The only thing keeping this from a high score is the controls. Nuff said.
Here's the lowdown:
A big tournament. choose your fighter(s), kick butt, win!
In order to strategize, there are different grooves for you to choose. Not only will they affect your gameplay, they will affect your boss fights and character portraits.
Capcom Grooves:
C- Classic 3-Level Gauge that is powered up by attacking, or getting attacked. Some features: Dash, Tactical Recovery, Sidestep.
A- Custom Combo Gauge that fills up when attacking. You can activate a combo when full. Some features: Counterattack, Dash.
P- Super Combo Gauge that fills up when attacking. When all the way full, you can perform a Super Attack. Some features: Parrying, Small Jump
SNK Grooves
S- You can charge up the gauge manually during battle. when full, you can perform a Super Combo for a short period of time. If you are low on life, you can just dish out Super Combos as much as you want. If you are low on life and your gauge is full, you can dish out a Level 3/Max Super. Some Features; Dodge, Tactical Recovery
N- You have a yellow bar that fills when you attack. When it fills all the way, you get a charge. Pressing a certain button or buttons will get you into a powered up state. If you have an extra charge when you're in power up mode, you can activate a Level 3/Max Attack. Some features: Run, Ground Attack Dodge, Guard Cancel.
K- Your Rage Gauge gets filled when attacked. When full, you will enter rage mode and you can perform a Level 3/Max Super. Some Features: Just Defense, Small Jump.
Along with these six, you can make to grooves of your own. These are known as EX-Grooves 1&2
Gameplay: 10/10. Line up three fighters in any order you want. In Ratio Mode, you can choose who gets the big power up. No Teammate Switching or Interference though. Different Grooves give different strategies, along with the ratio mode. A good way to strategize is to test out your dream character team.
Controls: 3/10. Here is where the game falls apart. You have to control choices: GC-ISM and AC-ISM. On the Xbox, they're good, but not on Gamecube. The GC-ISM is too nooby. Use the C-Stick to perform supers and specials. Easy. The AC-ISM is the classic down,diagonal-right,right gameplay. The annoying Control Stick and D-Pad makes it difficult to perform a simple Hadouken or a Rising Tackle.
Graphics: 10/10. Extraordinary Visuals for a 2-D game. Nuff Said
Sounds: 10/10. Music, Sound FX, And Voices are Awesome. "Get Rockin' Baby!"
Unlockables: 3/10. 2 characters and a Groove Edit Mode Very little to do.
Character Roster: 10/10. A Vast Variety of Street Fighter, King Of Fighters, Fatal Fury, and a whole bunch of other game characters in the world of Capcom and SNK. Not as Diverse as the Marvel vs Capcom games, but a collection of over 40 characters is really good
Overall (No average): 5.5/10 Between The 2 Versions: The Gamecube version is a weak punch while the Xbox version is a Shinkuu Hadouken. This game is cool and all, but the Xbox version is much, much better. Perfect game for newbies, but the Xbox version is for the Street Fighter veterans.