SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium review by Jolly Green

It's finally out, the fighting game that both SNK and Capcom fans have been waiting for. Developed by SNK, I've had very high expectations for this game. Does it live up to the hype? I would answer with a resounding "YES!!!"

Th game has a pretty good assortment of characters, despite the fact that it was stated that this title would focus more on SNK's King of Fighters and Capcom's Street Fighter series. And most of the starting characters are just that... KOF vs SF, with a couple additions from Samurai Shodown and Darkstalkers (Haohmaru, Nakoruru, Morrigan and Felicia). However, SNK's King of Fighers was already comprised of characters from several of SNK's titles (Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting) as well as other characters. The character sprites should look familiar to anyone who's seen SNK's pocket fighting games. The characters are all featured in their Super Deformed designs, and the Capcom characters are given similar treatment. The designs look quite good, and the characters all seem well animated. They suffer from the usual color limitations on each sprite, but this is something I've managed to get used to. Though in contrast, the backgrounds, and portrait art are of a quality that is stunning for a handheld game, as are some of the graphics in the mini-games.

Musically, the game is fairly consistent as well. Capcom's and SNK's themes are recognizable. The sound is easily on the level of SNK's other handheld fighting titles, and isn't hard on the ears.

The real meat of this game is in the gameplay. Not only are there three styles of fight, and three ways to control how your super meter are used, there are also a handful of mini-games in the "Olympic Mode". The three styles of fight should be familiar to anyone who's been following this game's development, and they are Single battle, Tag battle and Team battle. In single battle, you take one character, and proceed through a series of fights to a boss confrontation. Tag battle works like Capcom's popular 'Vs' series where you pick two characters, and can change between them in the middle of a fight. Team battle should be familiar to anyone who's played King of Fighters. In Team Battle you choose a team of three characters, who fight one at a time until one side runs out of fighters. There are also three ways to manage your power meter. Normal mode has a two-level power meter. If you do a regular desperation move while it's powered at level 1, you get a regular DM, but if you wait until it's powered to level 2, you're treated to a Super Desperation Move. Rush mode allows you to stock super charges similar to Vampire Savior and King of Fighters.

The game itself is populated with SNK-style goodness, containing special teams, and special intros. (Anyone who's seen Kyo vs Ryu knows what I'm talking about.) Special teams generally consist of characters who are somehow related, or similar. For instance, Kyo and Ken make up the "Fire Fists" team, while Kyo and Iori make up the "Anti-Orochi" team. An easy special team can be found by teaming a character from one side with his rival from the other. Some of these make sense (Kyo and Ryu, as they're both main characters), and some don't (Haohmaru and Zangief???). The first character you choose determines who your rival character will be. They show up half-way through the game to challenge your first character to a fight. If you win this, it just changes the ending if you get it, and if you lose, it doesn't force a continue.

The game is also packed full of extras in the fighting (Tournament) mode as well as the Olympic mode. By completing the game, you get tiles which eventually form a picture, and (I believe) release a hidden character. (Each side has several.) You are rewarded with more if you get through to the last battle with either Orochi Ryu, or Orochi Iori. (To do this, complete the rest of the game without continuing.) In Olympic Mode, you appear to be able to master secret moves by earning points in the Olympic events. Some of them (Survival, Time Attack and First Blast) are almost the norm for most fighting games... try to defeat 100 enemies straight, defeat 5 opponents quickly, and defeat ten opponents in one-hit matches. But there are also several mini-games contained here. In one, you take the role of one of the soliders from Metal Slug as you blast aliens flying out of a flying saucer, in another as Yagyu Jubei, you slice straw dummies as they pop up (or down) in a nod to the original Samurai Shodown's mini-game. On the Capcom side, one features Arthur from Ghosts & Goblins and Ghouls & Ghosts hoping from platform to platform, collecting treasure while avoiding the gargoyle. The other Capcom mini-game features Felicia in a Parappa style dance game. Tap button combos as they scroll up, in time with music, to make Felicia dance. The mini-games are a lot of fun, easy to pick up, and can provide you with something else if you don't feel like fighting.

I can't think of any real complaints with this game. It has a lot of gameplay options and modes. It's chock full of mini-games, hidden characters, special intros and teams showing that a LOT of effort went into the presentation. Graphically, it beats just about anything I've seen on the NeoGeo Pocket. The worst area I can think of is the sound, and that's just because nothing really stuck out. If you own a NeoGeo Pocket Color, the odds are pretty good that you bought it for this game. If that's the case, go buy it. If that's NOT the case, go buy it. If you're a fan of either side's fighting games, I don't think you can go wrong with this game.