How could an assessment of music quality be any more warped? 2k2 had like 2 tracks tops that were even decent.
LOL, crappy MIDI versions of classic KOF music is better than the real McCoy? Yeah, OK…
For one, it’s one of the simplest KOFs to pick up and play, and on top of all that it has kinda of a great, timeless atmosphere in terms of the music and the sound effects and the subtle little touches that give it flavor. It’s got kind of a nice little understated aesthetic to it, compared to games like Guilty Gear/Marvel/BlazBlue and the like where there’s so many goddamn flashy effects and loud noises and the like so often that sometimes it all just kinda blurs together. '98 is more of a punctuated deal, where you have stuff like that nice “SNAP!” when you anti-air somebody with a counter-hit jab, or the little sparkly noises Athena makes when she teleports, or the awesome clacking of impending doom that Daimon makes when he charges at you in full-on rape mode. The music is probably the best in any KOF game, to boot. Maybe it’s just nostalgia talking, but I can’t think of a single track in '98 I don’t get hype for. Especially the Chizuru/Women’s Team theme “Fairy”; to me that is the quintessential RTSD theme (or in my case, the “throw fireballs with Mai and empty walldive repeatedly to run away” theme).
And of course it certainly doesn’t hurt that, you know, the game is fast, furious, and well-balanced to boot. The tiers are all fairly condensed, so there’s plenty of room to put together a team that is both fun and powerful.
kof 2002 has too many muscle