In 1999 Capcom and SNK struck up a deal to license each other their intellectual properties to produce two fighting games each.
Capcom's first entry was
Capcom vs. SNK for the Dreamcast. Drawing mainly from their own
Street Fighter, and SNK's
King of Fighters series, Capcom made a solid 2D fighter with balanced characters and challenging gameplay. Hypnotic menus draw you in from the start, and animated backgrounds keep you interested through while you fight. The "groove" system lets you pick how you get to activate power ups and special combos, and the flexible ratio system lets you add a few more characters to your team if they are all weak.
SNK's first attempt is widely overlooked as its release was only for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Unfortunately SNK's poor financial standing led to bakruptcy in 2001, followed by a buyout by Playmore that same year. The new SNK-Playmore followed up on their obligation with
SVC Chaos. This title definitely puts a SNK twist in style, but still feels a bit forced with some unbalanced characters. The best part by far is how SNK draws characters from more series than Capcom, leading to higher variety of characters. Also, the artwork from the game is stunning. Game sprites and special attacks received a visual makeover, while the backgrounds are truly something to look at.
In 2005 Capcom celebrated the 15th anniversary of the
Street Fighter series. The
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection hosts a fair selection of SF games on the
Xbox and
PS2. Capcom also licenses a number of character-themed collectible control pads to Nubytech to mark the occasion. The Xbox recieved
Akuma,
Bison, and
Guile while the PS2 recieved Akuma, Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li in addition to wireless control pads featuring Cammy, Evil Ryu, and Sagat. The premier item released with these was an arcade stick for both Xbox and PS2 that brought the arcade experience home. Sometimes the standard controller doesn't quite cut it for these arcade style games.
Slayer1 gets the spotlight this week as the featured collection. The size might be considered average, but a
detailed view will show how it truly shines. Ratings for most titles, and a large number of micro-reviews in the comment section give just enough personal input on games to determine his taste in gaming.
Capcom announced this week that they are currently developing
Street Fighter 4. This is a welcome addition to the Street Fighter legacy that will surely bring a freshness that has been lacking in recent re-releases and spinoffs of previous titles.
Another related find is a
humourous political drawing by a UK artist at
2D Forever. It juxtaposes two prominent British political rivals in the classic SF versus screen.
You can play a beat'em up anytime, but remember to put it on channel 3.
