And you aren’t just limited to playing gamers in the United States. If you feel especially daring, you can take on some of the Japanese gamers, some of which take their fighting games VERY serious. You are also able to check your rankings throughout the world, though, you might not want to do that until you’ve played for a few days. It would be nice if you were able to check ranking by the country you live in, but there does not seem to be an option for that.
It should also be noted that you are able to play online without the EO function. Even if you don’t play with the mode completely turned off, you can see if the other person chooses it or not, so you can make fun of them for using cheap tactics. With a few reservations, this is a great online game.
Graphically Capcom vs. SNK 2 is Capcom at the top of its game. Though there are some characters that look a bit pixelated (Morrigan leaps to mind), on the whole the graphics and animation are superb. I especially like the little reinvented details, like Blanka’s shock attack, and Haohmaru menacing hurricane. They may be the same moves, but they have NEVER looked better!
It would have been nice if Capcom could have gone back through the graphics and improved some of the rough edges. Overall the game looks good, but a tad dated. But then, I suppose this argument could be brought against any 2D fighter in this day and age. But still, some of the characters should have been fixed up a little.
If there is a downside to Capcom vs. SNK 2 it’s the lack of extras. Granted the game is online, and features two hidden characters, and several extra options, it just lacks the substance we’ve come to expect from Capcom, especially when you consider how much there was in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. There are also only 11 levels to fight almost fifty characters in, something I was extremely disappointed with. Let’s hope Capcom allows gamers to download more backgrounds, and content.
Some gamers may also have a problem with the controls. No matter which Xbox control you grip, Capcom vs. SNK 2 is going to cramp up your hand. You can easily enough configure the controls, but you can’t seem to change the two trigger buttons. I found this to be extremely troubling, since I couldn’t get comfortable using the black and white buttons on the Xbox S-Type control, and would have preferred to use these triggers.
But what let me down the most was the lack of character diversification. I like the Street Fighter II characters, but Capcom’s list of classic characters reaches far beyond what is represented here. The same goes with SNK, who only gives us the most basic line up of characters. It’s a shame more Samurai Shodown or Rival School characters didn’t make the list, but with a line up of 48 playable fighters, it’s awfully hard to complain for long.
If you can’t wait any longer for
Soul Calibur 2, and can’t buy
Guilty Gear X2 because you don’t have a PlayStation 2, then this is the perfect game for you. In many ways you have played this game before, but never quite as well put together as it is here. There’s a lot of nostalgia involved in a game like this, but given the chance you’ll see why this sequel is one of the best playing, looking, and deepest 2D fighting games of the last decade … and easily makes for a great standard to be beat in the next ten years.
Not to toot my own horn, but Defunct Games devoted a whole weekend to Capcom vs. SNK 2 when it was released on the Dreamcast. It featured information about how to make your grooves EXACTLY like other fighting games (like Art of Fighting), reviews of the covers, a special list of missing characters, the anatomy of Dan, reviews of each of the levels (including pictures of where they came from), and much, much more. It’s something everything Capcom and SNK fan should check out.
www.defunctgames.com/capcomvssnk2.htm
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Sure it’s late in arriving, but Capcom vs. SNK 2 is great no matter what system you play it on. It’s not the most original fighting game, but if you remember the source material, that won’t matter a bit. However, if you have simply been waiting for a great online fighting game, there’s no reason to read any further, just get up and buy this game.
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