Capcom has at all times had a little bit of an uneven relationship with its companions in relation to crossover combating video games. We received Road Fighter X Tekken, however Tekken by no means returned the favour; plus, Marvel and Tatsunoko aren’t sport builders, so there was clearly no return journey there. Naturally, we’re main as much as say that SNK and Capcom have been in the identical state of affairs, however that’s truly not the case – despite the fact that we completely perceive why you’d assume that.
The SNK vs. Capcom collection is an odd curiosity within the total Capcom vs. pantheon. It truly kicked off on SNK’s facet with SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Conflict, which is a card sport that launched solely on the NEO GEO Pocket Shade (with a Nintendo Change re-release a few years again). However in fact, whenever you hear ‘SNK vs Capcom’ the plain thought is a combating sport, and SNK would ship a month later with SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium which is a bona-fide combating sport… for the NEO GEO Pocket Shade. Once more, it’s good for what it’s, however it’s probably not what you need from a sport referred to as SNK vs Capcom, is it?
Fortunately, 2000 and 2001 got here with a one-two punch from Capcom within the type of Capcom vs SNK: Millennium Battle 2000 and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001. These two Capcom-developed titles pitted fighters from each corporations in opposition to one another in an arcade combating sport. What made them so particular was how they tailored each side into one cohesive unit due to the Groove and Ratio programs. There is a cause Capcom vs SNK 2 is taken into account probably the greatest combating video games ever made, alongside the likes of Road Fighter 3: Third Strike and Garou: Mark of the Wolves to this very day.
However there was at all times the query of how an SNK-developed Capcom vs. sport would prove, and some years later we received our reply within the type of SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos, which teaches us that not all crossovers are created equal. Don’t get us fallacious, SVC Chaos isn’t a foul sport by any means, however it’s an enormous letdown compared to the Capcom choices.
One of many issues that made the Capcom vs SNK video games so interesting was how they blended the character and gameplay of each side right into a cohesive combating sport that actually felt like a celebration of the 2 corporations combating classics, whereas SVC Chaos looks like a toned-down model of King of Fighters 2002 with Capcom characters.
Talking of the Capcom characters, we attain certainly one of SVC Chaos’ largest downfalls: the roster. Whereas the Capcom vs SNK rosters weren’t barn burners, SVC Chaos has maybe the lamest principal roster selections you would decide. Aside from Road Fighter 3’s Hugo and Purple Earth’s Tessa, the default roster of Capcom fighters all hail from Road Fighter 2. Clearly these characters are iconic for a cause, however given this was three years after Marvel vs Capcom 2’s distinctive roster that featured names from Resident Evil, Captain Commando, and lots of extra, it’s a little bit of a disappointment. Plus, for those who’re susceptible to taking part in grappler characters, Hugo is your solely possibility – however this sport isn’t made for grabs.
SVC Chaos does no less than shine is in its secret characters. Whereas the bottom roster is boring, SNK determined to get bizarre with it for the hidden fighters (that are simply selectable on this new port by holding L1 on the character choose). Not solely will we get the likes of Zero from Mega Man Zero, Demitri from Darkstalkers, and the introduction of the dumbest Road Fighter character, Violent Ken. However frankly weird selections like Ghosts ‘n Goblins’ Purple Arremer (or Firebrand, because it’s recognized in Marvel vs Capcom 3) and Metallic Slug’s Mars Folks, which is an alien jellyfish that communicates by saying “beep boop”.
Nonetheless, these secret characters rapidly reveal SVC Chaos’ largest difficulty: the stability. Virtually each certainly one of these fighters is ridiculously unbalanced, with Zero, Violent Ken, and particularly Athena (who has common strikes that you simply’d mistake for supers) in a position to decimate you in seconds. Preventing in opposition to Goenitz within the arcade mode as Hugo is likely one of the most depressing experiences you possibly can have resulting from his near-instant projectile spam and ridiculous quantities of chip harm. It isn’t fairly Arc System Works’ Fist of the North Star ranges of unbalanced, however it’s most likely akin to Capcom’s JoJo’s Weird Journey.
Fortunately, there’s one other space the place SVC Chaos excels over its predecessors, in its completely beautiful sprite work. Whereas Capcom vs. video games are inclined to reuse sprites (everyone knows in regards to the Morrigan sprite, proper?), SNK has created new artwork for the fighters, and it seems phenomenal. Particular shoutouts must go to the bigger characters like Samurai Shodown’s Earthquake, Hugo, and Demitri — who seems higher than he ever has in a Capcom sport.
As for the PS4 port itself, there’s probably not all that a lot to speak about. It’s a port of the arcade sport with no actual bells and whistles hooked up aside from the gallery mode (that includes character, promo, and stage artwork, however missing something tremendous fascinating like design paperwork). The coaching mode is pretty barebones, there’s no rewind of save state choices such as you would discover in Capcom Preventing Assortment or comparable releases, and there’s no technique to simply arrange 1v1 fights in opposition to the CPU; arcade is your solely selection, that means you possibly can’t practise particular matchups.
After all, the primary promoting level of this PS4 port is the net play, full with rollback netcode. And for probably the most half, it feels about proper. It’s not fairly as sensible because the netcode present in Responsible Gear Attempt or Road Fighter 6, so coping with excessive ping remains to be a trouble, however it’s stable when it really works. Nonetheless, there are very restricted choices when trying to find or creating matches. If you go into the obtainable lobbies, there’s no connection indicator – nor are you able to seek for a minimal connection, or whether or not to match up with wired or wi-fi connections. To make issues worse, it’s already uncommon to search out greater than 30 individuals on-line with no crossplay obtainable.
Conclusion
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos is a bizarre curiosity within the historical past of combating video games. Whereas it did have the monumental job of following up on probably the greatest fighters ever made, it’s laborious to disclaim that it is a bit of a letdown. It does have shiny spots like some distinctive character selections and a spread of incredible sprites, however it doesn’t arise with Capcom or SNK’s greatest. In the meantime, the PS4 port itself is as okay as okay will be. It received’t blow you away with additional content material or options — it’s merely a stable technique to play SVC Chaos.