Racketboy

With the announcement of KOF2003 in addition to Samurai Spirits Zero and the Street Fighter Anniversay Collection having their recent PS2 releases, the Playstation 2 is becoming THE console for 2D fighters. You should appreciate the fact that admiting that is relatively difficult for me since for the longest time I’ve been proud to say that the Dreamcast has reigned in that area followed closely by the Sega Saturn. (And I am sometimes known as a PS2 anti-fanboy)

However, the PS2 does not have an official arcade stick, so that kinda gives it a disadvantage. The Dreamcast arcade stick is… well… dreamy. However I suppose an X-Arcade stick could remedy this problem.

I wouldn’t pack up my Dreamcast however — it still has Street Fighter Alpha 3, Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, and Last Blade 2 in addition to some other miscellaneous fighters. But the PS2 does have the inferior PSX SFA3 port, the newest SNK ports, and an newer version of Guilty Gear.

However you look at it, the 2D fighter battle is getting surprising fierce. I’m sure the mainstream gaming market could care less, but for fighter junkies like me, this is big news.

Followups:
SNK to Remake KOF 94 for Anniversary - 2D Revolution Continues?
PS2 Gaining Tremendous 2D Support from SNK