Playstation 2 Review: Capcom Vs. SNK 2

Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 is a great 2D fighter with a great cast of characters, however, it still lacks some goodies that fans wanted.

By MixMasterLar

Being a gigantic fighting fan, I was happy to pick this title up as soon as I could. I had missed out on Capcom Vs SNK (1) and I wanted to get my hands on some 2D goodness ASAP. What I ended up with is my favorite fighting game but that doesn't by any means make it perfect.

Dream Match: Whose Dream?

Capcom vs SNK 2 brings the trademark fighters from Capcom's Street Fighter games and SNK's King of Fighters titles with additional fighters from other games from both companies as well (Rival Schools, Samurai Showdown, Art of Fighting and so on). There's about 40-odd fighters to pick but it's here that we see the first flaw in the game. The list of Characters is pretty limited and longtime favorites (mostly SNK favorites) were left out. I'm not going to make a full list, but it's only fair that I warn SNK fans that there isn't a single Ikari Warriors member in the game and only SNK fighters from '98 down are in. Capcom's list is way more complete (as it is conspicuously the developer of the game) but even then the only Alpha fighter is Sakura and the only Final Fight characters are Maki amd Rolento. What makes me mad is that Capcom can have Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Dan, Sakura, and Evil Ryu - all essentially carbon copies of each other sans speed/strength variations - but SNK cant have Blue Mary, Mature or Billy Kane. Another thing that upsets me is merging fighters together. Yun fights with some of Yang's moves and can call Yang in doing a Super Combo and Chang can call Choi to do a move whenever he pleases instead of breaking up the fighters.

One very noticeable mechanic Capcom did right was the Groove system. You know how Street Fighter III has the Parry system and Fatal Fury has Just Defend, while King of Fighters has Roll and Street Fighter Alpha has custom combos? Capcom gave us the option to choose which set of "Rules" we wanted to fight with. With this, we can have Nakoruru fight with the Stock Bar Vs Guile with the three-level Alpha super combo bar. And then, as if that wasn't enough, there is a option to make your own groove. This is huge for anyone who ever played more then one fighter in their life. There are six grooves standard and you can have up to two custom ones.

The modes of play are up to par but there isn't nothing really new. There is a Ratio Match, much like KoF2001, where you assign points to your fighters, a 3-on-3 Match, much like KoF94's, and a 1-on-1 Match, were you play a la Street Fighter II-style arcade. A Tag Match would be awesome, but the only other mode is Survival Mode.

Play by (Capcom's) Rules

SNK's 4-button layout was thrown right out the window and Capcom's 6 button layout dominates the game's main controls. This is a great thing, as it's easier to have Vice use medium attacks then Cammy to have hers ripped right out. SNK commands like Roll, Just Defend and Dodge still work with six buttons and will make you wish KoF would go six as well. The bad part is the time-old problem Capcom aways have with the PS controllers - fans will want a Joystick so that Heavy Punch/Kick will be easier to press. The gameplay plays out a lot like SFA/SF3's, but with the groove system everybody feels right at home. Good job, Capcom.

Looking ... the same?

The backgrounds are in 3D and while nothing that Disney couldn't top, look great. The characters' sprites, on the other hand are, sadly, a mix bag. The SNK fighters were all re-drawn and look perfect (everyone has the outfits they did in their games), but Capcom re-used most of the old sprites for theirs (I swear if I have to look at Morrigan's same old watered-out animations I will go crazy). Some Super Combos have been re-drawn as well, and others have been changed - a good example is that Rolento's "Take no Prisoners" Combo doesn't reach across the screen anymore. Overall, though, if you have played the old Capcom/SNK games you've seen most of the super combos before.

Note to Capcom: Get some new music

While SNK only has Terry's Theme as a trademark song in its history (not trying to down SNK's artist), Capcom on the other hand has so many tunes everyone knows I can't list them all. When you boot this game up, you expect to hear some catchy songs to learn, or at least start humming Ken's theme or something. Capcom dropped the ball big time here ... there are about three songs you'll want to hear outside the game (assuming that you even remember them). Fans of the older songs will miss Ryu's classic theme and I'm sure SNK fans will wish that Iori's theme was also present. Nothing here to get hyper about and the least said the better.

Attitude is Everything

The game is catering to old-school fans, and doesn't really explain the stories all the fighters have but if you already know them, you will be one very happy camper. Iori talks of killing Kyo, Ken makes mention of Eliza, Rolento is after the world, Rock is pissed at Geese and Mai tells you that Andy can beat you at will. What's better yet is Capcom's and SNK's fighters know each other: Kim tells Bison his famous "I can never forgive evil!" phrase, Rugal offers Guile fame and riches, Ken throws Terry his cap after Terry has thrown it in the last round screaming "OK" and Kyo tells Ryu to stick it. You really feel that this is Capcom vs SNK and not just some fan's MUGEN.

Overall if you love Street Fighter and King of Fighters then you really need to get this. The absence of complete variety in the fighters is the worst flaw but there's enough here for everyone to enjoy for years to come.

GemuBaka Score: 4 out of 5

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