This game isn't comparable to KOF2003, but to SvC Chaos :|
I think we actually see eye to eye on this. I stuck it in last night to give it a try, messed around with each character to see how they played and whatnot. First off, the same itself feels EXTREMELY sluggish compared to other SNK fighters (I habitually play my MVS in my spare time.. mostly Garou of KoF2k, the occasional slug goodness as well.) and it might have been just me.. but all the motions seemed slightly sluggish.
Graphically I was also dissapointed. Even with sprite softener cranked up as high as it could go, at 1080p it was still icky looking. The backgrounds were astonishing, but the characters themselves could've been cleaner. One big issue I had was athena. Her sprite is traditional to her premier game.. but looks like it belongs in blazblue. Too... chibi-ish.
Netcode... dear god. Just... no.
SNKP Dropped the ball on this one I'm afraid I'll be selling this game right away.