Yeah, good point. Didn't even think about that. I'm just so used to thinking of 3D fighters as games like Tekken/DOA/SC where you can sidestep and move freely between planes. But following that logic, an argument could be made that Fatal Fury is a 3D fighter, so I guess it just becomes a semantics issue.
Fatal Fury is a 2D because even if the characters play in 2 or 3 planes, it is still a 2D engine of gameplay.
YuYuHakusho for the megadrive was also a fighter in wich you played in 2 different planes and was also a 2D fighter (and one of the best fighting games ever, I might add, AMAZING SYSTEM).
I think ViolentRyo is right, I think SF 4 is the best adaptation of a 2D game so far, but in the end, that is what it is. A very faithfull 3D adaptation of a 2D fighter.
I also think that, just like Musolini said, SF 4 is noob friendly, while KOF is DEFINATELLY not.
Just like he said, it is a game aimed for veteran fighters.
Of course we are talking in general terms, this doesn´t mean that a veteran fighter can´t be a fan of SF 4 or a 15 years old kid could be interested in KOF 13 and become a fan for the first time in his life.
I am still not sure the Team system could be an issue for newer players, I am not really sold on that idea but I guess it could be a reason. The Vs series of Capcom has always been sucessfull but on the other hand, it has Marvel characters wich assure you a very big market.
I always had a feeling the KOF characters were not so appealing to the American public but that is just an assumption, I could be wrong.
I would still like to know if Fatal Fury was indeed popular or not in the states, I always though it was.