spotted people cheering, a bridge, childs in a binocular, other buildings, flags, seagulls flying over the stage and tires.
 * Changes: in 1st and 2nd round, it's afternoon; in the 3rd round, sunset; from the 4th round, night.
 * China: A ring near the Nanhu Garden and the Quanfu Temple, in the city of Kunshan. Can be seen people cheering and holding plaques with Chin's name, a bridge, a sign with the Athena's name and balciones in the background, a gate next to the courtyard and a big vase in the left, besides the famous logo in the doors.
 * Changes: in the 1st round, the gate is closed; in the 2nd round, the gate opens; in the 3rd, it's sunset; from the 4th round, night.
 * Holland: The village of Zaanse Schans, in the city of Zaandam. In the two first rounds, can be seen windmills, one with the franchise's name, a hot air balloon with the game's name, a man coughing, people cheering and photographing, a fence, giant clogs, sheep with the initials of the game and barns. Also can be seen giant clogs.
 * Note: From the 3rd round, it's sunset and the stage is partially empty. The only changes among the 3rd and 4th round is the animals: can be seen dogs and sheep in one, and crows in the other.




 * Cambodia: The fight takes next to the Angkor Wat Temple. Can be seen a tree, shrubs, stones and a electric post. The weather in the stage is cloudy and lightings can be seen in the sky.
 * Mexico: The Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan. The fight takes in a ancient building. Can be seen people cheering, a screen with Heidern, plaques with the game's name with the inscription MEXICO-TV by IO-NET, an antenna, the Mexican flag, a river and the Quetzalcoatl Temple, in the background.
 * Changes: in two first rounds, it's day; in the 3rd round, it's sunset, the stage is empty and the screen it's off; from the 4th round, it's night and a torch is on.

Mid-Boss & Boss Stages

 * Italy: An aerial plataform next to the Cathedral and the Tower of Pisa. Can be seen Mr. Big and Krauser, two screens, one showing Heidern, a cameraman and the Italian flag, in the left and in the right. This stage is the last of Team/Single Play mode.
 * Changes: from the 2nd round, the plataform rise, and appears a blue flag with game's short name in the tower; from the 4th round, one more rise until the top of the tower, where can be spotted the two villains and a sign FINAL: THE KING OF FIGHTERS.
 * NESTS — NESTS Team & Kusanagi: In the arcade version, the Italy stage in a dark and empty version. In the PS2 and Xbox versions, the fight takes in a military airplane, next to a helicopter. Can be seen obstacles, a miltary jeep and a war tank. There's a little turbulence and things start to fall.
 * Unknown — Omega Rugal: In the arcade version, a heap of debris, possibly military aircraft. Can be seen a control panel screen in the background. In the PS2 and Xbox versions, is a version of Sky Noah stage. Can be seen control panels, screens and ladders. Associated with Omega Rugal.

=See also=


 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match, an upgraded version of the game.
 * The King of Fighters 2002/Credits

=Trivia=


 * In console versions, Goenitz, Geese, Shingo and King's CD/Blowback attacks do not inflict any damage via a programming oversight. Technically however, Geese's CD attack through its SvC Chaos incarnation as a command normal (6C) is still able to do so.
 * This is the only Neo Geo KOF game and the only KOF game produced by Eolith to not have an arranged soundtrack.
 * This is the last mainline KOF game that K9999 appears in, due to copyright issues.
 * This may also be the reason why Neo Geo version of The King of Fighters 2002 does not appears in subsequent releases of The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match after the PlayStation 2 version.
 * In this game, when playing in either Team Play or Single Play Modes, the player can choose before each match which team or character they will fight among two possibilities. However, the last team, fought in the Italy stage, is forced upon the player, always appearing immediately before the Mid-Boss fight (in the PS2 and Xbox versions) or in between the Mid-Boss fight and the Final Boss fight (in all other versions).

=External links=


 * Official Site (in Japanese)
 * GOG Store page
 * Data in The King of Fighters Anniversary Website
 * 2002 Official SNK Hong Kong combo video - part 1
 * 2002 Official SNK Hong Kong combo video - part 2

The King of Fighters 2002