"Great fighting game period"

HA-DO-KEN!!! SONIC BOOM!!!

The words that have trickled into your mind during the years of Capcoms most famous series, Street Fighter II. What can be better then Street Fighter II? How about taking a handful of Street Fighter II and other Capcom characters and toss in a pinch of SNK characters, mix well and see how it turns out. It turns out into Gamecube's first Capcom Street fighting game entitled. Capcom Vs. SNK 2: EO.

For those of you who are still stuck under a rock, Capcom Vs. SNK 2: EO is a 2-D Fighter. It's charm is adding characters in from different fighting series such as Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Art of Fighting, Dark Stalkers, King of Fighters and even Fatal Fury. All games are basis of 2-D cartoon like characters that are breed to wipe the floor with any other competitor and become victorious. Imagine taking the best concepts out of each of the top 2-D fighter games and slamming them into one. This is what I like to call a masterpiece of cartoon animation style at it's best.

It all started back in the hay day in the mid- 90's when an game entitled Street Fighter II World Warriors was introduced to the arcade circuit. It tore through quarters faster then a redneck can drive at Daytona. Every quarter decided whether or not you'd keep playing or lose to the kid next to you whose been playing for the past hour since the place opened. World Warriors was the opening to a brand new and innovative idea’s from companies who wanted a piece of the pie on 2-D fighting. SNK had it's console grip of fighting games while Capcom ruled the arcades, it was only a matter of time before the two greatest 2-D fighting companies came into one for the biggest showdown!! Capcom Vs. SNK first showed up on the Dreamcast in the year 2000 boosting dozens of characters from various Capcom and SNK series. Two sequels were later spawned on the Dreamcast entitled Capcom Vs. SNK: Millennium Pro 2000 and Capcom Vs. SNK 2. Capcom Vs SNK 2 was later revised for gamecube with an added EO, meaning it was an exclusive option only for Gamecube players.

Everybody should now know that when it comes to street fighting games there is little to know story at all. The only story is usually with each character, but sadly this game has no story. Nothing at all that closely resembles a storyline or plot. The game was based on the gimmick of two companies throwing in their characters to see who would be the best. Is this really a story line? Hardly at all, but the simple fact that you can now prove that your favorite Street fighter character can kick the crap out of little Jimmy's favorite Fatal Fury fighter is well worth story. If you’re really that picky about story, beat the game on harder difficulties to get a little ending and a newscast saying how you won the tournament of champions.

Now I know what you’re thinking, how's the game menu? What can I pick from? Well I'm going to say there are a handful of options you start out with such as Arcade, Survival, Color Edit, Vs, Replay, Training and Game Options. There is also a hidden menu called Edit Groove. Everybody wants to know the low down on these options so here's a quick summary of each:

1.) Arcade mode: This mode is broken down into 3 sections, ratio, 3 on 3 and single match.

Ratio Match - This mode allows you to create teams by allocating their RATIO points, which are points that determine your characters, strength in a match. You can choose 3 fighters for this and then choose which ratio points goes to who to be the strongest. The draw back here is that it's only for 1 match and your health remains the same for the next fighter. Your health only resets once you’re up against the next match of characters.

3 on 3 Match - self-explanatory, you pick 3 guys and you go at it against teams of 3. Like ratio this mode also makes you fight 1-match games making your health stay the same for the next guy.

Single Match - This is what fighting games are known for the 1 on 1 fight to the death, best 2 out of 3 declares the winner of the match. Can't get more complicated then this folks this is the beef of the game.

2.) Survival Mode: This mode is broken down into 2 sections. All Survival and No Time Survival

All Survival - In this mode of survival you must compete and beat all 48 characters in Capcom Vs SNK 2: EO. Once beaten, you may claim a secret. What is this secret? Well Check out our cheat code section to find out more about all the possible cheats and sneaks for this game, but for now continue on with the review will ya? The game runs with 1 health meter chance. You gain very little health after every battle to fight the next guy. The only way to make it through this is to be king of your character.

No Time Survival - This is basically how many wins you can get. There is no time limit in No Time obviously, therefore you just keep battling until you get the crap kicked outta ya and give up. The health is set up the same as in All Survival.

3.) Color Edit - This Option is where you can change your characters around and save them. You can rename your favorite characters to your own name and make him look like a genetic freak! With the options of about a dozen or so ways to colorize your character this option is a nice little addition to the game to personalize an ass kicking' to your opponent.

4.) Vs Mode - The same as an arcade mode, you have Ratio, 3 on 3 and Single match mode except this time it's against your friend/enemy instead of a computer. This is where to show off your skills and/or your personalized character you made in Color Edit Mode. You can also record matches onto your memory card and play them in Replay Mode to show off how bad you whooped on somebody. Sure beats whooping on somebody then having them later say you were lying in front of all your friends. Set your handicap and get ready to rack up the win/loses in your matches.

5.) Replay Mode - This mode will finally put to rest the embarrassing moments that your friends forget to tell in front of everybody after they won the first 10 and forgot to mention the brutal beating then endured. This mode can work wonders if you have lots of extra space on a Memory card. In fact, I suggest getting a 251 Memory Card to store all those precious moments of yours. Exact date and time are on the files as well so your friends can't BS their way out of saying what happened when.

6.) Training Mode - Enough said by the title itself. Pick your level and opponent and just practice what your mama gave ya!!! You go boy! Practice on making that long combo's to embarrass your friends in this unlimited time jam session.

7.) Game Options - Not enough to say, but this is where you should go if you want to do any other technical stuff in the game such as changing difficulties, times and matches.

Now comes the bulk of the game. What hasn't been told already to this point in the review, which is the main stew of the 3-course dinner. The...... ya, enough of that crap. Capcom Vs. SNK 2: EO is based on a scale of ISM's and Grooves. What are ISM's and Grooves? Well they are basically your styles of fighting you can choose from when you play the game. I'll start first with the ISM's. ISM's are the scales of fighting in which only 2 are given to you. The first ISM is GC-ISM, which is only available in the gamecube version of Capcom Vs. SNK 2: EO. That's why the Gamecube version is called EO, just for that special ISM!! And what an ISM it is!! It's basically a style where the controller does the work for you. How you ask? Well let me ask you this. Have you ever said, gee I wish I could just push one button and make a special move instead of having to get blisters on my fingers trying to pull off insane moves. Well look no more folks! With GC-ISM all you have to do is make sure the C-Stick is your friend. With C-Stick all you have to do is tap it up, down left or right and each direction is a pre-programmed move for you to tinker with! Have fun busting out move after special move against your friends without those annoying blisters and skipping moves because it takes a split second to long to use. The next ISM is AC-ISM, which are basically your regular control moves without all the special offers that GC-ISM has to offer. Nothing special, it's short for arcade meaning you get the arcade feel to it.

The next part is the grooves. The grooves are C ,A, P, S, N and K Groove. Basically they are all styles of fighting that gives you different ways of fighting. It's best to pick your fighting style and experiment with these grooves. If your to lazy to figure it out feel free to go to our walkthrough sections of the website for further detailed description of what every groove can do.

I first remember wanting this game since I lived my life as a street fighter freak in the arcades. This game brings the heart and soul to the home console for your and your friends to enjoy. I've played many a game with people in Vs. Mode. This is were the game shines big time. Multiplayer action combats you to the end with long endless nights of kicking the crap out of your friends. The memories will always stay with you from one night to the other as you save replays of matches to show off how much you were REALLY winning by in the game. No longer can your friend say, ya, well I got him down to a millimeter of life bar then slamming in his face as the replay shows 3/4ths of your bar still alive. I encourage every street fighter fan to come out of his shell and pick this title up.

The Music in this game has some Japanese tech/pop beat elements to it that will have you jamming in your seat wondering when a soundtrack is coming out. My suggested track would be the Hip-Hop techno beat in New York. It promises, and delivers. All the sound effects goes along with the sound in the game and the sounds of the fighters will have you jumping out of your seat yelling along as you bash the hell out your opponent. Blast the speakers because I can guarantee the louder it gets, the more you'll get into the game and want to kick the crap out of your opponent. The graphics is the counterpart of music meaning it is a must with music in order to create the game and this delivers as well. The Graphics are animated style sprites like back in the Super Nintendo days as well as the arcade. They haven't been updated except for making them more sharp and I applaud them for keeping it to the roots and not ruining a series because of the excessive bickering of today's youth and wanting everything to be realistic or else. The smooth flow of animation with the characters is well done. Nothing jaggy or slow in this game, it's fast and smooth animations will make you appreciate what technology has to offer today. The only thing I can think of that this game lacks is stages. There are no longer stages for each character anymore rather just a set number of stages that are randomly picked when you fight characters.

What's the replayability? That's what crosses the mind of people as they look for a game. Some people's preference are single player, some are multiplayer. This game weighs heavy in the multiplayer aspect and dabs in the single player quite a bit. The replay mode adds to the replayability a lot with your friends. It all comes down to whether your have friends that are interested in this game or not. As a single player, there isn't much to do, after all this is a 1 on 1 game in which it was originally made for you and a friend to play and kick the crap out of each other on a game rather then in real life to show off your talent.



Story - 4/10

This game in summary has no story line at all. Having the little captions here and there doesn't count and tossing in something at the end doesn't help if there's no plot in the beginning, which fails in every category for this game. I give the story section of this game a 4 out of 10

Game play - 10/10

Arcade 2D Street Fighting. This is what the game hypes, and this is what the game offers. You can't go wrong with what this game has to offer. The sleek smooth options on how to fight in the game just makes it that much more easy. The only thing that can take away from game play is your lack of skills; I give the game play a 10 out of 10

Sound - 8/10

The sound in this game is great, from the sound effects to the music in the game. But due to lack of stages, meaning that the music is over used, the sound is repetitive and sometimes boring on stages that you can't stand the music to giving the sound an 8 out of 10

Graphics - 8/10

With the animation used in the game, the graphics are great and simple. No need for realistic games to make the game excellent, the cartoonish looks makes the game look true to its roots. I give this an easy 8 out of 10.

Controls - 9/10

The controls in this game are set for all experience levels. You have GC-ism for your beginners and your AC-ISM with 6 different grooves for your advance - expert street fighters. The only way you can get beaten at this game is if you’re a paraplegic. I give this an easy 9 out of 10.

Replay - 7.10

The replay in this game is huge!! It's replay is mainly in multiplayer which gets an easy 5 out of 5, but I'd give it a 3 out of 5 in single player because it becomes boring and an on going chore to play making it a total of 7 out of 10

All in all, I deem this game gets a 7.6. Capcom Vs. SNK 2: EO is all to be expected in a street fighting game except more levels and music. With a roster of 48 characters and half a dozen ways to fight your opponent, this game offers a ton that most fighting games don't offer in terms of game play. This game proves that blood, gore, nudity and ripping off heads isn't necessary to guarantee a superb game. As a Street Fighting fan, I give this the Crazy C Stamp of Approval!!!! That's right, only a rare game that comes out once in a long while can deserve the Crazy C Stamp of Approval. Look for the icon for any other Crazy C Stamp of Approvals. I urge you to rent this game for a party, or buy it if you’re constantly around friends all the time and playing video games. If you’re a solitary gamer, this game may turn you off a little, but will still make you have some fun. I suggest you get it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/03, Updated 04/02/03