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Talen Capellan Confederation Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00 Posts: 1269 Location: United States
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Posted: 05-Dec-2002 22:08 Post subject: Talen's Game Reviews: Capcom VS SNK 2 (Arcade, PS2, DC GC and XBOX) |
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Back in the 90s Street Fighter was the king of fighters, at least in America. A few others would come and go, but nothign stuck and became so much a part of American Pop Culture. In the US alone there were over half a dozen versions ranging from the original Street Fighter, to the best of the best, Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Each new version of the game offered new charecters to fight with and work your way to the top of the tournament. it also spawned the most recognized special attack sequence EVER (with only Scorpion's Spear being anywhere near it). The Quarter Circle Foward followed by a punch has actually created a sort of following among the old fighting gamers.
Yes, indeed...Capcom had a smash hit over here with the Street Fighter series. but they arent the only ones to have success. At the same time in Japan there wa sa company called SNK. They too made 2d fighters for the arcades. Some of their games made it over to America as well. The 2 Most popular were Samurai Showdown and Final Fight. Among hardcore gamers these were the best...but Street Fighter still held the title as king.
In the later 90s, SNK released a series of games called "King of Fighters" that pooled many of their other fighting games into one...selecting a few odds and ends worth of charecters here and there. The KOF series went strong in the arcade and at home on the PSX and Dreamcast systems. But, unfortuneatly, SNK was losing money to Capcom in the fighting buisness. Capcom hadnt been lazy during the 2nd half of the 90s....not by a long shot. Street Fighter III was released, and sped the already fast game up...and then Capcom made a game that wouuld trigger the best series of fighting games ever conceived. X-Men vs Street Fighter. This game gathered everyone's favorite Street Fighter charecters with the beloved mutants from X-Men.
What made this game stand out was the team function. You now had a 2nd charecter to fight alongside...and could call them out for a Super move, or to defend, or to just tag in a better fighter. It was a brilliant idea, kinda almost taken from SNK's KOF series. X-men vs SF wasnt the end of the road though. Soon afterwards Capcom made Marvel vs Capcom, much along the same lines of X-Men vs Street Fighter, but with many more charecters and new options.
The inevitable happened...Capcom and SNK joined forces to make one hell of a fighting game. Fighters from all over Capcom's series showed up, and for the first time facing down the fighters from over 10 years of SNK arcade battle hardened warriors. It was good...
...but not the end either...
CAPCOM VS SNK 2
2D fighters almost lost their place when 3d games like Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Toshiden and others came into the spotlight. they had fancy graphics and it was 3d. Each had a very complex series of buttons to fight with...and each game was good in its own way...but it had no history like the 2d Fighters. Capcom set out to prove that 2d fighters were still supreame.
Gameplay:
The game, if you have played any 2D fighting games ever, is a breeze to jump into, on any of the systems. Controls are limited to toward, away, jump and duck. 6 Attack buttons (3 Punch, 3 Kick) may seem daunting at first, but once you become used to the layout, the entire game is a snap. The first options you are presented with is the "Groove Option". Each letter (6 total) represents a Groove in which you choose to play. Each groove has different benefits and drawbacks, but most importantly, the grooves determine how your charecters charge up. When the power meter is full in a fight, they can unleash some terribly destructive moves (though not nearly as deadly as X-Men vs SF's Mega moves). Not all grooves can use special moves, and not all grooves are good for a first time player. They will not, however, in any way cause you to lose (that is done by your own ability or lack of.). The next option you are presented with is the fighter choice. if you have been playing a lot of fighting games...you know the charecter selection is imporant...and usually you can choose from the 10-15 people available and be good with at least one or two of them. Ultimate MK 3 suprised many people with a 20 something number of fighters available...but even later versions of the game like MK Trilogy and its 30 something charecters doesnt match up to CvsSNK2's 50 or so chooseable combatants. Yeah....over 50!!!
And, like many previous versions, you are not limited to 1 person to fight with. In the game you can choose to do a 3 on 3 match. When one charecter is taken out, the next round begins with the next fighter in the lineup...the victor of the previous round given a little more health back as a prize. One on One is still available, but the real meat is the ratio battle. Each team can select up to 3 charecters, and then split the experience between them. A cocky player might dedicate ALL the energy to 1 person, giving them more HP and better defense...some players go with 2 evenly split fighters. its all in how you like you team, and how well you can do with them. it is possible to win with a weaker ratio'ed figher, just a tad harder.
The gameplay itself is as simple as can be. The controls for these games hasnt changed in 12 years...and Ryu's Hadoken attack is still the Quarter circle with a punch button. It is a safe bet to say any player you choose to play as you'll be safe with. Almost all the fighter use the same kidna of attacks, its just a matter of finding out if the attack is an away cirlce, toward circle...the wierd zig zag form for the dragon upercut thingy. Its all pretty much the same. SPecial attacks are of course harder to pull off, but worth more in the end, sometimes. A good player can defend and counter before your animation is done.
Graphics
Though still a 2D fighter, the graphics are really good. Each charecter has high amounts of animation, tons of frames per attack, and looks better than most 3d figters out there. Backgrounds are 3d with a lot going on. For example, in the Desert level, you are fighting in front of a jump where a Rally is taking place. Its cool little eye candy.
Sound
The only version I have played is the Japanese import for DC...so i cant tell you how the vocals are for other versions...but i love the Japanese voices...very cool stuff. Music isnt anything worth buying the game over...but it isnt annoying (like Worms World Party's).
Bells and Whisttles
Hmm...hard to say. not too much to unlock...but this is one hell of a party game, if you are in to the fighters. Played it for several hours before, never noticed the passing of time.
RATINGS
GAMEPLAY: 10/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
REPLAY: 10/10
OVERALL: 10/10
_________________ "Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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