A rushed effort (Capcom Vs SNK (DC))

Member Name: Nadal

Product:	Capcom Vs SNK (DC)
Date:	02/04/01 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: closure for ardent snk and capcom fans

Disadvantages: a rushed production

Capcom have finally delivered what the fans have been dreaming about for years. However, is capcom vs SNK what the fans asked for?

I'll start with the good:

In essence the game should be called StreetFighter vs. King of Fighters because what we have here is a game with only one character outside the periphery of the two. This is a good thing, for it immediately negates super jumps, chaining, larger than life specials and even larger super specials. Air blocks which previously left characters like Guile and Charlie useless, have also been removed; thus what we are left with is a relatively old school technical fighter.
We find that everyone's favorite capcom characters have made a few advancements to bring them up to par with the King of fighters' characters. Its now possible to do ground rolls, different jump lengths and dashes, which although present in StreetFighter 3, are here more advanced.
Sounds are great too! Gone are the cheesy keyboard sounding tunes from Capcom's recent efforts, and instead we are treated to jazzed up millennium style tunes.
What's particularly great about this game is that it offers the simple capcom gamer a doorway to the complex world of the king of fighters.

And the not so good:

What is given here however is merely a glimpse of the true nature of SNK's masterpiece characters. Upon playing capcom vs snk you may immediately notice that a large amount of 'dumbing down' has taken place on SNK's part. Basically what is left are watered down SNK characters with less moves and reduced ground and air maneuverability. This is largely due to the fact that King of Fighters game engine is technically far more advanced than StreetFighter and the SNK characters in their true state would run circles around Ryu and co. Why weren't the Capcom characters improved instead of worsening the SNK characters?
The graphics are a mixed bag. The SNK characters hav
e been beautifully redrawn in glorious high resolution whereas capcom have decided to simply paste their low res alpha series characters into the game. The two sets of characters simply clash and look odd next to each other because of this. A lazy effort? Definitely, although Ryu and Ken have been redrawn, but still look no better for it.
Another gripe I have with the game is the character roster. The Capcom lineup is largely the same as in StreetFighter 2. There is only one alpha character and one character from Super StreetFighter. One must question whether capcom has made any character development in the last ten years? Am I the only person who is beginning to tire of the same old faces? What about the inclusion of Street Fighter 3 characters or even toned down versions of Megaman or Captain Commando from the marvel vs capcom games?
The lineup here is also small in comparison to Capcom's recent game marvel vs capcom 2 which boasted 52 or so characters.

In conclusion, it must be said that even with its faults, it is still a highly enjoyable game which is refreshing in the face of the multitude of stale sequels both companies have churned out in recent years. However it is clear that this game was somewhat rushed. Moreover it seems to be the case that capcom deliberately under-performed so as to leave room for improvement on the already announced sequel. Why not get it right first time and save us the time and money?

Although not perfect, it is still a must buy for all fight game fans.

Summary: