From what I remembered, Counter mode basically gave you unlimited DM's for a short duration and a power boost, and if I recall correctly, DM's had no super freeze, they came out instantly. You could also cancel into DM's off specials, but it was practically useless because they would never connect.
2k2's Max Mode, now that's a poor man's HD mode, the cancel rules for moves were more strict, and loops were more uncommon, but it really didn't matter, the goal with Max Mode really was to hit a SDM or Max2 which is where the brunt of the damage came from.