SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Preview

For years now, two distinct parties have ruled the 2D arcade-fighting arena, SNK, the creators of the long-running Fatal Fury, King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown franchises, and Capcom, the makers of the Street Fighter dynasty. Not too long ago, these two forces joined together to create a fighting game featuring warriors from each company’s established character reservoir. The resulting game, Capcom vs. SNK (developed by Capcom), was a smash hit on consoles and in arcades. Now, SNK is stepping up to the plate and releasing their own personal take on the crossover, with SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. As should be expected, SVC Chaos contains a unique SNK feel, both gameplay-wise and graphically. It will also feature Xbox Live support, a compelling reason for fans of the arcade version to drop their hard earned cash when SVC Chaos is released later this month.

SVC Chaos will feature 36 fighters from both SNK and Capcom’s extended rosters. The SNK side will contain characters like Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury, Iori from King of Fighters, Earthquake from Samurai Shodown and many more, while the Capcom side will offer such favorites as Ken, Ryu, Akuma, Chun Li, Dhalsim and Guile. Each match begins with a brief conversation between the two fighters. These vary with each paring, and can be pretty funny depending on who is matched up. Its also pretty cool to see how each fighter responds to a fighter from a different franchise.

The core gameplay will be basically unchanged from the arcade version. The four-button control scheme (Light Punch, Strong Punch, Light Kick, Strong Kick) has been ported over nicely to the Xbox controller, and the game controls very fluidly because of it. Each character will have scores of special moves to perform, including Super Special Moves, and the new more difficult to pull off Exceed Moves that deliver even more damage.

SVC Chaos will also feature a few new game modes than the standard arcade mode. There will be a practice mode that allows you to hone your fighting skills on a tweakable AI opponent, a Gallery where you can look at unlocked pieces of art, a Survival mode, and the Color Edit mode where you can tweak your character’s colorization to your liking. Of course, then there is also the Xbox Live support, which allows you go head to head with players half way around the world.

The graphics sport a very interesting look, and seeing Capcom’s Street Fighter repertoire represented with brand new sprites and an interesting edge to them was pretty cool. While most of the SNK warriors look like they have for years, the Capcom crew is represented differently and sports some impressive detail and animations. While the game certainly isn’t taxing the Xbox hardware very much, it looks very solid and true to the arcade version.

SVC Chaos will be an arcade perfect translation of the hit game, which isn’t really that much of a technological feat considering, but one that will appeal to fans of the arcade game or fans of 2D fighting games in general. Plus, the online support only sweetens the deal. Look for SVC Chaos to hit shelves at the end of this month.