Capcom vs. SNK

"A cool cross over fighter but not without it's flaws"

Well we waited and Capcom and SNK delivered (to varying degrees) the game fighting fans had dreamed about but never thought possible given Capcom and SNK’s rivalry. Yes a cross over game featuring the two company’s trademark fighters titled Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 was made. But is Capcom vs. SNK really all it was hyped up to be? Read on to find out.

Capcom and SNK are without a doubt the most popular fighting game developers in the world of video games. Each boasts many of the most popular series and characters to their names and each has had a major part in shaping what fighting games are today. Naturally the idea of making a game in which you could play as characters from both Street Fighter and The King of Fighters (the flag ship franchises of the two respective companies) was extremely appealing. Capcom vs. SNK is a good and satisfying gaming experience in my opinion but it doesn’t quite live up to all the hype surrounding it. Considering what this game was intended to be leaves a bit to be desired. One of the biggest flaws right up front was the lack of effort contributed by SNK. Although this game does include many of SNK’s best loved characters the company itself contributed very minimally to the development of the game. It was Capcom who did almost all the work and as such the game has much more of a Capcom feel to it than SNK. The other problem is that a lot of things are recycled from earlier games (ex: character sprites). The collision of various gameplay style also creates a bit of unease that hinders the game's success.

Now let’s look at each aspect of the game.

In the game’s Arcade mode you form a team of fighters (ala King of Fighters style) to battle your way to the top. However instead of being forced to build a standard team of 3 characters you are given the ability to form a team containing between 1 to 4 characters. The way this works is every fighter has been assigned a certain point value between 1 and 4. Each point counts for 1 point on your selection gauge and once you have four points you cannot have any more fighters on your team. For example Kyo costs 2 points so if you were to select him you would have the option of either forming a team of two by picking another character with a 2 point cost (ex: Ryu, Kim, Mai, Zangief) or you could form a team of 3 by picking two characters with a 1 point cost (ex: Vice, Blanka, Benimaru, Dhalsim). The idea behind this was to create better character balance by preventing players from forming a powerhouse team by limiting the number of powerful characters they could use at one time. This was a clever idea but it was not executed flawlessly since some weaker characters are quite strong. A cool idea that unfortunately was not implemented would have been to have a striker system like the one used in The King of Fighters Evolution/99. However the appeal of being able to build customized teams out of Capcom and SNK’s biggest names is enough for many fans to take this game for a spin. My personal favorite is a team consisting of Kyo, Sakura, and Benimaru.

Capcom vs. SNK boasts a fairly nice roaster of characters (33 in all) including many of the biggest legends of Street Fighter and The King of Fighters. You've got Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, and all the others from Street Fighter II as well as Sakura from Street Fighter Alpha and Cammy from Super Street Fighter II. On SNK's side you've got Kyo, Iori, Terry, Mai, Ryo, Yuri, and many more from The King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, etc. You may also see some cameo appearances by characters form Darkstalkers and Samurai Showdown if you fulfill certain requirements. I do have some complaints over questionable character choices and absences though. I mean they included characters like Raiden (Big Bear), and Vice but left out characters like Joe, Andy, Athena, Charlie (Nash), Rose, K, Ralph, Leona, Billy Kane, Robert, and Blue Mary. Sure some of these are not essentials but come on I’m sure they could have added a few more characters if they had just taken the time. I also dislike the fact that all the characters minus 2 secret ones are from Street Fighter and The King of Fighters. Capcom and SNK have a lot more fighting franchises than just those 2 and I was kind of disappointed at the lack of variety. A better name for the game would have been Street Fighter vs. The King of Fighters since that is essentially what the game is.

An interesting though questionable idea that Capcom tried was to have a 2nd version of each character (called an EX version), which can be bought, in the game's Secret Shop. The main purpose behind this was to combat the moves discrepancies between Capcom and SNK's characters. As most fans know Capcom characters usually have between 3-5 special moves whereas SNK characters usually have 6-8. To balance the characters Capcom limited the moves of most of SNK's characters down to 3-5. By using the EX version of the character you can have access to their other moves (but not simultaneously). Of course to accommodate this Capcom had to alter the moves of their own characters somewhat and the way they did this was weakening them. I didn't like this idea because it makes for less game play variety (one of the reasons why I like SNK's games) and I think a better idea would have been to give the Capcom characters more moves to put them on par with those of the SNK characters.

Graphics wise the game is pretty good. The backgrounds are fairly detailed and the character sprites animate well. I’m really impressed at how good the SNK characters turned out since SNK is not well know for having graphics near as good as Capcom’s. Special moves look just as they should (Kyo and Iori’s stand out especially) and the entry and win poses look good. I also liked how the characters interacted with each other between rounds and the stage opening previews (you see this a lot in SNK fighters but not in Capcom fighters). But as I hinted upon earlier the game’s graphics are not without their flaws. Unfortunately it seems that the developers were lazy as always and reused old character sprites for all the characters except Ryu, Ken, and M. Bison. There is also some annoying pixilation in many of the characters as a result of this. Too bad but unfortunately this is common practice in nearly all fighting games.

The standard music in Capcom vs. SNK is Okay but nothing really special in my opinion in fact the only music I can really recall as being catchy was the music from Terry's stage (Higher and higher). Nonetheless most of it fits well with the atmosphere and it was never really annoying it's just not that noticeable. However I did enjoy listing to the secret tracks, which can be bought after fulfilling certain requirements. The secret tracks contain some nice remixes of older game music ranging from Ryu's theme from Street Fighter II to Nakoruru's theme from Samurai Showdown. I wish Capcom had used the secret tracks as the standard music instead because it just seems so much more fitting for this kind of game. BTW my favorite track is the theme of SNK from The King of Fighters 94 secret track.

Another cool feature that I liked was the ability to custom your fighting style. The game contains two slightly different fighting styles called Capcom Groove and SNK Groove. These Grooves play on Capcom and SNK’s different methods of powering up your Super Attack Meter. This idea was expanded upon in the sequel Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fight 2001 to include 6 different Groove styles.

Capcom vs. SNK boasts a lot of secrets for a fighting game. The game uses a purchasing system to get these secrets (kind of like Marvel vs. Capcom 2). As you play through the Arcade mode you will get a certain number of Groove points depending on your score, which can then be used to purchase secrets. The secrets available range from extra stages, hidden characters, extra costumes, additional sound tracks, alternate characters versions, to extra play modes. The one major failing point of the Secret Mode is that it’s just too damn expensive given the number of Groove points that the average play session will yield. The most points you can get by playing through the Arcade mode is 500 although you will usually get about 250 to 350. Given that most secrets cost several thousand points it’s easy to see why it will literally take you forever to get everything. However if you happen to have a Neo Geo Pocket Color and the SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium game cartridge at your disposal you can use the game’s link compatibility to get lots of purchasing points in a relatively short period of time. But since most of us don’t have this option you’d better be prepared to play the game for a looooooooooong time if you plan on unlocking everything. If you want some tips on how to get Groove points more easily check the FAQs and Guides section of Capcom vs. SNK for some helpful info.

So all in all Capcom vs. SNK is a good game in my books and I did get a lot of enjoyment out of it. But I still feel that it needed a bit more work in order to truly deserve the title of Millennium Fight 2000. It’s a good game no doubt about it but it’s definitely not 10/10 material. If you’re a fan of Capcom or SNK this is a must buy but if you’re new to the world of fighting games or just a casual fan you might be a bit turned off by the game’s old school style of play. But given the relatively low asking price for the game you might as well pick it up if you see.

On a final note I must say that I owe this game a lot of credit as the first game that really sparked my interest in SNK fighters. Like many casual fighting game fans I was only really familiar with Capcom's fighters until I played this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/02, Updated 08/04/02