SNK VS Capcom: SVC Chaos

Following its TGS showing last month and quality hands-on time with the coin-op, here's our full preview of SVC, due December in Japan.

	Version PS2	Developer SNK Playmore	Publisher SNK Playmore	Genre 2D Fighting

By Daniel Boutros

Firstly, for those unknowing, this isn't the same game, nor series as Capcom Vs SNK; that's Capcom's baby. SNK Vs Capcom is SNK's take on the crossover deal that uses select characters from both companies' respective rosters, and all under the homely bonnet of a bespoke new gameplay system.

The new system involves a unique spirit gauge, whereby it starts to drain - like Samurai Shodown's Max mode - upon collection of your third super bar. Characters also possess the made-famous-by-KOF exceed attack; a once-per-match, ultra-powerful super-desperation move that can be activated when your character's name flashes red.

SVC's gameplay system also includes the ability to break out of your guard when under attack, by double tapping forward or pressing B and C simultaneously, meaning back and forth combo action a plenty. Alternatively you can also break out of your guard with a knockdown attack - much like Street Fighter's Alpha Counter system. This is done with a combined press of C and D. Of course the trade off here is either the loss of combo opportunities, or more energy being taken from your spirit gauge.

Fans of the four button fighting system - weak punch, hard punch, weak kick, hard kick, will find comfort in SVC, but CVS2 roll-fans may come unstuck as the game has taken the much loved move out of play. There also seems to be a problem when inputting supers requiring holding one direction before tapping further commands - like say, Bison's Super Psycho Crusher (b,f,b,f+punch). The problem here, is that these moves need to be tapped in slowly to get them out, meaning split second timing is somewhat compromised.

Matches tend to revolve around close quarters combat, with counters going to and fro at a fairly chaotic pace, although the game as a whole is not quite as fast or smooth as the seminal Fatal Fury: MOW or the newer King of Fighters games. One particular chain that made a positive impression was courtesy of Capcom's Zero, whereby the red-helmeted one strung together an impressive combination involving an overhead bullet shower, a head-on bullet and a five-hit sword swiping chain combo. Truly his cute appearance is but a sham hiding his potential as a combo wall of death.

As for characters, underdogs are the flavour of SNK chosen roster, with Zangief replaced by SF3's Hugo, Genjuro taking Hoahmaru's spot and dragon punching fireballers filling the remainder of the void. Which in terms of balance is not a necessarily good thing, although haters of Ryu and Ken cheese will be pleased to know that both characters have been toned down, as well as improved in the visual stakes with new, meaner looking character sprites. The full selection is as follows:

CAPCOM
Ryu - Sreet Fighter, Ken - Sreet Fighter 2, Guile - Street Fighter 2, Dhalsim - Street FIghter 2, M.Bison - Street Fighter 2, Balrog - Street Fighter 2, Sagat - Street Fighter 2, Vega - Street Fighter 2, Chun Li - Street Fighter 3, Hugo - Final Fight, Tessa - Warzards, Akuma - Super Street Fighter 2 X, Dan - Street Fighter Alpha 2, Demitri Maximoff - Darkstalkers, Zero - Megaman Zero, Violent Ken - new, Shin Akuma - Street Fighter Alpha 2, Hidden boss: Red Aremer - Ghouls and Ghosts / Gargoyle's Quest

SNK
Kyo - King of Fighters, Iori - King of Fighters, Terry - Fatal Fury, Ryo - Art of Fighting, Mai Shiranui - Fatal Fury 2, Kim Kaphwan - Fatal Fury 2, Earthquake - Samurai Shodown, Kasumi Todoh - King of Fighters, Shiki - Samurai Shodown 64, Genjuro - Samurai Shodown 2, Choi Bounge - King of Fighters, Mr.Karate - Art of Fighting Gesse Howard - Fatal Fury, Goenitz - King of Fighters, Mars People - Metal Slug, Riot Blood Iori - King of Fighters, Shin Mr.Karate - new, Hidden boss: Athena - from SNK's ultra-old Athena game

You may also notice the amount of 'evil' characters. Riot Blood Iori, Evil Ken.., actually, even Akuma and Mr.Karate have evil versions and they start off as evil! Does this make them more evil? Is there a scale of evil we don't know about? We find it somewhat strange that Ken has joined the dark side, although fighting across a series of 20 or so games could turn any attitude sour. What next? Evil Ken? Oh... they already did that.

The entire cast thus far totals around 48, but the four bosses - Shin Mr Karate, Shin Akuma, Red Aremer and Athena - are only controllable via hacking the board and thus we could not confirm how they played, however, you can see them in all their artworked glory - here. In fact you might even spot one of them in these here screenshots.

Overall the game is fairly enjoyable and pulling off the tougher combos was satisfactory. SNK's version of Darkstalkers' Demitri is fantastic, as he resembles a cross between Ryu and Sagat in play and Megaman Zero's varied range of attacks is so enjoyable to play with, you'll feel compelled to master him. Hugo is also a breath of fresh air amidst the uppercut, projectile crew, with his awesome size and unique move-set working well within the SVC environment.

And Geese. The undead millionaire is back as a slightly tweaked version of his all-powerful KOF 96 incarnation, meaning plenty of tears in the arcade for those facing expert Howard players.

The soundtrack also works well; far better in fact than the trumpetty embarrassment that was the CVS2 score, with catchy tunes throughout, totally suiting the environment and pace of the game. You'll also find plenty entertainment in the wealth of Engrish quotes throughout; take for instance the stage known as 'Green of Forest', or even the Iori end battle quote that advises you join a nunnery.

Unfortunately however, these wondrous gems are not enough to hide the game's numerous flaws.

For starters, Hugo's size, although impressive, means he can't block Sagat's high tigers when ducking, as they connect somewhat unfairly with the very top of his head. Very careless of SNK, wethinks.

Also the amount of characters whose moves include variations on 'fireball, dragon punch', totals around 20, which is more than a third of the roster. One of the most important things to have in a 2D beat em-up is variety; if characters aren't varied and original, it leaves little longevity for the two player matches, and thus boredom will set in quick. On top of this, some of the characters just don't feel like they belong. Genjuro's slow, but powerful pace seems somewhat redundant in SVC: Chaos, as does Earthquake. Mars People also seems somewhat unfitting within the whole SVC machine, but not because of how he plays - his moves are fantastic and he's fun to use - but his forgettable appearance seems a little out of place in the style we've come to expect from staple SNK fighters and seems more suited to a Marvel Vs Capcom sequel.

Vega has also been drastically altered and plays more clunky, yet with greater urgency than his SSFX incarnation. His wall jump speed is significantly increased and his roll move and flips are altered to give him a more defensive style than previously known for the Spanish ballerina. Boo.

If these quibbles aren't enough to deter you from trying it for yourself, then SNK Vs Capcom Chaos will be out in Japan on PS2 on December 18th. No western release has been confirmed as yet.

Many thanks to Game Focus of London's Goodge Street, who let us play on their arcade board for a good few hours. They're taking orders on the PS2 and Neo Geo versions of SVC, as well as King of Fighters 2002 on Dreamcast, so contact them for more details if you're interested.