Must be 2002 that ends with Rugal (again) then. Whichever one it is, it blows hardcore. The gameplay was quite the suck (very broken controls), the AI was completely broken (ooh how shocking! this is the case in ALL Playmore and Eolith abominations), and frankly, the graphics sucked ass compared to 98. 96 thru 2000 remain the only KOF games worth playing...94 and 95 were way too primitive, and 2001-on were just plain trash. I'm glad the series was essentially retired...it couldn't have gotten much worse, and was dragged thru the mud long enough by incompetant coin-hunters.
Hmm...wow, you're on a different wavelength from me for sure. In addition of loving 2003, I also really got into 2002. Yes, the story wasn't there, but if you play fighting games for a story you need to...try something else. Gameplay was very similar to 2000, which is f*cking awesome. "Broken" describes every KOF ever made if you are refering to glitches and stuff. KOF 98, the Empire Strikes Back of SNK, was broken and glitchy as hell, but its still the most loved. I think people are just jaded, and are more happy adopting a "it all sucks" attitude than they would be trying to enjoy a series they grew tired of.
I do hate 2001 though, very much.
Now, as for things that aren't a matter of opinion; KOF being "essentially retired". That's just not true. KOFXI was released not too long ago, and its very much a real KOF. Also there are the MI games, although I'm not going to pretend that I don't hate them, they are a continuation of the series.