KOF newbie

[Vanilla]

Hey, my name is Paul and I am a KOF newbie. I dabbled awhile ago in Garou for a bit but I have never seriously tried to learn an game from SNK before. With the release of KOF2002UM on 360, I figured it would be as good a time as any to give the franchise a shot and get some experience before KoFXIII comes to consoles.
So far, I have mostly been messing around with Leona and randoming other characters until I find a composition I like. I first went to the KOF2002UM subforum to look for information; however, it is a little sparse. So, any pointers or links you provide on learning the game and playing Leona would be greatly appreciated.

[Xxenace]

yo dude

[Kane317]

Hey, my name is Paul and I am a KOF newbie. I dabbled awhile ago in Garou for a bit but I have never seriously tried to learn an game from SNK before. With the release of KOF2002UM on 360, I figured it would be as good a time as any to give the franchise a shot and get some experience before KoFXIII comes to consoles.
So far, I have mostly been messing around with Leona and randoming other characters until I find a composition I like. I first went to the KOF2002UM subforum to look for information; however, it is a little sparse. So, any pointers or links you provide on learning the game and playing Leona would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Paul, welcome to DC.  There's no better place to learn kof than here.  Definitely ask questions at the 2k2UM forum general discussion thread.  As long as you ask nicely and describe in detail what you need help people will be more than happy to help you.  Personally, I abandoned 2k2UM (not because it's a bad game, but I moved on to XII and now XIII) so my memory is way too fuzzy to help.  If you ever need help with XIII I'll be happy to lend you my experience.  Let me know how we can better serve you. =)

[Nagare_Ryouma]

Hey, my name is Paul and I am a KOF newbie. I dabbled awhile ago in Garou for a bit but I have never seriously tried to learn an game from SNK before. With the release of KOF2002UM on 360, I figured it would be as good a time as any to give the franchise a shot and get some experience before KoFXIII comes to consoles.
So far, I have mostly been messing around with Leona and randoming other characters until I find a composition I like. I first went to the KOF2002UM subforum to look for information; however, it is a little sparse. So, any pointers or links you provide on learning the game and playing Leona would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and welcome to DC.
This is gonna sound kind of stupid and obvious, but the best way to learn KOF is to actually play with good players.
If the online works as everyone is hoping, try to play againts as many people as possible.
THEY WILL KICK YOUR ASS, but it is the only way. There are a lot of things that made KOF an extrematelly complex game such as the different kind of jumps you can perform, not to mention the roll. You will have to learn when to pressure someone, how to avoid being pressured, how to get away from certain things, how to counter, etc. There is a lot of speculation in KOF, A LOT.
I've been playing fighting games since the dawn of the genre, at first I was not really fond of KOF, but I played it anyway. After some time and different games, I finally reach the conclusion that it is one of the most complex fighting games ever, wich is what makes it incredible. Plus, the characters have a lot of personality.
As I mentioned before, if you play with someone that knows what he's doing, they will kick your ass. Don´t be discouraged and keep challenging other players and you will eventually get it.