Capcom vs. SNK

"The title all hardcore fighting fans have been waiting for...and it just about delivers..."

Capcom vs SNK: two companies who respectivelly own the two most famous, recognisable 2d fighting game franchises in the video-gaming world today: Street Fighter and King of Fighters, comboed together into a fighting title of apocalyptic proportion?
Not quite. Whilst this title is competent and polished to the usual high Capcom standards, it's probably arrived three or four years too late. What with the popularity of the VS fighting series, and the next-generation of 3D fighters, both of which offer next-generation visual and gaming flair, Capcom vs SNK seems to be more of a step backwards.

That's not to say that the visuals in CvsS aren't impressive- they are. The SNK cast have been refurbished by Capcom's artists, and the results are staggering. As a loyal SNK fan, my heart skipped a beat when I saw my favourite KOF characters in hi-res, and beautifully animated. If Capcom are to take over the SNK fighting game franchises in the wake of SNK's demise, then SNK fans will rejoice at the prospect of their favourite pugilists featured on hardware that will finally do their proud histories justice. The Capcom characters, unfortunately, seem to be nothing more than ''cut and paste'' jobs from the Alpha series, with a few notable exceptions. Ryu and Ken appear similar to their SF2:WW incarnations, as does the Japanese Vega. Another important feature are the backgrounds,which are also done to the usual Capcom standard, especially the car accident scene- for those who haven't seen it, watch the intro that preludes that stage- one of the funniest and also tear-jerking moments in video-gaming that I have come acoss. The detail in the backgrounds is amazing- from the onlookers in the Japan stage, through to the shadows being cast in the alleyway- everything has a ''next-gen'' feel to it. The Last Blade style intros also add a cinematic feel to proceedings.
In terms of Audio, the dance style music seems a little generic, though it is possible to open up some of the original themes from SF2:WW and KOF. The announcer's voice gets on your nerves a little though.

With 28 characters selectable from the beginning, there's plenty of life in this title, as it should be. But after the excesses of MvC2, that figure seems meagre. Many secrets are also waiting to be found, which can be bought with points earned from playing the game, and downloading points from the same title on the NeoGeo Pocket. The well-publicised ratio system does seem unbalanced unfortunately, but it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Unfortunately the SNK characters are missing some of their moves, probably in an attempt on Capcom`s part to even out the number of moves each character has, which will come as a disappointment to the Neo-freaks.

As I said earlier, if this had come out a few years ago, we would be looking at the best fighting game on the market. It's nowhere near that. It seems more like ''Capcom vs SNK-lite'' a diet version of the substance that everyone hopes Capcom will deliver when they inevitably roll out the sequel. It's playable as hell, and there is a lot of fun to be had, but SNK fans will want to stear clear because the SNK characters, whilst having been enhanced aesthetically, are missing certain moves and comboes.
If you're a fighting game fan or you worship Capcom then you've probably imported this game already. I still highly recommend it to anyone bar the most obssessive SNK fans, but ultimately, despite it's shortcomings, the match ups we`ve all been waiting for are finally here. Hopefully a sequel will rectify all its predecessor's shortcomings.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/00, Updated 09/10/00