Geh. The list of characters for KoF2002 was just announced. I’m… not really thrilled. It could be a lot worse, but there are what I feel at least a couple of just plain stupid omissions. And were Brezza to put in just one more team — a mere three more character slots — I think they could form perhaps the ideal lineup.

The thing is, the game only has 39 characters, plus Shingo as a challenger (as in ’98), Rugal as the boss (again!), and a second version of K9999 as a mid-boss. This is silly, considering that 2001 had 40 characters and two bosses. You’d think a huge Dream Match event game would have at least a couple more characters than a standard chapter of the series.

What’s worse — they left out KING, of all characters! I mean, King! My King! Not only is she one of the most popular characters in the series, but she’s one of the few characters whom I can use really well (at least by my pathetic standards). She’s usually the first character I pick in any KoF, to test out.

Urgh.

Anyway, here’s the roster for 2002:

Japan Team:

• Kyo Kusanagi
• Benimaru Nikaido
• Goro Daimon

Fatal Fury Team:

• Terry Bogard
• Andy Bogard
• Joe Higashi

Art of Fighting Team:

• Ryo Sakazaki
• Robert Garcia
• Takuma Sakazaki

Ikari Team:

• Leona Heidern
• Ralf Jones
• Clark Steel

Psycho Soldier Team:

• Athena Asamiya
• Sie Kensou
• Chin Gentsai

Korea Team:

• Kim Kaphwan
• Choi Bounge
• Chang Koehan

Gals Fighters Team:

• Mai Shiranuiv
• Yuri Sakazaki
• May Lee

’96 Team

• Iori Yagami (Um. Iori was around in ’95 too, guys.)
• Mature
• Vice

’97 Team

• Yamazaki Ryuji
• Blue Mary
• Billy Kane

’98 Team (Why is this the “’98” team?)

• Yashiro
• Shermie
• Chris

’99 Team

• K’
• Maxima
• Whip

2000 Team

• Vanessa
• Seth
• Ramon

2001 Team

• Kula Diamond
• K9999
• Angel

Mid-Boss: K9999
Boss: Rugal
Challenger: Shingo

Characters removed: King, Heidern, Bao, Foxy, Lin, Hinako, Xiang Fei.

Characters added: Yashiro, Shermie, Chris, Yamazaki, Mature, Vice, Billy.

I can see exactly why these characters were brought back; they’re the most popular and the most interesting of those who were left behind in the Orochi era. But why remove such interesting characters as King, Heidern, Bao, and Foxy to facilitate this? And what about poor old Jhun? There are so many ways this could have been organized better.

What I don’t understand is why K9999 is in the game twice — once as a player character and once as a boss. I’m assuming that Rugal and Shingo will both become playable as edit characters at some time or another, as they were in ’98. The same could easily be the same for K9999. Couldn’t K9999’s slot in the NESTS team be freed up pretty easily if he were only in the game once? Then we could drag Foxy back in. Foxy is one of the most interesting and different characters to enter the series lately, in terms of gameplay, so it’s a shame that she’s not in the game; her fencing techniques would add a lot of variety to the character selection. This is just the simplest and most obvious change, in my opinion. It doesn’t do anything to help bring King back in, but it’s a loose end which I think could do with some patching.

Something I’ve been waiting to happen — and I know I’m not alone in this — is for Chang and Choi to finally be set “free”, and for May Lee and Jhun to fill their places in the Korean lineup. If this were to happen, the lineup would instantly, and easily, be more complete-seeming. May Lee would leave a gap in the Gals team, and King could come back to take her leading role. Chang and Choi could take a place in one of the backgrounds, cheering Kim’s team on. Hey, they deserve a break as much as I deserve a break from having to deal with them. They make better window dressing.

Still, they are important characters. If Brezza didn’t want to remove them, then they could have taken out Takuma without too much strain. Hey, they already got rid of Heidern; the other “Oyaji” character who might or might not be in any given game. And Takuma doesn’t play that especially differently from the other Sakazakis aside from his lack of an uppercut (although they have all evolved a lot since ’99). King certainly offers more variety than Takuma ever could. So shove Yuri back in with her dojo-mates, and — again — give King back her team. Simple!

Another possibility: bring back the beloved “Oyaji Team” from ’98. Reel Heidern back in where he belongs, and once again kick Takuma out of his dojo. For the third slot, we can pull Chin out of the Psycho Soldier team. This would leave Yuri free to join Ryo and Robert as before, and an empty spaceon Athena’s team for Bao to squeeze in. A lot of Americans seem to dislike Bao, particularly younger fanboys who seem threatened by his cuteness. But I think he’s adorable, and he’s got really interesting play mechanics. I’m surprised he was removed, as he’s also become a pretty important character lately.

Anyway, once again this would leave an empty slot in the Gals team, for King — and it would only involve bringing back three characters, all of whom are reasonably important anyway. Plus, the Oyaji Team just seems to me like something which should become a tradition in the Dream Match games. It’s a similar kind of team to the Gals Fighters Team, only for old men instead of women. And it only comes to exist when the old men are pushed to the sidelines and ousted from their teams by the younger members — which would mostly be during Dream Matches. I just like this idea, somehow. It’s a shame that Brezza didn’t pick up on it this time around.

One last idea — perhaps the most radical of all. Most of the changes I’ve suggested so far have been reasonably small, but how about we combine them all.

Take where I left off in the last example, with the Oyaji team, and King and Bao returned to where they belong. Now what would happen if we “fixed” the Korean team again? Out with the ugly, and in with Jhun and May Lee. This leaves an empty slot alongside King and Mai. Solution? Slide in Mary, of course. This leaves a hole in the ’97 Special Team, however. What to do?

How about this: we swap Billy for Mature and Vice. That way, we get a second Orochi Team to go alongside the New Face Team. Yamazaki, Mature, Vice. This seems like a trio who belong together.

Meanwhile, what’s going on with Iori? He’s all alone, with Billy and an empty space…

… Iori, Billy, and an empty space.

Is there anyone out there who is familiar with King of Fighers and who has not wondered what the heck happened to Eiji? People have been screaming for years about the fact that he’s never made a return appearance since ’95 — not even in ’98, which would have been the ideal opportunity. Now we’ve got another chance, and he’s still missing.

He doesn’t have to be, though. And heck, even with his addition the character roster would still only be up by three under my current plan. This is not a lot of extra cart space, or effort. And just think of how much more satisfied just about everyone would probably be (aside from those few enormous Choi and Chang fans out there).

Here’s what my edited lineup looks like. Mind, I’ve only made a few tiny changes. But just compare how much more complete this list is in comparison to the last one:

Japan Team:

• Kyo
• Benimaru
• Goro

Hero Team:

• K’
• Maxima
• Whip

Iori Team:

• Iori
• Billy
• Eiji

NESTS Team:

• Kula
• Foxy
• Angel

Fatal Fury Team:

• Terry
• Andy
• Joe

Art of Fighting Team:

• Ryo
• Robert
• Yuri

Ikari Team:

• Leona
• Ralf
• Clark

Psycho Soldiers Team:

• Athena
• Kensou
• Bao

Korea Team:

• Kim
• May Lee
• Jhun

Gals Fighters Team:

• King
• Mai
• Blue Mary

Oyaji Team:

• Heidern
• Takuma
• Chin

Spy Team:

• Seth
• Vanessa
• Ramon

Orochi Team:

• Yamazaki
• Mature
• Vice

New Face Team:

• Yashiro
• Shermie
• Chris

Mid-Boss: K9999
Boss: Rugal
Challenger: Shingo

Well, am I right here? All things considered, isn’t this quite superior — while still not all that different from the original?

Poo, see what happens when game designers forget to ask me for advice.