Capcom Vs. SNK

Written by Nick Schmidt  on October 20, 2000

Import Review: Japanese always get the best stuff first!

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Ever since Street Fighter II showed it's pretty face to the public way back when, a rivalry was born. This rivalry was for supremacy, supremacy of the 2D-fighting scene. With Capcom's Street Fighter series quickly becoming the mainstream favorite, SNK had quite a bit of trouble gaining appeal. In addition to it being noticeable less striking in the visual department, SNK's King of Fighter's series just didn't have mass appeal for some peculiar reason. While it is true that KoF does have a niche following, it was still not even comparable to Capcom's super-ultra-mega-series. Even still, the battle ensued.

Years have gone by and constant updates of each have flooded our systems, arcades, and minds alike. With each incarnation comes minor tweaks and upgrades not only to the animation and graphics, but also the already stellar fighting engines that each series employs. A few years later Capcom introduced it's versus series and speculation of an end-all match up between the two companies quickly arose. More years passed and Capcom quietly denied such allegations, as did SNK. Fans alike were saddened: Would there ever be a chance for Terry to fight Ken? Or what about Chun-Li and Mai? Things weren't looking good.

But, as we knew it would happen eventually, Capcom announced that they were indeed going to join forces with SNK and surely deliver the fight of the millennium. Now these matches of Ryu vs. Kyo, which were once only fantasy, could now become a reality. And oh what a great reality it is. Those of you who have been patiently waiting for this title to come out for so long will not be disappointed. It may not be the most graphically intense fighter ever, and it may not be as flashy as the other Versus games out there, but it makes up for all those faults with rock-solid gameplay.

You see, Capcom vs. SNK really takes the Versus series in a whole new direction. Instead of being able to tag partners in and out at will, your team members sit on the sidelines until the first man (or woman) is down. After he or she has fallen, the next fighter will step in and hopefully lay waste to the opposing force; in essence it's a team battle. But what's even more eccentric than the play mechanics is the way you actually select your brawlers. You're not limited to only three people like in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, you can have up to four people in your party at once. Whoa now, don't go freaking out now, let me explain.

Capcom vs. SNK dares to be different by creating an all-new ratio system where you have four "blocks" to fill up with characters. Each character has a specific number of these block assigned to them. Such as, Ryu and Terry take up two blocks, Vega (U.S. M. Bison) and Geese take up three blocks, and the weaker characters like Sakura and Yuri only take up one. So you can basically have a team of four people, or two or three people if you so desire. Often you'll find yourself with only two characters fighting a team composed of four, so you're going to need some good fighting skills.

After you select the team and order in which they appear, you can select you're "groove." Principally, grooves are fighting styles. Capcom or SNK groove's can be selected, and each one varies to suit your specific gaming style. In the SNK groove, super meters are built up exactly like in King of Fighters, where you hold two buttons down to build it up manually. Or you can choose the Capcom groove that automatically builds the meters as you progress with attacks.

I would have to say though that the most interesting thing about the fighting engine is the handy grading system. While in arcade mode, there's a little box at the bottom of the screen that rates you with "groove points." You're judged based on how well you perform overall, plus what moves you pull off, how you pull them off, super combos, originality, and taking offense rather than defense. As I've found out, groove points are hard to keep successfully. I'll get all the way up to the last boss with a little over 70 points, and he'll kick my ass over and over again (Geese, you are so cheap it's disgusting) and my points will plummet down to five. Just watch out; anything can happen.

Graphically the game is a mixed bag. Capcom's characters still look very much outdated and extremely pixilated in some cases. While Ken and Ryu look pretty decent, Guile just looks flat out nasty. It's basically recycled from other games; like always. On the other hand, the SNK cast has received a major overhaul from the King of Fighters universe. Each character finally got the face-lift they so admirably deserved. And to be honest, they look much, much better and more sophisticated than Capcom's side.

However, everything else looks great. The animation is above average, even though it's still not nearly as good as Street Fighter III. Let's not forget about the plethora of graphical effects sprinkled throughout too. The fireballs, flames, and sparks all look fantastic thanks to the Naomi hardware, and really give the game some graphical personality. I absolutely love the super moves; they just look so fantastic and over the top. And while the backgrounds are still 2D, as opposed to the recent 3D stages found in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, each one integrates some unique attribute one way or another. One stage has a huge fire in the background and the characters have a reddish outline to them. Another takes place in a dark alley where shadows of each player are outlined on the wall, and correspond with the player's movements as well.

The audio has also been improved much more over the last Versus game. No more are we subject to listen to hours and hours of lounge music blaring in our ears. Now the pace is kept alive and well with great techno oriented tunes and heavy beats. Trust me, it fits the game perfectly. And as always, the sound effects themselves couldn't be better if Capcom tried their hardest. Each punch and kick sounds just as crisp as ever, and the characters rants between matches are just as good too.

There is one major problem that I found in the import. Well, it's not really a problem; it just depends on how you look at it. In order to gain most of the points for opening up secrets and such, you have to play the Neo-Geo Pocket Color version and transport the points via the link cable to your Dreamcast. This presents a problem with anyone who doesn't have the handheld, like me. So unlocking everything will take much longer of a time than it will in the U.S. version. Just like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, the point system will most definitely be changed for North America so you don't have to play other incarnations of the game. But this hasn't been confirmed yet.

So should you import it? Probably not, because after all, it's coming out in the States in a few weeks anyways, so you might as well go with the U.S. version. And the point system might be a pain in the butt if you don't have a Neo-Geo Pocket Color, but I just look at it as more of a challenge. But by just grading the game as a whole, and dismissing the fact that it's the import, Capcom vs. SNK really is one of the best fighters to come out ever. Focusing more on technicality than flash, it takes a truly skilled person to become great at it. With so many characters to master, so many secrets to unlock, and such great and varied gameplay, you can't go wrong. My suggestion, wait for the domestic release.