The King of Fighters 2000: Classic SNK Arcade Fighting Game

The King of Fighters 2000 is a 2D arcade fighting game developed by SNK as the seventh main entry in the long-running KOF series. Players pick three-character teams and battle through opponents using a Striker system that lets a fourth fighter jump in for assist attacks.

The game first hit arcades in Japan on July 26, 2000, running on the Neo Geo MVS hardware. Console ports followed for the Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2. It later showed up in compilation releases on modern platforms.

Gameplay and Combat System

Fighters square off in best-of-one rounds, and matches play out three-on-three with each player rotating in their characters as they get knocked out. The real twist here is the Striker system. Each team picks a fourth fighter as their Striker, who can be called into the match for a quick assist hit before disappearing again.

Strikers carry more weight than they did in previous KOF games. They can extend combos, break enemy pressure, or set up huge damage. Some players build entire strategies around their Striker pick alone.

The game keeps the two power gauge modes from earlier entries—Advanced and Extra—letting players choose how they charge meter and use special moves. Counter Mode and Armor Mode also return as situational tools.

Roster and Characters

The roster pulls together fighters from across the KOF universe, with returning favorites and a few fresh faces. Vanessa, Seth, and Ramon join the lineup as new playable characters. Kula Diamond shows up as the final boss, though she’d later become a fan favorite in her own right.

One unique feature: Maniac Strikers and Another Strikers. These alternate Striker versions of certain characters open up combinations and matchups you couldn’t pull off otherwise. It’s a small detail that gave the competitive scene a lot to chew on.

Story and Setting

The plot continues the NESTS Saga, which started back in KOF ’99. Shadowy organization NESTS pulls strings behind the tournament, and the storyline builds toward the saga’s conclusion in the next installment. Players who followed the series got payoff. Newcomers could still jump in without feeling lost.

Reception and Legacy

KOF 2000 landed with mixed but generally positive reception. Critics called out the Striker system as the standout feature, though some felt the overall presentation didn’t push the Neo Geo hardware as hard as earlier entries. The Dreamcast port is often considered the definitive home version thanks to its arcade-accurate performance.

The game holds a steady spot in tournament rotations even today. Its mechanics aged well, and the Striker system still feels distinct compared to other fighting games from the era.

Game Controls

• Directional Pad / Joystick — Movement
• A — Light Punch
• B — Light Kick
• C — Heavy Punch
• D — Heavy Kick
• A + B — Roll / Evade
• B + C — Jump Attack
• C + D — Knockdown Attack
• A + B + C — Call Striker

Characters & Strikers

Overview

The new characters added to the roster (all originals) are:

	Ramón, one of the new members of the K’ Team, is a Lucha Libre wrestler who is loved by his fans in the wrestling circle. He enters the KOF tournament, along with Vanessa, to watch over K’ and Maxima.
	Vanessa, other new member of the K’ Team, is a mercenary agent and a housewife in the free time. Working under the orders of commander Ling, she and her fellow agent Seth are commissioned with the job of joining the KOF tournament, held by Ling himself, to investigate the NESTS cartel, and his fugitives, K’ and Maxima.
	Lin, a ninja member of an assassin clan known as Hizoku. He enters the KOF tournament in search of Ron, who betrayed the clan to ally himself with NESTS.
	Seth, a mercenary agent and Vanessa’s fellow, enters the KOF tournament under Ling’s orders, like Vanessa.
	Hinako Shijou, the new member of the Women Fighters Team, is a high school student practicing sumo.
	Kula Diamond, the mid-boss of the game, a child who is part of Anti-K’ project, which aims to kill the fugitive. Unlike K’, she handles ice.
	Clone Zero, the boss of the game, is a NESTS member who disguised himself as Ling, Vanessa and Seth’s chief military officer and Heidern’s close friend. He begins to secretly build his own weapon from NESTS’ technology called the “Zero Cannon”, setting it to operate with the same technology found in Krizalid’s battle armor.

The new formations of the teams are the following:

	K’ and Maxima were joined by the mercenaries Vanessa and Ramón. They entered the tournament to discover the NESTS scheme, but both agents were really there to capture the cartel fugitives at the end of the tournament, since they were working for Ling and Heidern.
	After leaving the Hero Team, Benimaru Nikaido and Shingo Yabuki meets up with two new individuals: an agent/mercenary named Seth and an assassin ninja named Lin, from the Hizoku clan, forming a new entry led by the model. Shingo was nearly killed by Lin when he almost touched his hand, but was saved at the last second by Benimaru.
	Terry Bogard is revealed to have survived the NESTS base collapse and returns back to South Town. The reason why Terry didn’t contact with any of his friends and/or loved ones in his time of absence between the previous and upcoming tournaments was because he discovered that Blue Mary is one of NESTS’ primary targets to be disposed. He decides to help her out in her job by teaming up with her in the tournament, along with his brother Andy Bogard and the Muay Thai champion Joe Higashi. She replaces the kunoichi Mai Shiranui and remade the Fatal Fury Team.
	After Yuri Sakazaki’s insistence, her brother Ryo Sakazaki welcomed King into the Art of Fighting Team, even though Robert Garcia’s protests, as Yuri back to the Women Fighters Team, along with the kunoichi Mai Shiranui. Ryo and Yuri’s father, Takuma Sakazaki, apparently noticed (and mistook) the respect the young fighters had for one another for love and presses his wishes for her to join whenever the time calls for it (something Robert and Yuri would eventually do too).
	A few days prior to this tournament, Yuri and Mai call Kasumi Todoh (Kyokugenryu’s rival) to be a member of the Women Fighters Team in this year and gracefully accepts. The next day, they hold auditions for who would be their fourth member. A young girl named Hinako Shijo enters, with the three girls are surprised to see a girl like Hinako would enter a tournament. Mai deciding her worth by making Yuri and Hinako fight. Hinako succeeds in proving her worth by defeating Yuri in a mock match.
	The Ikari Warriors Team is once again tasked with investigating any shady activity during the tournament, targeting the NESTS scheme and under Heidern’s orders. The team continues with the same formation of the prior tournament.
	Prior to the events of the tournament, Chin Gentsai suspects that the Dragon Spirit is connected between the two boys. His theory is because Sie Kensou used the Dragon Spirit, its power was transferred to Bao, and completely drained Kensou of his Psycho Power. Despite this, Kensou decides to enter KOF regardless of if he has his Psycho Powers or not, with the Psycho Soldier Team, along with his loved Athena Asamiya, his master and his friend.
	The Korea Justice Team continues their Rehabilitation Project, with Kim Kaphwan helping Chang Koehan, and Jhun Hoon training Choi Bounge.
	Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, once again, view the tournament events from the sidelines without a team.

Official Teams & Strikers Roster

Hero Team (A.K.A. K’ Team or Protagonist Team)

Members	Strikers
K’	Another K’ (original character)
Maxima	Rocky from Robo Army
Ramón	Duke Edwards from Burning Fight
Vanessa	Fiolina “Fio” Germi from Metal Slug series

Benimaru Team

Members	Strikers
Benimaru Nikaido	Another Benimaru (original character)
Shingo Yabuki	Cosplayer Kyoko (original character)
Lin	Eiji Kisaragi from Art of Fighting series
Seth	Goro Daimon from The King of Fighters ’94

Fatal Fury Team (A.K.A. Garou Densetsu Team)

Members	Strikers
Terry Bogard	Geese Howard from Fatal Fury series
Andy Bogard	Billy Kane from Fatal Fury series
Joe Higashi	Duck King from Fatal Fury series
Blue Mary	Ryuji Yamazaki from Fatal Fury series

Art of Fighting Team (A.K.A. Ryūko no Ken Team)

Members	Strikers
Ryo Sakazaki	Awakened Kaede from The Last Blade series
Robert Garcia	Another Robert (original character)
King	King Lion from Savage Reign series
Takuma Sakazaki	Gai Tendo from Buriki One

Ikari Warriors Team (A.K.A. Ikari Team)

Members	Strikers
Leona Heidern	Goenitz from The King of Fighters ’96
Ralf Jones	Yashiro Nanakase from The King of Fighters ’97
Clark Still	Shermie from The King of Fighters ’97
Whip	Chris from The King of Fighters ’97

Psycho Soldier Team (A.K.A. Athena Team)

Members	Strikers
Athena Asamiya	Goddess Athena from Athena
Sie Kensou	Psycho Soldier Kensou
Chin Gentsai	Baitang (original character)
Bao	Kaoru Watabe (cameo character)

Women Fighters Team

Members	Strikers
Mai Shiranui	Chizuru Kagura from The King of Fighters ’96
Yuri Sakazaki	Nakoruru from Samurai Shodown series
Kasumi Todoh	Li Xiangfei from Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
Hinako Shijo	Lilly Kane from Fatal Fury series

Korea Justice Team (A.K.A. Kim Team)

Members	Strikers
Kim Kaphwan	Kim Sue Il from Kizuna Encounter
Chang Koehan	Kim Dong Hwan from Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Choi Bounge	Kim Jae Hoon from Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Jhun Hoon	Kang Bae Dal (original character)

Single Entries

Characters	Strikers
Kyo Kusanagi	Syo Kirishima (original character)
Iori Yagami	Mature & Vice from The King of Fighters ’96

Hidden Character & Mid-Boss

Character	Strikers
Kula Diamond	Candy Diamond & Foxy (original characters)

Boss

Note: Clone Zero does not use any Strikers.

Clone Zero (Playable in Console versions)

Maniac Strikers

Available in All Versions

Character	Strikers
Ramón	Neo & Geo from Quiz Dai Sousa-sen series
Ryo Sakazaki	G-Mantle (SNK Mascot)
Kasumi Todoh	Unknown from Art of Fighting series
Chang Koehan	Smart Chang (original character)
Choi Bounge	Cool Choi (original character)
Kyo Kusanagi	Saisyu Kusanagi from The King of Fighters ’95
Iori Yagami	Another Iori (original character)
Kula Diamond	Rugal Bernstein from The King of Fighters ’94

Available Only in PlayStation 2 Version

Character	Strikers
K’	Krizalid from The King of Fighters ’99
Benimaru Nikaido	Orochi Iori from The King of Fighters ’97
Terry Bogard	Brian Battler from The King of Fighters ’94
Andy Bogard	Lucky Glauber from The King of Fighters ’94
Joe Higashi	Heavy D! from The King of Fighters ’94
Takuma Sakazaki	Mr. Big from Art of Fighting series
Leona Heidern	Orochi from The King of Fighters ’97
Ralf Jones	Orochi Leona from The King of Fighters ’97
Whip	Heidern from The King of Fighters ’94
Mai Shiranui	Wolfgang Krauser from Fatal Fury series

NPC Characters

Candy Diamond

As always, remember to have fun!

How to Play