"The last of the VS series, and Capcom's last DC fighter."

In the dying days of the Dreamcast, Capcom was good enough to give Dreamcast gamers one last bout in their fighting glory, with a port of Millionaire Fighting 2001. The game is presumed to be the last of Capcom's "VS" series of 2D fighters, and it manages to pack in all that old school goodness from the past Capcom and SNK fighting game franchises.

Expect to see Darkstalkers, Street Fighter, and Final Fight characters mix it up with Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, Samurai Spirits, Bakumatsu Roman, and Art of Fighting in exciting team based battle!

The Dreamcast version was only released in Japan and a special fan disc was also released exclusively for DC fighter fans.

Story - 6/10
The game has a very minor story behind it. Basically a fighting tournament held to see who's the strongest, and then we have the good old villains Gouki and Rugal behind the scenes waiting to take over the world. Understandable for an arcade game, but it's a shame that not much was put into it. Even Street Fighter II had more plot than this.

Graphics/Presentation - 7/10
Oddly, the game starts up at the high scores table just like the arcade version, but if you wait, you'll be treated to a nice attract mode demo which shows Ryu and Kyo fighting eachother in typical anime style. The characters used in the intro look like they were paper cutouts from an art book, but it's good for a laugh.

The game runs on the same engine used in Marvel vs Capcom 2 - double scaled 2D character sprites overlayed onto a 3D playfield. Animation runs at a smooth 60fps, and while the sprites are 2D, the game adds 3D particle effects for projectiles, blocks, and special attacks. The background stages, while not alot of them, are done quite nicely and feature some other characters that didn't make the cut into the fighting roster and include some 3D objects in the background just to distract away from the fight. The rotating room from China and the Last battle are my pick of the bunch.

The biggest graphical complaint about the game are the character sprites. While most of the redone SNK sprites are quite nice (SS Hahoumaru), Capcom just couldn't be bothered re-doing their characters. We are treated to the same old sprites from past CPS fighting games including the decade-old Morrigan sprite from Darkstalkers (1994), and the boring old Bison from SSFII.

Gameplay - 8/10
CVS2 combines a mix of fighting styles and play modes from the various Capcom and SNK fighting games over the years.

On the Capcom side you have the C,A, and P Ism's which allow you to control your character in the way of certain Capcom fighters such as SSFIIT, III and Alpha 3. SNK's S, N, and K Isms allow you to make your characters behave in the way of King of Fighters 94, 98, and Samurai Shodown.

If you've played many of these fighters, you'll understand the mechanics behind each mode. Certain abilities such as parrying, running, double-stepping, and charging your power gauges are only for certain Isms, so choose carefully. The power gauges are also affected by the Ism you choose: some allow you to stock more than one special, while others only let you unleash one with great power. In general, I found that the Capcom Ism's tend to be easier than the SNK ones, even though they have their own merit.

You can choose to play a 3-on-3 match KOF style, 1-on-1 like SF2 and Fatal Fury, or ratio, which allows you to choose a team, and lets you balance the power and defense of your team.

Multiplayer - 9/10
Just like the arcade version, you can play alone or fight against a friend. The 3 modes of VS play are entertaining enough, and you can play online - provided you live in Japan.

Control - 8/10
The Dreamcast's standard pad does a good job at emulating the arcade controls, and you can use the analog stick if the DC's pad doesn't suit your taste. Control is responsive enough, but the only (minor) complaint is that you must hold down Light kick and then start to perform a taunt. The DC arcade stick is a good alternative.

Soundtrack/Audio - 7/10
The games soundtrack is rather disappointing for such an ambitious title. If you were expecting real fighting music, or remixes from various games, forget it. Instead Capcom have added in some orchestral techno-garb, a bit of mellow rock, and some oriental dance tracks. At least it's more tolerable than the 80's lunge music from MvC2, but nonetheless, it's a disappointment.

The sound effects are ok, the punches and kicks drown out the music. Your standard mix of grunts and screams as your characters attack and get beaten up. The game's announcer is almost as annoying as the one in Street Fighter Alpha 3 but you'll have to live with it.

Replayability - 7/10
As with any arcade fighter, there isn't alot to bring you back unless you're into fighting games or practice for tournaments. The boss characters are tough and cheap and should keep you going for a while. You have color edit which lets you change the character colours, training, survival, and online mode - which only works if you live in Japan. Unlike MvC2, most characters are unlocked for you already which bums out some of the replayability.

Overall - 8/10
A decent Capcom fighter, even if their standard have dropped over the years.
The DC version is probably the best port besides the Naomi original, but online play is restricted to Japan. If it's online what you want, the Xbox version of EO is for you.

It reigns supreme over the visuals of the PS2 version, and the terrors of the GC versions controls.

-Steven

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/05, Updated 07/18/05