Few fighting games manage to achieve excellence. And to put it simply, Capcom has done it again.
Capcom vs. SNK 2 was originally released in the arcades as a sequel to Capcom vs. SNK on Sega's NAOMI hardware back in the autumn of 2001, and later that year it was ported to several home consoles, including the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, the GameCube, the Xbox, and most recently on the PlayStation Network as a digital download. However, this is a review of the PlayStation 2's version of the game.
The appropriately-titled Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 as you may have noticed is not only a celebration of the turn of the century (and the millennium), but a massive clash between two of the greatest fighting game companies of all time. In other words, it's an enormous mash-up between the seemingly-endless fighting game franchises between the companies, such as Capcom's ever-popular Street Fighter and Final Fight pitted against SNK's King of Fighters and Fatal Fury. There's a handful of other franchises, but it's noticeable that SNK has amped up their variety - as the company having the lesser-known brawlers on the list (and as the challenger to Capcom's finest) they've made sure that their best-of-the-best has as many different fighters on the battlefield as possible. And it works out great, because all of the characters are so varied - which makes it the game all the more enjoyable to look at.
And that's exactly the meat of this game: pitting teams of fighters against each other from totally different universes to duke it out in awesome environments. The game's core mechanics are rather simple, but newcomers might find it a little confusing - especially to those who have never played the first iteration of Capcom's clash with SNK. The typical Arcade Mode starts off a little like this: you are prompted to select one of three choices that will determine the course of play. Considering how Capcom vs SNK 2 is rather team-based, you can choose a ratio-based team with one-to-three characters (more on that later), or choose a standard three-on-three match. If you'd rather go it alone and fly solo, you can opt for the single mano-a-mano if that's your preference.
Following that, you are confronted with an interface that allows you to select one of six "Grooves" - which are gauges that have game mechanic bits-and-pieces taken from different fighting games between the two companies. A Groove is simply a gauge that you use that can affect the way you play, each with varying affects and abilities and their own strengths and weaknesses. The Groove system is a great incorporation into the game, and is an improvement in number over the previous game. Having numerous fighting playstyles vastly increases the accessibility of the game, as those who aren't familiar with the game's Street Fighter roots can still find their niche by using a Groove that emulates a similar game that they are more familiar with. As a Street Fighter and Darkstalkers enthusiast I found myself right at home with the C-Groove, which simulates the fighting system from Street Fighter Alpha: super moves, air blocking, dashing and rolling, and other tweaks that I was rather at-home with. There's even some mechanics in the game that would later be incorporated into newer fighters, even 3D ones such as Soul Calibur - there's the more advanced techniques such as parrying, dodging, Just Defending, and move canceling to cater to the expert crowd.
Once a Groove is selected, it's on to the enormously-massive character selection. This is where the Ratio system comes into play. From here, you can choose one to three characters each with adjustable ratios that can determine their strength. Each team must make up four ratio points and this means that in a team of three, one character will have two points, whereas his or her other teammates will have one. If you opted for a team of two, then a two-man team can either do a three-to-one ratio or an even two-for-two. A team of one automatically yields four points. This creates a sense of freedom and balance, because if you're not feeling confident about your other teammates but you're really good at one character, you can assign more points to the character you have more confidence in, directly affecting his or her amount of health and strength. It's a very unique concept and it works fluidly with the large character roster. And yes, you can mix-and-match fighters from both companies, so you don't have to worry about having your teams strictly limited to Capcom's vs SNK's.
The Arcade Mode consists of the standard handful of matches against one-to-three opponents. Unfortunately, there's no bonus car-smashing modes or anything like that, but if you're good you can fight against a hidden mini-boss before the final stage. However, this is forgivable and is only a minor issue - there's a lot more to this game than just Street Fighter - and I like it. The story is your usual tournament calling out for the greatest fighters of all time - it may sound a little woody but there is some backstory to it - it's not particularly interesting but there's more to it if you play well.
The gameplay of Capcom vs SNK 2 is perfectly-tuned and finely-tweaked, and the roster size well-compliments it. Each character is balanced and as a game with so many different characters from a diverse set of fighting game franchises, each with their own mechanics that sets one franchise apart from the other - I found myself in wonder of how Capcom was able to bring together a huge cast while maintaining similarities between every brawler to keep the consistency in check. The gameplay is easy to get into, but hard to master like dozens of other fighters advertise. This game is no exception - however Street Fighter players will find themselves right at home with this game, because the four-button two-strength controls from the previous Capcom vs SNK has been ditched for the standard six-button three-strength attacks. It's very similar to the Street Fighter Alpha vein of games, and even if you're a newcomer to the control scheme you'll get used to it in no time with practice. Gameplay is fast, varied, and fun as it should be, and the beautifully-detailed backdrops and environments utilize 3D hardware that makes the levels more believable. This is PlayStation 2 hardware, after all - and both companies have made sure that they use its visual potential to the fullest - and the game is beautiful. The music and sound work well in conjunction with the fighting atmosphere. The music consists of your usual Japanese techno beats, which may sound a little corny to some, but it does give off that arcade-like vibe, and punches sound like punches, and Hadoukens sound like blazing fireballs. In other words, they do the job right.
With so many characters across different franchises with their own visual flair to their fighters, how does a company maintain a consistent visual style? It's simple: redraw and re-sprite them. And that is exactly what Capcom has done with SNK's fighters and some of their own - they have meticulously redone every SNK character while managing to improve on their own sprites as well, and the art department should be applauded for this. However, some characters such as Darkstalkers' Morrigan and other characters do not receive the makeover treatment - which is a disappointment because sometimes the older, reused sprites look out of place in contrast to the beautifully-done new ones. Though some may find this a grating problem and a glaring issue, I found it only a minor problem - with so many characters that have been redrawn this issue is also understandable, though Capcom should be ashamed to not have been able to visually remaster their own sprites. But since this is a mere cosmetic issue that doesn't get in the way of the main gameplay, I really don't mind it at all. The characters still look and animate realistically, and that's a winner in my book.
It's crazy to think about how Capcom and SNK brought together so many characters into one game - there's familiar faces, and even ones that most wouldn't recognize from a glance. From the blatantly obvious to the obscure, there's characters from both ends of the spectrum. Most would recognize Ryu and Mai Shiranui at a glance, but who knew that Maki from the overshadowed Final Fight 2 or Athena from Psycho Soldier would make appearances? It's clear that both companies have gone to extreme measures to gather their finest to take part in the tournament, and their efforts should be highly appreciated for being able to revive obscure characters so effortlessly and flawlessly. Each character has their own charm, and for a cast of this size I rarely found many similarities between Capcom's and SNK's characters - even those within the same company. Almost all of the cast speak only in Japanese, but you can really tell if they've got that confident attitude or not just by looking at their body language or the way they talk.
Other modes greatly increase the game's replay value - as if playing through the Arcade Mode just to try out every character wasn't enough, Capcom and SNK have made a plethora of other modes available for you to dig through. There's a Training Mode where you can practice against a training dummy with adjustable settings, a Survival Mode with the option to battle the entire cast or defeat as many as possible, a Color Edit mode to change any colored aspect of a character (a feature previously seen in Capcom's Darkstalkers 3). There are plenty of other modes, but it would be best if I left it to you to do the unlocking here, because there are a ton of secrets - some more obscure than others. There is plenty of content in the game to keep you engrossed in it for many, many hours, and with friends it's simply a blast to play. If you're having friends over, even if they've only a passing interest in the fighting game genre, most likely they'll find themselves just as into the game as you are - if not more.
Almost everything of what I love in a video game is in this fighting game masterpiece. Capcom vs SNK 2 is simply a love letter to the fighting genre and the ones that make it happen. A stunning combination of sound, graphics, music, characters, and the fighting mechanics has never been so perfect as it is here. It's fast, fun, and incredibly easy to get into and highly accessible with its novice-friendly mechanics, and is totally unique with its (optional) team- and ratio-based, Groove-fueled action. There's just so much blissful fun to be had here, and I still wonder how they managed to craft it so perfectly - and it overshadows any possible issue with the game. The astounding efforts that both companies Capcom and SNK have made to make sure that this truly the Mark of the Millennium should be applauded again and again.
Hell, give 'em a standing ovation.