The King of Fighters 2001 (NGM-262?)

SNK Neo-Geo MVS cart. published 24 years ago:

The King of Fighters 2001 (c) 2001 Eolith.

With the largest KOF lineup totaling at 40 characters, newcomers Eolith do a great job at delivering high quality fighting action along with one of the most difficult pairs of bosses in fighting game history!

- TECHNICAL -

Runs on the SNK "Neo-Geo MVS" hardware.
GAME ID: NGM-262

[SNK MVS Neo-Geo Controls]
2 players - 4 buttons per player.
[JOY] 8-way.
[A] Light punch.
[B] Light kick.
[C] Strong punch.
[D] Strong kick.

- TRIVIA -

Released in October 2001.

About Ron:
The planners at the time enthusiastically came up with the idea of the Flying Brigands, the idea being to add a thrilling side story to KOF. Ron became the chief of this bunch. His first appearance came in the ending sequence for Benimaru's Team in KOF 2000. This ending sequence got first-rate reviews for its content and presentation, becoming one of the most popular episodes in the history of KOF. From KOF 2000 on, the background story became more complex on various levels, but subsequently SNK had a few problems (sniff, sniff) causing Ron's creators (the planners at the time) to go their different ways... Whenever the current staff who continue to work on KOF run into the original staff on the train to work, they are sure to grill them about Ron's background (thanks for your cooperation, by the way!). As a result of all this, he made a grand entrance as the boss characters' Striker in KOF 2001. The numerous characters who were involved with him, too, continue their exploits in the world of KOF even now. Ron is a character who uses the tricky actions from Chinese boxing and he continues work on reaching his ghoulish objective to be able to manipulate the dead. Just when he'll be able to appear as a player character is a mystery even to us...

About May Lee:
One reason of existence for May came from a consideration of the needs of our Korean fans. In addition to that, Eolith, a sponsor at the time, expressed their desire for a character like a 'Korean Athena'. This request asked for an 'idol-like visual fighter', or something along that line, and designers recall that it really threw us for a loop. Through trial and error, designers arrived at a character that was a long way from the original concept, but with this process May Lee, the perky tae kwon do fighter for justice, was born. Designers got her name from the person who was in charge of Eolith (Eolith Co., Ltd.) at the time.

About Foxy:
Rumor has it that a lot of fans think Foxy died in KOF 2001, but she's alive and well (LAUGH). Initially there were no plans for her to become a player character, but her presence was needed as the story developed and she got the go-ahead. Originally Foxy was to be a character spun off from Diana, but it seems the plan just didn't work. In the end there just wasn't enough time; the graphics were worked out with great effort, but she got the boot as a result of time constraints.

About K9999:
K9999 is Eolith's homage to Tetsuo from Akira. His voice actor also did Tetsuo. For various reasons K9999 is a scary character to deal with. Of course he's based on 'you know who' and has, well, similarities that we're happy a certain 'you know who' didn't object to. If you count the similarities between 'you know who' and the other 'you know who', you'd be counting from now to St. Swithun's Day. K9999 boasts a big following of fans in Korea and Japan, but no other character has such obstacles against him appearing in KOF again.

About Angel:
Angel was realized through the overwhelming passion of her designer (LAUGH). You could say that there was just no stopping him. You can see his preferences in almost every aspect of her. She's a real rascal who has a lot of special moves like the 'Unchained Circle' and is one tough customer to deal with. Designers splurged on the voice for Angel in KOF 2001 and hired Mina Tominaga, a famous Japanese voice actress. Angel's designer was quite pleased with that...

About Zero (The Original):
The supervising designer was dissatisfied with KOF 2000's Zero so he struggled with his disappointment and completed this character. Must have been that little mustache (LAUGH). And the character of Glaugan (King Lion) at his side also got nixed and wasn't used in KOF 2000 either. Talk about not getting your way! Along with polishing Zero, he was tortured with mission to realize his first boss character after leaving SNK that surpassed Krizalid's presence and strength.

About Igniz:
Since all designer's sponsor had to say to us-about 100 times-about Igniz was "make him hot", "make him hot", and "make him hot", Designers made him, well, a real stud. The standards for handsome characters in fighting games for Asian fans are exacting; and there is a tendency for people here to shy away from ugly and comic characters. Designer think he serves so well as a foil, the lead character comes off all the better.

Yuri's battle start pose is a knock-off of Felicia's battle start pose in "Vampire Savior - The Lord Of Vampire". Besides this, Yuri has the special attack of Gouki, the one that grabs your opponent and then the screen turns black as he gives you 30 hits in 3 seconds. This move is called the 'Yuri Chou Enbu' (means 'Yuri Super Flame Dance'). The move can only be made with the special gauge at max (with at least 1 striker - The sequence is: A, A Forward, B, C). Yuri will get Gouki's 'Messatsu' pose if you finish your opponent with it. It's a parody of Gouki's super finish splash screen (the one with the kanji 'ten' on it when he finishes his opponent with the Shun Goku Satsu).

Athena, in one of her win poses, dances about and says 'Yattai!' in a very familiar way... She's parodying Chun-Li!

The little kid that appears in Terry Bogard's win poses is none other than a young Rock Howard from "Garou - Mark of The Wolves". Since Garou takes place in 2008, Rock is still a young kid in training during this game.

Leona, Ralph and Clark are playable characters in the Foma 90x Series Mobile Phones game 'Metal Slug Survivors'.

Soundtracks:
[JP] Dec. 19, 2001; The King of Fighters 2001 - Original Sound Trax [SCDC-00143]

A hack of this game is known as "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 2003".

- UPDATES -

If you set the region to Korea in the MVS test menu, the voices of all of the Korea Team change and May Lee is renamed Lee Jinju

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Choose Your Winning Pose:
Press a button immediately after beating the opponent and before the 'You Win' mark appears. Each button gives a specific winning pose.

* Secret ending:
Beat the game with an edit team, but K', Maxima, Whip, Kula, Angel and Foxy must be absent from it.

- SERIES -

1. The King of Fighters '94 [Model NGM-055] (1994, Arcade)
2. The King of Fighters '95 [Model NGM-084] (1995, Arcade)
3. The King of Fighters '96 [Model NGM-214] (1996, Arcade)
4. The King of Fighters '97 [Model NGM-232] (1997, Arcade)
5. The King of Fighters '98 - The Slugfest [Model NGM-242] (1998, Arcade)
6. The King of Fighters '99 - Millennium Battle [Model NGM-251] (1999, Arcade)
7. The King of Fighters 2000 [Model NGM-257] (2000, Arcade)
8. The King of Fighters 2001 [Model NGM-262] (2001, Arcade)
9. The King of Fighters 2002 - Challenge to Ultimate Battle [Model NGM-265] (2002, Arcade)
10. The King of Fighters 2003 [Model NGM-271] (2003, Arcade)
11. The King of Fighters NeoWave (2004, Arcade)
12. The King of Fighters Maximum Impact (2004, PS2)
13. The King of Fighters XI (2005, Arcade)
14. The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2 [Model SLPS-25638] (2006, PS2)
15. The King of Fighters Maximum Impact - Regulation A (2007, Arcade)
16. The King of Fighters Maximum Impact - Regulation A2 (2008, Arcade)
17. The King of Fighters '98 - Ultimate Match (2008, Arcade)
18. The King of Fighters XII (2009, Arcade)
19. The King of Fighters XIII (2010, Arcade)
20. The King of Fighters XIII Climax (2012, Arcade)
21. The King of Fighters XIV (2016, Arcade)
22. The King of Fighters XV (2022, PS4)

- STAFF -

Executive producers : Jeon Ju Young, Yosh Jinno
Producer : Chil Suk Choi
Director : Lee Seon Ho
Main engineer : S. Fujinuki
Engineers : Nakamura, Koji Shinza, T. Hayashi
Demo designers : Narisato, Asuka, Eimotsu
Script writer : Teampow
Chief planners : H. Iga, Hatarow
Sequence chief : M. Ruyun
Sub planners : Kaba, Ued_Aiko
Adjusters : T-2000, Yuta Lix Sawad (as Lix), Nakasan, Jun, U_Ske, Minaru, Fujiiri
Music & Sound designers : Masahiko Hataya (as WBM M. Hataya), Kidon (as WBM Kidon)
Title designers : Naohisa Yamaguti (Naohisa's Factory)

* Front Designers :
K', Kyo, Shingo, Iori, Takuma, Angel : Styleos
Maxima, Lin, Benimaru, Seth, Mai, Hinako, Kensou, Kim, Choi, Zero, Igniz : C.A.C. Yamasaki
Whip, Leona, Ralf, Clark, Heidern, Mary, Kula, Foxy : Kii & Kuu
Drimon, Terry, Yuri : Dice
Vanessa : Kamada
Ramon, Joe, Athena, Chin : Taku & Takukko
Andy : C.A.C. Yamasaki, Taku & Takukko
Ryo, Robert, King : Kamada
Xangfei, Bad : Unotti
K9999 : Styleos, Dice, Unotti
Chang : Bandee, Taku & Takukko
May : C.A.C. Yamasaki, Kamada

* Back Designers :
Japan stage : Guttyon
Italy stage : Mae
Mexico stage : Jaepe, Nobuyuki Kobayashi
America, brazil and Igniz stage : ????
China stage : Masae M.
Korea and Zero stage : Nobuyuki Kobayashi

* Voice Actors :
K' : Yuuki Matsuda
Iori Yagami : Kunihiko Yasui
Maxima : Katsuyuki Konishi
Vanessa : Kaori Minami
Whip : Shiho Kikuchi
Seth : Hidetoshi Nakamura
Lin : Takaya Kuroda
Ramon : Eiji Takemoto
Kyo Kusanagi : Masahiro Nonaka
Leona : Masae yumi
Benimaru Nikaido : Monster Maetsuka
Ralf Jones : Monster Maetsuka
Goro Daimon : Masaki Usui
Clark Steel : Yoshinori Shima
Shingo Yabuki : Takehito Koyasu
Heidern : Toshimitsu Arai
Terry Bogard : Satoshi Hashimoto
King : Harumi Ikoma
Andy Bogard : Keiichi nanba
Mai Shiranui : Akoya Sogi
Joe Higashi : Nobuyuki Hiyama
Hinako : Ayako Kawasumi
Blue Mary : Harumi Ikoma
Li Xiangfei : Mami Kingetsu
Ryo Sakazaki : Masaki Usui
Kula : Yumi Kakazu
Robert Garcia : Mantaro Koichi
Foxy : Haruna Ikezawa
Yuri Sakazaki : Kaori Horie
K9999 : Nozomu Sasaki
Takuma Sakazaki : Eiji Tsuda
Angel : Miina Tominaga
Athena Asamiya : Haruna Ikezawa
Zero : Toshimitsu Arai
Kensou : Eiji Yano
Igniz : Norio Wakamoto
Chin : Toshikazu Nishimura
Bao : Kanako Nakano
Kim Kaphwan : Satoshi Hashimoto
Chang : Hiroyuki Arita
Choi : Monster Maetsuka
May : Tomoko Kawakami
Ron : Takaya Kuroda
Krizalid : Eiji Yand
Diana : Haruna Ikezawa
Kogorou : Eiji Yand
Hizoku Bigmen (SAI) : Takaya Kuroda
Hizoku Women (LAN) : Yumi Kakazu
Hizoku Child (CHATO) : Yumi Kakazu
Announce : Mighty Inagaki

- PORTS -

* CONSOLES:
[JP] SNK Neo-Geo AES (Mar. 14, 2002) "The King of Fighters 2001 [Model NGH-262]"
[JP] Sega Dreamcast (Dec. 26, 2002) "The King of Fighters 2001 [Model T-47304M]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (Oct. 23, 2003) "The King of Fighters 2001 [Model SLPS-25266]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (Feb. 15, 2005) "SNK Best Collection: The King of Fighters 2001 [Model SLPS-25458]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (Apr. 17, 2007) "NeoGeo Online Collection Vol.7: The King of Fighters - Nests [Model SLPS-25661]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (May.29, 2008) "NeoGeo Online Collection The Best: The King of Fighters - Nests [Model SLPS-25865]"

* COMPUTERS:
PC [MS Windows] (2003)

- CONTRIBUTE -

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