A very short while back SNK released King of Fighters 02/03 on the PlayStation 2, a delectable double pack featuring the eighth and ninth iterations of the company's classic series. Both games deliver quality beat-em-up action that is the publisher's pedigree, yet the lack of online play, while not necessarily damaging to product, filled me with thoughts of what could have been. Thankfully, all answers have been revealed with the Xbox port that comes with full Xbox Live support, so I can get my jollies from beating up people in my room and from all over the world.

Aside from the online play this double disc collection is identical to its PlayStation 2 counterpart. What you're getting is King of Fighters 02 and 03, each one featuring its own signature charm. KOF 02 is the more primitive of the two though it still packs a powerful kick to the groin, featuring a whopping 44 characters from the SNK universe (KOF 96 to KOF 2001) including but not limited to Kyo, Benimaru, Terry, Andy, Joe, Leona, Clark, Maxima, Whip, Chang, Choi, Kim, and of course, the virtually delectable Mai, each of which features their signature animations and special moves.

Battles in KOF 02 are frenzied 3-on-3 affairs, so you can select from the assigned SNK teams such as the Woman Fighter Team, the Fatal Fury Team, the Japan Team, or the KOF'98 Team (and many more), or just mix and match various characters to create your own squad. However, unlike KOF 03 you cannot change your characters in game. Before the match begins you're required to choose the order each person fights in, and as each one is defeated (or not if you're a really excellent player), you'll just move on to the next combatant.

KOF 02 is a lot of fun and the Xbox Live play is damn near seamless but it's the more dated of the two games. The character sprites look about the same, but the flat 2D backgrounds pale in comparison to the 3D visuals in KOF 03. That's not to say that the 10 stages in that game are beautiful because that's far from the case (it's rather crude looking 3D), but there is a stark contrast between the two.

My first reaction after having played both titles was to consider KOF 03 to be the superior game but it's more a matter of taste. After all, while it has those 3D backgrounds and therefore looks prettier, it doesn't have as many fighters. Also, being able to swap out characters on the fly (known as Multi-Shift) ala Marvel Vs Capcom instead of selecting a set order somewhat diminishes the level of strategy, but what's really going on here is we've got two fighting games that cosmetically look the same but provide two different play experiences. Lastly, and just like in KOF 02, the online action is very satisfying.

I personally love this collection not only because they're both two great fighting games but also because of the Xbox Live experience. With that being said, they're still two crusty looking games, so purists as well as core gamers will get the most out of them. Bottom line, SNK proves yet again that the Xbox's greatest brawlers (the DOA series being the only exception) just happen to be 2D fighters.