Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting 2001

"Forget Marvel vs Capcom, this is the ultimate crossover!"

Sometimes companies act in a fashion that is contrary to all reason and logic. Take, for example, the Sega 32X, the Nintendo Virtual Boy, or for a non-gaming example, the Pontiac Aztek. Surely, Capcom NOT releasing the Dreamcast version of Capcom VS SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting to the US market ranks among those blunders.

That's right, if you want to play this game on your Dreamcast, you'll have to settle for finding a Japanese import version of the game. But fear not, the game is largely in English and one certainly does not need a working knowledge of written Japanese to enjoy this title.

The first Capcom VS SNK title was a disappointment. It was not a bad game in and of itself, but the ill-planned ratio system and the fact that many SNK characters had some of their moves taken away was a sore spot. But in Capcom VS SNK 2, Capcom gets it right. Gone are the "Normal" and "EX" characters; characters now have all their moves back, which makes them feel much more complete and true to their original games. Another complaint of the first CVS was that the roster was largely "Street Fighter vs KoF," but in CVS2, the roster has been greatly expanded. On the Capcom side, we have Kyosuke from Rival Schools, Maki from Final Fight 2, Eagle from the very first Street Fighter, as well as Yun from Street Fighter 3. A few extra characters from Street Fighter Alpha show up as well, such as Rolento and Dan, whose presence is a no-brainer as he was originally designed as parody of SNK characters. On the SNK side we have Chang/Choi from KoF, Haohmaru from Samurai Shodown, Hibiki (no relation to Dan) from Last Blade 2, Rock Howard from Mark of the Wolves, Joe Higashi from Fatal Fury, and my personal favorite, Ryuuhaku Todo, who naturally plays similar to his daughter Kasumi in KoF. The whole roster is most impressive, and while I would have liked to see a few more SNK characters like Clark or Ralf, it offers a selection that truly reflects the best of both worlds.

While CVS offered the Capcom and SNK grooves, CVS2 ups that to a whopping six styles of play, which are summarized briefly as follows:

"C-Groove": Basically identical to A-ISM in Street Fighter Alpha, with three levels of super meter.
"A-Groove": Something a mixture between V-ISM in SFA and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, with Custom Combos and the ability to cancel supers.
"P-Groove": Similar to Street Fighter 3, with the ability to parry hits and only one level of super.
"S-Groove": Like the SNK Groove from the previous CVS, it allows you to manually charge up your super meter and unleash unlimited supers when your life is low.
"N-Groove": A single meter that charges with attacks, and that allows you to charge up to three "stock" that can be used to "power up" your character to increase their attack strength, or perform a super.
"K-Groove": A Samurai Shodown style "Rage Guage" that increases as you take damage, and when it is filled your attack power increases drastically, and you gain the ability to perform a Level 3 super.

But the six grooves affect more than just how you use your super meter, they also control whether or not you can do such things as rolling, dashing, running, air blocking, and the like. And if you aren't satisfied with any of the grooves offered by default, there is also the unlockable Groove Edit Mode which allows you to customize your own groove. The groove system in CVS2 altogether is much deeper and more wide-ranging of terms of gameplay styles than its predecessor.

Although it may have "versus" in the tile, Capcom VS SNK 2 shares nothing in common with Capcom's loathsome "Marvel vs..." series. There are no automatic 50 hit combos, no screen filling super moves, and no repeatedly calling out flunkies to interrupt the battle. In fact, CVS2 plays exactly like it should: a combination of Street Fighter and King of Fighters. In terms of gameplay, three options are available: An improved version of the Ratio Battle (where you can now set the ratio points for each character) from the first CVS, a three character team battle a la KoF, and your standard 1-on-1 two-round Street Fighter style battle. There is also Survival Mode which tests to see how many fighters you can defeat in a row, and Training Mode, where you select a hapless dummy to beat on (I'm looking at you, Nakoruru) and practice your fighting skills. There's also the Network Mode, which is supposed to allow you to play against opponents online, but unless you live in Japan, it's not going to be of any use to North American players, sadly.

In terms of controls, CVS2 dispenses with the four-button layout of CVS, and instead uses a more traditional six-button layout, giving back the Capcom players their familiar tactics and the SNK players a few more normal moves to play with. Dreamcast owners take note, you'll definitely want to pick up a decent arcade stick (I recommend X-Arcade if you can afford it); the standard DC controller simply doesn't cut it for this kind game.

The graphics in Capcom VS SNK 2 are a step up from it's predecessor as well, with 2D sprites on 3D backgrounds that never look superimposed or out of place. The backgrounds themselves and wonderfully detailed, and feature cameos of certain Capcom and SNK characters if you look hard enough. The Aomori stage, for example, feature several large Kabuki floats in the background, including one of Senryo Kyoshiro from Samurai Shodown. CVS2 also boasts impressive graphical effects when blasting your opponents with fireballs or unleashing a devastating super move, all translated perfectly from the arcade version. Finish an opponent with a "Finest KO" (usually by countering a super with another super) and watch as the background fills with flame and the letters "KO" explode onto the screen. Very impressive.

The character sprites themselves are likewise well done, at least on the SNK side. Several of the Capcom sprites have not been redrawn from the Street Fighter Alpha series; only Chun Li has been redesigned to look more like her Street Fighter 3 counterpart. Some of the sprites, Morrigan's in particular, look particularly dated next to newer Capcom and SNK ones, and while not a major gripe it does smack of laziness on Capcom's part. As in interesting note, the character select art features two sets, one drawn by a Capcom artist and the other by an SNK artist. The Capcom art is more cartoon-like in style, whereas the SNK art is more realistic, allowing you to see what your favorite characters might look like if they were real people.

The music is much catchier and more upbeat this time around, unlike the first CVS where the music was at best "unobtrusive." Character voices are good all around, and every character sounds as they should, from Terry "I Only Pretend to Speak English" Bogard to Mai "Heaving Breasts" Shiranui. There's nothing quite as satisfying as pulling out the Shun Goku Satsu on an unsuspecting Nakoruru and hearing her reverberating screams as demons send her soul to the very pits of hell!

Ahem. Sorry about that.

In conclusion, Capcom VS SNK 2 is a very deep and thoroughly complete fighter whose gameplay and sheer number of characters are well worth the price of finding an import (or just buy the PS2/X-Box/GC version). It's a vast improvement to the first Capcom VS SNK, and something no Dreamcast fighting fan should be without.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/05