For those new to the series, unlike its Capcom counterparts, the King of Fighters series of games follows a consistent storyline through two trilogies. With '95 through to '97 following the Orochi bloodline saga and '98 Dream Match, a break away from the storyline, KOF2k is the second title to follow the NESTS saga as the world's best fighters attempt to halt the plans of a terrorist group intent on world domination.

From the menu screen the player has four game types to choose from; Team single, Team versus, Single play (with striker) and Single versus, all of which are self-explanatory. Following the same format of previous titles, the default game mode, team, allows you to select a team of fighters rather than just fighting on your own. The character select screen is split into teams of 4 characters whom share the same goals consistent with the NESTs storyline. As well as choosing three characters to fight with, there is the opportunity to pick a fourth fighter, known as a striker (introduced in KOF '99) whom you can call upon during a fight to make a strike against your opponent. Any character can be chosen to be a striker, but there is also an extra striker available for each playable character, as well as the "another" strikers which require a code to use in game. Basically, a striker rushes on screen, makes an attack, hangs around for a bit - normally giving a short gesture - and then promptly leaves. In its previous incarnation, the ability to call upon a striker seemed rather useless, as the character took too long to appear on screen and often ended up either having no effect or being struck by your opponent thus rendering them useless. This has been resolved in 2k, you can now call a striker from anywhere on the screen rather than predetermined positions, including the air.

The large roster of strikers present means you can pick a striker to match your fighting style. This proves to be important because strikers can be used to start an air juggle or to link together two combos which couldn't normally be linked together. Further uses can also be found such as calling a striker after being knocked in the air to prevent being hit by further combos from your opponent. The only problem with a striker is making sure you call them at the right point; otherwise your striker may fail to hit your opponent or in turn get hit by your opponent (although this itself can prove useful). Unlike '99, strikers are now valuable attackers who should not be wasted.

However, when the going gets tough, it's much easier to fall back on a desperation move (super moves) or to use the available counter mode and armor modes, functions also carried across from '99. Both modes are time limited and will use up all three power bar "stocks" that you have built up. Upon activation, armor mode will allow you to sustain hits whilst making an attack without suffering from the hit animation, effectively countering any attack against you whilst you are making an attack. There is also the added benefit of incurring less damage from any attacks made against you whilst blocking. Counter mode, on the other hand, allows you make as many desperation moves as you can fit into the time available, as well as providing you with the ability to cancel a desperation move from any attack.

Renowned as being a more technical game than the majority of beat-em-ups produced by SNK's rivals (SF3 excluded), KOF relies upon the player's ability to make the most of their chosen characters abilities rather than relying on damage heavy combos. Still present are the dashes, counters and guard cancels present in its predecessor as well as the emergency escape which was excluded in '99. Also this year, Razzs (read 'taunts') have the effect of restoring one striker attack at the expense of a power bar stock, rather than last year where it seemingly had no effect. A technical game needs responsive controls and this game doesn't disappoint, there is never a moment where the on screen actions are delayed from the button presses. Speaking of which, four attack buttons means it's fine to play on a Dreamcast joypad, although veterans will prefer an arcade stick.

With 35 fighters and 35 "another" strikers, 2000 sports one of its largest line ups so far. Amongst the usual fighters, six more characters have joined the fray. The new line up consists of Vanessa, a female boxer; Ramon, a wrestler; Seth, a bodyguard, Kula; the elusive anti-K'; Hinako, a female sumo-wrestler and Lin, a mysterious ninja.

Of all the new characters, Vanessa tends to stand out the most, a striker last year and now playable this year. It's rare for boxing to show as a fighting style in any beat-em-up, let alone the 2D range, and when it does show it's not too popular, usually meaning powerful moves but slow movement and a boring move set. Fitted out with a short shirt, tie and trousers with suspenders, the smooth look would all be wasted if she didn't have the moves to match, and she does. All buttons result in punches (unsurprisingly) and it would seem that her move list is a tad limited, with few special moves. However, her ability to shift quickly and vast range of punches makes a good all-out offensive character. Also worthy of mention are Lin and Kula. As well as being a well balanced character, Lin has number of deadly moves in his line up, amongst which can be found teleports, ranged attacks such as venom spit and a very fast multi-chop. Kula is exactly what it says on the tin, she not only looks like K' with the light hair and leather suit, but also plays like K' with her freeze attacks. Players that prefer the more balanced characters such as Kyo and K' will find Lin and Kula very much to their liking.

Graphically the game suffers a bit from Neo Geo origins on both the Arcade MVS system and Home AES systems, which have used the same low resolution for 11 years. The game was originally based on the MVS system to cut costs and was cheaper to produce on an existing format. They already had experienced developers, so it was easy to program for and arcade owners need not pay for a new board and cabinet. Because this is a straight port, not much has changed; it falls behind Garou: MOTW, Street Fighter 3 and Guilty Gear in turns of graphics quality. Having said that, Neo Geo games have always been about game play over graphics and I doubt many fans will have cause to complain. However, Playmore have passed over the '99 style 3D backgrounds for 2D backgrounds which are a bit bland and less colourful, not only compared to the 3D ones but also to earlier KOF incarnations.

Characters are as well animated, from the taunts and win animations to the heavy breathing and slight animations, such as clenching and unclenching of fists and movement of individual digits on hands. The personality of each is conveyed superbly and it's not often you'll feel like you're using a version of another character as encountered with SF and its offspring with the Ken, Ryu, Sean, Akuma situation.

A 60 Hz option is available for those with a Japanese Dreamcast and for those using a PAL Dreamcast with DC-X disk. Unfortunately, those with chipped machines will find the skip the 60 Hz option is bypassed, resulting in black borders and slower gameplay.

It's a shame to see that Playmore haven't added much in the way of extras. There is a gallery of game art and an extra Puzzle game which is used to obtain further pictures. Whilst fun to play, the game ultimately becomes very tiresome, which is irritating as the puzzle is used to unlock secret backgrounds. Extra backgrounds appear based on which "another striker" your opponent is using. And since the computer never chooses the other strikers, the only way to see them is in two player and although you can see them in practise mode as well, there is little point in doing so. The survival modes, present in '99, have also been removed, which could lower the replayability factor of the title for some.

As for sound, the original soundtrack provided sounds awful; somehow, something seems to have been lost in the transition from arcade to Dreamcast, with instruments sounding muffled and for want of a better word 'twangy'. It's disappointing, because thus far the original soundtracks have always provided the best music. Trust me when I say switch soundtracks from the get go, you really won't want to hear the original tracks and the arrange soundtrack is easily as good as that of KOF '99. With the Ikari, Hero and Kyo themes standing out the most, personal preference lies with 2000 soundtrack as a favourite, but like the games, every KOF player will have their favourite soundtrack.

Whilst it doesn't add anything new to the genre, KOF 2000 is an excellent port that deserves a place any KOF fans beat-em-up collection, with game play and game mechanics as solid as in its previous incarnations. As far as the NESTs saga is concerned, the advances in the storyline covered shouldn't be missed, seeing as this is the middle of the saga. Those new to the genre would do better to look elsewhere for a less technical fighter and, if not already owned, KOF '99 is a better choice in terms of longitivity even, though it lacks the larger line-up. SNK did a better job overall with their last port, but if KOF 2000 is anything to go by then I can't wait for Playmore to port KOF 2001.