Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

"Way Too Strong To Compete (I Mean, What's Up With That?)"

While I've had some good times in the realm of 3-D fighting, I'll always be a 2-D man at heart. I was going to launch into a long-winded explanation as to why 2-D fighting is infinitely superior to the 3-D variety, until I realized that I would be lying. I just happen to like 2-D brawling more, for whatever reason. And as an equal supporter of the Capcom and SNK universes, I'm a huge fan of the 'Capcom vs. SNK' series, which brings (almost) all of my favorite warriors under one digital roof. And for what reason? To beat each other senseless, of course, in the universal spirit of pointless violence and the shouting of poorly-translated taunts.
'Capcom vs. SNK 2' has all of the features you might expect. A huge collection of characters from both Capcom's franchises ('Street Fighter,' 'Dark Stalkers,' etc.) and SNK's titles ('Fatal Fury,' 'King of Fighters,' etc.) has been assembled, with everything from traditional martial artists to stretchy yoga men to choose from. How about having a samurai (complete with sword!) square off with a Brazilian man-beast? As you may have guessed, all of the fighters are thrown together, with no explanation as to how they might react to the weird universes some of these characters came from. To be fair, there may be some sort of story behind this game or something, but it hardly seems worth the effort to investigate the matter. (And if there IS a story, you can bet it was translated like this: ''the world's best warriors have come together for maximum mayhem! May the best one hold his glory!'') There is a tournament-based plot that loosely holds the game together, but otherwise, this one's all about the action.
If you've played a 2-D fighting game in the last ten years, you have some idea of how to play this one. There's three types of punches and kicks (varying in speed and damage), and the classic special moves you know and love, like fireballs, dragon punches, charging attacks, and all manners of mayhem. Each character also has a few super special moves to go with their basic special moves. Depending on which groove you're fighting with, these require some certain circumstances to pull off, along with reasonably tricky button combinations. However, should you manage to hit your foe with a super special move, you'll do plenty of damage and rack up a nice little combination bonus.
''But Morgan!'', you ask, ''what the heck is that 'groove' stuff you were talking about earlier?'' I'm so glad you asked! There are six fighting grooves you can choose from before you hit the arena, each with different rules and powers. I don't have the proper degree in arcade-ology to properly define each one, but whatever your flavor is, you're bound to find a groove you like. As a 'Street Fighter Alpha 3' fiend, I found the C-Groove most comfortable, as it had the same method for charging up the super special energy bar. But your mileage may vary.
The main arcade mode has three methods of play: ratio, three-on-three, and the traditonal one-on-one. In the ratio battle, you are assigned four ratio points. You can allocate them to one, two, or three fighters. The more ratio points you give to one of your warriors, the more of your team's overall hit points they will have. If you want Chun Li to do most of your work but you still want to keep King on your team for variety's sake, you could give Chun Li three ratio points and leave the last one to King. Remember, though, that this gives Chun Li 75% of your team's energy, so don't be surprised if King takes a lot more damage per punch. The three-on-three and one-on-one tournaments should be pretty self-explanatory. It should be noted that in all three tournaments, there is no restrictions as to which characters you can choose for your team, except that you cannot choose the same character twice.
As for the fighting itself, well, everything is pretty tight and well-implemented. Even with the wide array of characters and attacks, the controls felt spot-on and the collision detection seemed about right. I am far from the world's expert on the subject, but this seemed to be as solid as 2-D fighting gets. And while casual players will enjoy the colorful characters and the smoothness of the basic controls, more dedicated players can explore the wonders of super special attacks, air dodges, chaining together combinations, and all of that other funky stuff. Arcade rats should find this game to be a suitable replacement to the cabinet when they don't feel like going out, and if you just want a game to play 'pass-the-beer-and-the-controller' with during a night with the guys, this will also do nicely. The Dual Shock controller (especially the 'squishy' digital pad) is not the perfect fighting joystick, but it does a solid job.
''But Morgan!'', you reply, ''what about nits? You seem to have no real problems with this game at all. Aren't you going to pick some nits? Nitpicking is what reviewing is all about!'' And so it is, my friends. I do have some minor quibbles that should be mentioned.
For one, some of the game's characters need to have a graphical overhaul. While the SNK warriors look wonderful (since they had to be re-created by Capcom), many of Capcom's own fighters look terribly dated. Morrigan is the biggest offender, as she looks to have the same character model as she did when she battled on the original PlayStation. I'm not one to obsess over graphics, but there's a definite style clash when the smoothly-animated Rock Howard is battling with the pixellated mess that is Morrigan. Would it have been so expensive and time-consuming for Capcom to spiff up their character models? I would think that Capcom would want their warriors to look their best against their SNK 'rivals.' In any event, there is a huge disparity in quality when it comes to the fighter models, and it gives off the impression that you're playing a slightly unpolished product.
My other reasonably-sized quibble is the game's incredibly goofy announcer. Now, I personally find him extremely entertaining. But I have a quirky sense of humor and a deep love of 'cheese.' Other folks may cringe as he spouts out such witticisms as ''check your training wheels at the door!'' in the most awkward delivery possible. I'd love to meet the producer who heard the game's awful announcing clips and said: ''yup, that's good enough. Let's take off for dinner.''
I've already whined about the game's messy character models, but the game isn't a total mess, graphically. The backgrounds are very well-done, with lots of activity and some truly unique settings. It may not make much sense to hold a brutal fight in the middle of a desert rally race, but give the developers some bonus points for creativity.
The game's musical collection is eclectic, to say the least. Every song appears to be plucked from a different genre at random, and crooning female vocals would probably not be my first choice as background music for a martial arts battle. But for all of the weirdness, some of the songs may grow on you. An odd soundtrack for a fighting game, but not a bad one.
Despite my peeves, this is a very solid 2-D fighting compilation. Hardcore fans of the genre will probably own the dozens of games that led up to this, and may find a lot to gripe about. But more casual gamers should find this to be a very cost-effective way to enjoy years of fighting history in a single package. It does give the feeling that it was rushed, and is held together with the digital equivalent of staples, chewing gum, and masking tape. But with all of the good stuff within, it's hard to complain for long.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/02, Updated 11/04/02