<s>
The	B-Application
King	I-Application
of	I-Application
Fighters	I-Application
Neowave	I-Application
(	O
KOF	B-Application
Neowave	I-Application
,	O
or	O
KOF	O
NW	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
2D	O
fighting	O
game	O
produced	O
by	O
SNK	O
Playmore	O
and	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
coin-operated	O
arcade	O
game	O
for	O
Sammys	O
Atomiswave	B-Application
hardware	O
in	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
SNK	O
Playmore	O
produced	O
for	O
the	O
Atomiswave	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
offshoot	O
of	O
The	B-Application
King	I-Application
of	I-Application
Fighters	I-Application
series	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
counted	O
in	O
the	O
main	O
series	O
numbering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
also	O
made	O
on	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
and	O
Xbox	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PS2	B-Device
version	O
was	O
released	O
only	O
in	O
Japan	O
and	O
the	O
PAL	O
region	O
,	O
the	O
Xbox	B-Application
version	O
was	O
released	O
both	O
in	O
Japan	O
and	O
North	O
America	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
,	O
a	O
Dreamcast	B-Operating_System
homebrew	O
adaptation	O
of	O
the	O
arcade	O
version	O
was	O
also	O
made	O
possible	O
due	O
to	O
the	B-Operating_System
Dreamcast	I-Operating_System
sharing	O
almost	O
identical	O
hardware	O
with	O
its	O
Atomiswave	B-Application
cousin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
character	O
artwork	O
was	O
done	O
by	O
Tomokazu	O
Nakano	O
(	O
of	O
Power	B-Application
Instinct	I-Application
fame	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
the	O
last	O
game	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
Xbox	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
reverts	O
to	O
the	O
3-character	O
elimination	O
system	O
from	O
KOF	B-Application
'	I-Application
94	I-Application
to	O
KOF	B-Application
'	I-Application
98	I-Application
,	O
ignoring	O
gameplay	O
features	O
from	O
later	O
games	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Striker	O
"	O
system	O
used	O
from	O
KOF	B-Application
'	I-Application
99	I-Application
through	O
KOF	B-Application
2001	I-Application
and	O
tag	O
team	O
system	O
in	O
KOF	B-Application
2003	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
and	O
XBOX	B-Application
versions	O
of	O
the	O
games	O
graphics	O
consist	O
of	O
polygonal	O
3D	O
backgrounds	O
overlaid	O
with	O
2D	O
character	O
sprites	O
(	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
3D	O
stages	O
featured	O
in	O
the	O
console	O
versions	O
of	O
previous	O
games	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
such	O
as	O
the	B-Operating_System
Dreamcast	I-Operating_System
versions	O
of	O
KOF	B-Application
'	I-Application
98	I-Application
and	O
KOF	B-Application
'	I-Application
99	I-Application
)	O
,	O
whereas	O
the	O
Arcade	O
version	O
has	O
2D	O
backgrounds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
change	O
of	O
hardware	O
from	O
Neo	O
Geo	O
to	O
Atomiswave	B-Application
,	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
buttons	O
is	O
now	O
increased	O
to	O
five	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
can	O
select	O
their	O
own	O
playing	O
style	O
similar	O
to	O
KOF	O
'	O
97	O
and	O
KOF	B-Application
'	I-Application
98	I-Application
,	O
from	O
three	O
different	O
styles	O
,	O
which	O
affects	O
the	O
techniques	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
player	O
and	O
the	O
length	O
of	O
their	O
Power	O
Gauge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
KOF	B-Application
'	I-Application
98	I-Application
and	O
KOF	O
2002	O
,	O
Neowave	O
has	O
no	O
actual	O
storyline	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
instead	O
a	O
"	O
Dream	O
Match	O
"	O
which	O
gathers	O
numerous	O
characters	O
from	O
various	O
past	O
KOF	O
games	O
,	O
regardless	O
of	O
their	O
status	O
in	O
the	O
overarching	O
storyline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
KOF	O
2000	O
Team	O
and	O
the	O
KOF	B-Application
2001	I-Application
Team	O
are	O
eliminated	O
from	O
the	O
lineup	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
Mixed	O
Team	O
is	O
introduced	O
,	O
composed	O
of	O
Saisyu	O
Kusanagi	O
,	O
Kula	O
Diamond	O
,	O
and	O
Shingo	O
Yabuki	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
brings	O
back	O
five	O
characters	O
from	O
KOF	O
2002	O
:	O
Seth	O
,	O
May	O
Lee	O
,	O
Angel	O
,	O
the	O
Kusanagi	O
clone	O
,	O
and	O
Omega	O
Rugal	O
(	O
with	O
K9999	O
being	O
the	O
only	O
character	O
from	O
KOF	O
2002	O
missing	O
in	O
this	O
version	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Xbox	B-Application
version	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
licensing	O
issues	O
with	O
Eolith	O
,	O
includes	O
all	O
the	O
characters	O
from	O
the	O
PS2	B-Device
version	O
with	O
the	O
exception	O
of	O
Ángel	O
and	O
May	O
Lee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
The	B-Application
King	I-Application
of	I-Application
Fighters	I-Application
2003	I-Application
,	O
SNK	O
Playmore	O
looked	O
for	O
newer	O
substitute	O
platforms	O
for	O
future	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Atomiswave	B-Application
,	O
a	O
cartridge-based	O
multi-arcade	O
system	O
like	O
the	O
Neo-Geo	O
and	O
based	O
on	O
Sega	O
's	O
Dreamcast	B-Operating_System
hardware	O
,	O
with	O
which	O
SNK	O
was	O
already	O
familiar	O
,	O
was	O
an	O
obvious	O
candidate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rather	O
than	O
commit	O
a	O
new	O
major	O
game	O
blindly	O
,	O
SNK	O
instead	O
chose	O
to	O
"	O
test	O
the	O
waters	O
"	O
with	O
a	O
remix	O
of	O
The	B-Application
King	I-Application
of	I-Application
Fighters	I-Application
2002	O
,	O
tweaking	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
systems	O
;	O
reskinning	O
the	O
game	O
with	O
high-resolution	O
backgrounds	O
,	O
character	O
art	O
,	O
and	O
interface	O
elements	O
to	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
more	O
advanced	O
hardware	O
;	O
and	O
removing	O
characters	O
originating	O
with	O
the	O
Eolith-developed	O
KOF2001	O
and	O
KOF2002	O
,	O
replacing	O
them	O
with	O
other	O
SNK-originated	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
King	I-Application
of	I-Application
Fighters	I-Application
:	I-Application
Neowave	I-Application
met	O
with	O
mixed	O
reviews	O
upon	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
in	O
some	O
ways	O
it	O
feels	O
like	O
a	O
step	O
backward	O
from	O
The	B-Application
King	I-Application
of	I-Application
Fighters	I-Application
2002.	O
"	O
</s>
