REVIEW:
The much anticipated sequel to the original
Capcom VS SNK crossover, Capcom VS SNK 2 stormed into arcades and
consoles in 2001. CVS2 added a
generous amount of new characters from both companies, including fan favorites
like: Haohmaru, Rock Howard, Yun and Kyosuke. With CVS2, Capcom finely tuned
the gameplay system and released a much more playable and fun 2D fighting game
over the prequel.
Love that selection
screen.
Now there
are six different "grooves" to choose from after you select your character,
instead of the lone 2 we had to choose from in the first game. Each
groove represents a different Capcom or SNK fighting game power gauge. On Capcom's side, there's C-groove
(Street Fighter Alpha 3 style), A-groove (Street Fighter Alpha 3 V-ism style), and P-groove
(Street Fighter III style). On SNK's side, you can pick from S-groove (KOF/AOF style), N-groove
(classic KOF style), or K-groove (Samurai Shodown style). The cool thing is
that any
character from either side can use any of the grooves which makes for tons of
possibilities.
The ratio
system from the first Capcom VS SNK was greatly improved upon, with CVS2 now
featuring a "free" ratio system. You can assign ratio points to your team of characters
several different ways, basically, selecting who on your team will have the most
damaging hits. You still assign your points 2 + 2 (for a team of 2 characters), 1 +
3 also 2 characters), 1 + 1 + 2 (a team of 3 characters), or simply 4 (and fight
with 1 all-powerful character). The ratio system is actually fun this time
around, it obviously offers more balanced gameplay that what we had in the
prequel. If the ratio
system isn't to your liking, the home console versions also include a
traditional 3-on-3 match with no ratios assigned!
Freakin' Kyosuke &
Haohmaru... in the same game!?
The graphics
are sharp overall, featuring nicely drawn 2D sprites set on top of well rendered 3D
backgrounds. The stages offer decent variety... some are action packed with a
lot going on in the background, some
more quiet and serene... a good mix overall. The BGM's are a mixture of R&B and
techno and are decent tunes, but not quite as good as those
found in the original Capcom VS SNK (in my opinion). The sound effects and character voices are top notch however,
which was a real hit or miss with this game. Thankfully, characters sound
like they should, which is a very important thing in a fighting game like
this. The new characters introduced are represented very well, and returning
characters now have more of their classic moves and combos, fighting much
more like did from their original games... another huge improvement over CVS.
New characters like Haohmaru, Hibiki, Kyosuke, & Rock bring some much appreciated variety, all packing
convincing fighting styles and flashy super moves. Unfortunately, the balance of
this game is slightly thrown off by certain characters, particularly those from
the Street Fighter Alpha series (like Sagat & Blanka (due to their
ridiculous priority). Of course all characters can be played effectively, and it also depends
on which groove you pick. I personally like P-groove for the parrying, even though it's much harder to parry than in Third
Strike; but it can be done with practice. Actually, the fact that parrying can be done in CVS2 makes the game
a lot
more fun in my opinion. Learning some A-groove combos can also be fun, which
offers some
insane air combo possibilities & corner traps.
Panty shot FTW.
Last Updated:
3/20/2013
Developer(s):
Capcom
Publisher(s):
Capcom
Designer(s):
Hideaki Itsuno
Artwork
by:
Kinu
Nishimura, Shinkiro
Platform(s):
Arcade, Dreamcast,
Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox, PSN
Release Date(s):
August 2001
(Arcade)
September 13th, 2001 (
PS2/DC)
November 6th, 2001 (
PS2)
November 30th, 2001 (
PS2)
July 4th, 2002 (
GC)
August 30th, 2002 (
GC)
September 23rd, 2002 (
GC)
January 16th, 2003 (
Xbox)
February 11th, 2003
( Xbox)
March
7th, 2003 (
Xbox)
September 2012 (
PSN)
April 2013 (
PSN)
CVS2 isn't the most amazing looking 2D fighting
game around, but it has great variety and is one
of the most fun "traditional" 2D fighting games I've played in years. It's a fun game in casual play, but somewhat of a
mess in high-level, tournament play... where pokes are over-used and
"easy to use" grooves, combos, & overpowered characters are usually picked to
dominate... come on guys, stop picking Sagat.
Then there's "roll canceling,"
another flaw in the gameplay which allows players to dodge enemy attacks and
quickly counter, and causes certain attacks to have unintended invulnerability. Even
considering the flaws, CVS2 is a very solid and competitive fighting game on all
levels, and a huge fan-service to those of us that
love both Capcom and SNK fighting games. ~TFG
Webmaster
. 
PS2/DC)
PS2)
PS2)
