Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

"Go for broke all over again."

Capcom vs. SNK was a cool game, I'll admit it. But this game surpasses the original in just about every way. That said...it's still got its faults, but they're not so bad.

Graphics: 8
The game looks really good, as far as menus and backgrounds are concerned. The menus are really slick, except for the one in which you choose your characters. The individual pictures are really, really small and it's hard to tell just where the heck to find who you want. I swear, I've never, ever seen Eagle on that screen, either. EVER. Oh well...the backgrounds are nice, and change almost constantly, whether there's a dune buggy jumping over your fighters or a ship sailing in to film your fight in the middle of a huge glacier. Seriously. They also seem to change slightly from round to round, a feature most evident in the ''final'' fight of the tournament in Osaka. The particle effects on the projectiles and normal attacks are really nice, and the Super Combo K.O. screens display some excellent 3-D effects. All that, and the animation's pretty smooth, too. So why do the graphics get an eight? Two words:
RECYCLED SPRITES.
Good Lord. I've never seen such ugly sprites in my entire life. Most of the Capcom characters have their old Street Fighter Alpha sprites, and others -such as Morrigan- look the exact same as the other eight million times you've seen 'em. The newcomers look okay, I guess, but for the most part they're on the same level as the rest of the old sprites. Hey, at least they updated Dan's sprite.

Audio: 9
The sound effects are pretty nice, as each punch and kick sound like you're really stomping a hole in whoever you're fighting. The music's pretty good, as it's mostly the same type of techno stuff that was in the first game, but there are a few notable exceptions, with a nice jazzy track for London, and a hip-hop style tune for New York. Nice touch. And for once, I don't have a problem with the announcer they used. Sure, his sayings can get a little old, but you can't beat a heavily accented Japanese guy speaking English. It always brings a smile to my face when he tells me I'll be fighting in ''Rondon'' next.

Characters: 10
No, not ten characters. The score is ten.
Wow. They packed a whole lot of fighters into this game, and I'm glad they did. If you don't find at least one person you like...well, that won't happen.

Control: 10
Smooth, baby. I have no problems with the controls in this game, since they're easily customizable in the options menu. The only problem I have is with the darn controller itself. The D-Pad makes it hard to pull off ''circular'' moves, while the analog stick is too sensitive, and tends to make you jump if you push it the slightest bit past horizontal. I'd recommend an arcade stick for this game, but if you can make do with the Dualshock 2, go for it.

Gameplay: 10
This game really goes out on a limb to cater to all types of gamers, and I think it does a marvelous job. You've got three times as many grooves as the original, bringing the number of different fighting styles up to a whopping six. Whether you're an old Street Fighter Alpha 2 guy or a Samurai Shodown vet, you're sure to find a groove that fits what you remember from previous games. And hey, if you don't find one you like...make your own custom groove! Excellent! There are also a few ''hidden'' characters to fight, much like the three [Akuma, Morrigan, and Nakoruru] from the first game, whose availability depends upon how many Groove Points you rack up. And yes, the Groove Point system is back, with a few welcome improvements. It's a lot easier to earn Groove Points and a lot harder to lose them, I've found. You can also choose what ratio your character gets right from the start, so you can start eating up the competition with a Ratio 4 Dan [OYAJI!] or make Sagat a lowly Ratio 1 and get tossed around like a rag doll. As before, you can change the order of your fighters before each and every bout. The only real problem I have is that, now that the characters have been updated with many of the techniques from their EX versions in the original, you don't earn Vs Points to unlock new characters, which I always thought was a great idea. But it's very nice overall.

Fun Factor: 9
Okay, I'll admit it. I didn't have as much fun playing this game the first time through as I did playing the original. Maybe I just had higher expectations for this game, or maybe it's the fact that the Dreamcast's controller was about seven hundred times better for fighting games than the lousy Dualshock 2, but that's how I see it.

Replay Value: 7
Like I said before, there's no more Vs Point system, so you can't buy new features. Instead, you slowly unlock new features as you play through the game again and again. Obviously you have no control over which ones you unlock, which takes some of the fun out of it. And as in the original, if you get enough Groove Points, you get to fight new characters and eventually unlock them.
And hey...it's a fighting game. You could pick it up again four months from now and have a blast all over again.

Bottom Line:
If you're a fan of Capcom or SNK fighting games, BUY IT NOW. It really is a nice, solid game, and it's certainly a step up from the original.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/15/01, Updated 11/15/01