The King of Fighters 2003 is the tenth installment in SNK's long running King of Fighters series, and the last KOF to appear on the Neo Geo system. This game's storyline focuses on the unexpected return of the Orochi power, who was thought to have been permanently sealed away by Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami and Chizuru Kagura.
This year there are 30 characters, including two edit characters (Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami), and two hidden characters (Kusanagi from King of Fighters '02 and Chizuru Kagura) to choose from. There are several returning characters (Jhun Hoon, King, Shingo Yabuki, Hinako Shijou, Billy Kane and Ryuji Yamazaki), and few new fighters as well (Ash Crimson, Shen Woo, Duo Lon, Malin, Adelheid Bernstein and Mukai).
The King of Fighters 2003 reverts back to the old 3-on-3 format used from KOF '94 to KOF '98 . A new feature to this game that old-school KOF fans might have trouble getting used to is the new interchangeable team system. You still pick three characters and decide your character order before a match, but now you have the option to change to another character during a match.