SNK attempted to add further depth to the NESTS cast with K''s new enemy Kula Diamond; other new characters like Vanessa and Seth were intended to attract different audiences.

Critical reception to the game's fighting system and characters has been mostly positive due to the improvements SNK brought to the franchise.

There were mixed reactions to the company's handling of the graphics and backgrounds, which divided reviewers opinions about its status as one of the best games of the series as they believed previous installments were more appealing.

[3] After an incident at the previous tournament, the commander of the Ikari Warriors Team, Heidern, is determined to investigate the objective of the NESTS cartel and stop it from achieving its ruthless ambition.

Ling, a fellow commander and long-time friend of Heidern, tells him that K′ and Maxima were once NESTS operatives and that they may hold the key to locating the whereabouts of the mysterious organization.

Shortly afterwards, Ling and a couple of his associates suddenly attack and betray Heidern near the end of the tournament, the former revealing himself to be a clone of the real Ling who was murdered in the past and being replaced via the machinations of a high-ranking NESTS member named Zero, who seeks to destroy NESTS itself and create a new world order under his own rule.

The story was progressing with the idea that Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami wouldn't appear as new developments, but then they started to think that it was not enough, and we had to at least have them as hidden characters leading to keep them without a team.

There were mixed opinions on the internet about the Striker System, but KOF 2000 would also make use of it, so SNK hopes people will accept it and enjoy it.

[2] Because previous regulars from The King of Fighters games were not playable, SNK took advantage of the striker system and give players the choice of using Goro Daimon among others as alternative assisting characters.

[7] SNK found the Bogard brothers, Terry and Andy, unbalanced in the previous game because one of them was overpowered as a striker; the company joked that this was also a result of the love between the siblings.

[11] Vanessa and Seth were originally set to appear in The King of Fighters '99 but they debuted on its Dreamcast port as strikers, while becoming playable in 2000.

[12] Both the debuting Lin and the unplayable Ron generated a major surprise to the SNK staff because their addition to the story was not overlooked.

[20] The Neo-Geo and Sega Dreamcast versions of the game were included in The King of Fighters NESTS Hen, a compilation released for the Sony PlayStation 2 in Japan.

[24][23][25] GameSpot said SNK improved most of the problems of its predecessor The King of Fighters '99 by adding more gameplay features such as new attacks and new additions to the Striker system.

While Pure Nintendo enjoyed the character designs, backgrounds, and theme songs,[27] IGN said these elements appeared dated due to similarities with those of previous installments and the improved graphics of new consoles.

[23] GameSpot said while SNK attempted to improve the designs of the characters, the quality was still not as appealing as it should have been and that the background stages felt hollow.

It features two storylines: one exploring the first encounter between K' and Kula Diamond; the second story focuses on Athena Asamiya as she meets rivals in an airport.