The final King of Fighters game released by SNK in its original state, The King of Fighters 2000 expands on the story and gameplay presented in The King of Fighters '99. This year's tournament is sponsored by the Ikari Warriors in an attempt to discover more about the NESTS organization, and to derail the plans of potential NESTS agents K' and Maxima. Not everything is as straight-forward as it usually is, however, and even the Ikari Warriors themselves are at risk of being betrayed from within by the end of the tournament. The King of Fighters 2000 features an improved Striker call system with the Active Striker System, which allows the player to call his Striker character in any situation, whether he is attacking or being attacked by the opponent, allowing him to use their strikers in combos. Moreover, in addition to the numerous nostalgic SNK characters returning as Another and Maniac Strikers, KOF 2000 welcomes newcomers such as Ramon, Vanessa, Seth, Lin, Hinako Shijo, and Kula Diamond.