REVIEW : SNK VS. CAPCOM: THE MATCH OF THE MILLENNIUM (PC)
Once upon a time, there was a real conflict between Capcom and SNK. The two businesses engaged in a tit-for-tat cold war in the early 1990s, each dedicated to the evolution of the combat game.
SNK’s Ryo, an orange gi-wearing clone of Street Fighter’s Ryu, appeared as a downed opponent in Capcom’s official Street Fighter II: Champion Edition artwork. Not only was the orange gi present, but the combatant had a ponytail identical to Art of Fighting’s Robert Garcia, his face covered beneath Sagat’s stronghold.
SNK retaliated by adding statues of Guile, Fei Long, Zangief, and Akuma from Street Fighter II in the background of a King of Fighters ’94 cutscene. The game’s final boss, Rugal Bernstein, declares them to be statues of fighters he has defeated. Capcom debuted secret Street Fighter Alpha competitor Dan Hibiki in 1995: a comedic, crying, parody amalgamation of Art of Fighting’s leading duo.
The firms even feuded over personnel, with Street Fighter director Takashi Nishiyama leaving Capcom for SNK to create the Fatal Fury series towards the end of the 1980s.
As for SNK’s head of development, Nishiyama was the one who eventually proposed the concept for a crossover to Capcom’s Yoshiki Okamoto, even though SNK was on the verge of bankruptcy (Street Fighter II). The rest is history, as between 1999 and 2003, the crossover produced a slew of games, some developed by SNK and others by Capcom. SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium began off the extravaganza on SNK’s Neo Geo Pocket before the arcade releases and subsequent Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 ports.
SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium contains a hand-picked line-up of expressive pint-sized SNK and Capcom favourites and is stylistically sculpted from the same mould as the rest of the Neo Pocket’s fighting game portfolio. The introduction is well presented, with SNK’s Ryo and Capcom’s Dan Hibiki humorously caught in dragon punches and Ryu’s classic into-the-screen fireball transporting you to the title screen.
The game has 18 playable characters right away, with another 8 to unlock from the Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Samurai Showdown, Fatal Fury, and King of Fighters universes, bringing the total playable roster to a staggering 26. In addition to the main Tournament, the ‘Olympic’ mode includes several condition-based endurance challenges and several unique mini-games from the Metal Slug, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Samurai Showdown, and Darkstalkers universes. These are basic score-based distractions that range from alien shooting galleries to Bemani-style reflex tests with various music tracks to choose from.
Points earned in these games may be transferred to the Sega Dreamcast (through a connection cable that is now incredibly expensive) and used in Capcom vs. SNK: Millenium Fight 2000 to unlock extra combatants in the original version game on the NGPC.
SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium blends both Capcom and SNK IPs beautifully and effectively, arguably better than SNK’s 2003 arcade version, SNK vs. Capcom Chaos. The Neo Pocket retains its classic two-button design, with short button taps for light punches and kicks and longer pushes for violent assaults. Characters and bosses from Street Fighter have nearly complete Alpha series move sets, while SNK’s lads and girls have similarly up-to-date (at the time of release) repertoires. Each character’s signature super strikes, as well as massively powerful combo-building, are always present. Despite coming from a series with distinct fighting game properties, everything has been fine-tuned to guarantee that contestants are evenly matched in battle.
SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium’s look is stunning, even without the bouncy gameplay. The game’s menu panels pop with vivid character portraits and outstanding graphical compositions, thanks to an imaginative colour palette that pushes the Neo Pocket to its utmost. Character music themes play appropriately depending on who you square off against, while stage backgrounds are culled from the distant reaches of the SNK and Capcom pantheon.
In a game already jam-packed with material, the Tournament mode lets you choose between a classic 1 vs. 1 match, a 3 vs. 3 team combat (a la King of Fighters), or a real-time Tag Team battle (a la Marvel vs. Capcom). Three super gauge charge styles from the Street Fighter and King of Fighters games are also available.
At the fourth stage bout, each character fights a specific competitor, triggering a true last boss in the shape of either Evil Ryu or Orochi Iori and good or terrible endings depending on whether the rival is destroyed.
The game’s excellent humour regarding the SNK and Capcom rivalry is refreshing, and the many cutscenes and pre-bout interactions are well-crafted. When Ryo and Dan finally meet, Ryo demands to know why Dan is dressed in his clothes.
SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium still suffers from being way too simple on basic settings and then rather irritating during actual last boss fights, despite the AI being significantly better over some of the console’s early releases.
It’s easy to beat the M.Bison and Geese Howard duo, but Evil Ryu and Iori can be difficult to beat with their aggressive attack AI and tremendous damage output. It might be difficult to gain headway against them in team fight mode since they regain considerable health per round.
The Switch’s analogue stick is sub-optimal compared to the Neo Geo Pocket’s original micro-switched stick. Amid combat, getting dragon punches to fly might be difficult, making everything feel a little sloppy. If you have another pad or stick, you might want to use it, especially if you’re in a two-player duel.
Previous criticisms about the Switch’s Neo Pocket ports have gone unanswered. There is no on-the-fly move-list available from the sub-menu, so you’ll have to load photos of the game’s manual (which doesn’t even include the 8 unlockable characters) by hand. The external presentation is adequate, with the game running in the proper aspect ratio, a few attractive bezel choices, and a filter to tweak – but there are few distinctive bonuses. The ability to map the game’s four attacks to four buttons has been shamelessly missed yet again.
