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The other day, I was having lunch with a friend and at one point, we talked about a book he just bought. Here's how the conversation went on although I had to edit certain parts.

My friend : ''That book I bought really wasn't worth it !''

Me : ''How come ?''

My friend : ''It seems to have been written by a 5-year-old brat and doesn't make any ********* sense !''

Me : ''So, whatcha goin' to do ?''

My friend : ''Whenever I feel like I've been ripped off, I just stomp on it until I think the damn stuff can't take any more.''

''Conclusion ?'' you ask. My Capcom vs. SNK disc will enjoy a good stomping tonight !

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Everybody had been waiting for it for years. In the fighting games' community, all the talk was about this game. Every discussion would lead to someone mentioning CVS and people would then share their views about how it would be and flame wars would then rage on between Capcom fans and SNK fans. Namco and other companies' fans would feel left out. But I never got in the debate because, deep within myself, I already knew that it would be a disappointing game. This wasn't just a hunch, this was because I had heard of some terrible news by the same friend I mentioned above.

What was it that I heard ? I heard that Capcom only wouldn't be making the game. Due to its legal affairs with Aruze, SNK wasn't going to participate actively in the developing of what was supposed to be every fighting game's fan dream title. You, Capcom, yes you, screwed everything !

First off, Capcom again showed how lazy it can be when designing its titles. Most SNK characters have been redrawn and the transition from KOF to this game is pretty obvious. Anybody who does not admit that the SNK cast has been revamped and now looks nice would just have to be completely blind or really biased. Kyo and the likes are simply outrageous with those clear, colorful outfits.

Moves too have been tweaked for the purpose of CVS such as Ryo's Kohou or even Terry's Power Wave. Being more of a SNK gamer, I was pleasantly surprised with how my favorite characters turned out to look. But although I was this amazed at the SNK characters, something managed to surprise me even more. The backgrounds ! Crisp, colorful and well-detailed backgrounds will accompany you as you choose a team and battle on. The presence of breakable parts in the backgrounds -a return to old-school fighting- makes everything even sweeter. Now, isn't this good news ?

BUT !! Yes, my friend, things are not perfect. Although Capcom went ahead and tried to make things look good for SNK characters, they literally forgot about Ryu, . M. Bison and everybody else on their side. The characters seem to have been directly taken from whatever game they were in prior to CVS's release and thus look outdated. The designing sucks horribly and Ryu, the mighty Ryu, looks as if he's been run over by a gasoline truck. Someone could have just gone on and lighted a match to save him from this humiliation !

Capcom's fans will be terribly disappointed when they see how their 'buddies' look in CVS. Their animation is the worst I've ever seen from Capcom. One would never realize this is from Capcom upon seeing it. Well, they do have a reputation of slacking off when they're making their games but this sin't just slacking off. This is a criminal act ! And considering how the title was awaited, one would have expected them to do their best, after all !

The music is another big disappointment. The new ones are actually decent and do urge you to really give all you have in all those battles that will await you. However, CVS also includes remix versions of older themes that appeared in the original games and these are terrible. In fact, you could even consider Capcom to have gone back in time and this holds true specially when you realize the poor quality of the sound effects and the voice-acting.

I don't think voice-acting has ever been so low. Characters like Kyo, Terry and even Ryo have lost their distinctive voices which made them stand out so much. Even worse, their voices in CVS are vaguely reminiscent of someone who's just absorbed a good dose of Helium. Aargh, what is going on ?!

Now, I'm going to talk about the gameplay. This is where the bulk of the flaws is located. I don't know what Capcom was thinking but they failed miserably to give CVS even a decent gameplay. The Ratio System was a well-thought one but didn't quite succeed to give CVS a balanced gameplay. When you set up your team, this Ratio System gives you 4 points. Characters vary between 1 and 3 points with, obviously, the best ones having the 3 points. Thus, this prevents overpowered team and cheap play. Not quite !

While the system is good, Capcom screwed up while deciding the tiers. Good characters are at a mere Level 1 such that any scrub will go on and pick 4 cheap characters and work on his turtling and other idiotic skills. Powerful characters may have been rightfully attributed a Level 3 Ratio but this is a mistake because these fighters do take a lot of time to gets used to and require complete knowledge of their moves -quite the opposite of most Level 1 characters who are gods with just a little practice-. Hence, having them as Level 2 characters would have been perhaps more appropriate.

The EX characters who are alternate versions of the existing characters are a mere waste of time and offer nothing new. Obviously, their purpose was to give the game a longer life-span but that's a complete failure since they're just boring. The control is seriously flawed with the 4-button system. Capcom created the cross-over titles. Couldn't they see that 6 buttons would have to be the logical solution to ANY cross-over title ?! Sure, the response may be smooth and moves come out well but the 4-button lay-out isn't a good idea AT ALL !

''The best thing to do with the damn book is to read the first chapter and then the last chapter.'' - My dear friend who likes stomping on books.

CVS may be packed with hidden characters which require you to sit down for hours on end, fighting you ass off to unlock these but the chances you'll be tempted to do so are slim. The game is also a tad slower than normal fighters which will annoy long-time fighting fans too as they may take a while to adapt to its own speed.

People who like the game will enjoy it very much and will find it to have a great replay value. But the question remains : Will you like what you see ? Will you be bold enough to try and get used to the game ? In most cases, the answers have been No. In my case, this was a bitter experience and had my turn to my prized Garou : Mark of the Wolves and Street Fighter III : Third Strike. Because Capcom vs. SNK isn't even worth half of those 2 titles. You want dream titles ? Check out these games and you won't be deceived. Just leave CVS alone, it isn't worth anything ! And for those who actually think CVS is a good fighter, I just feel sorry for them.

Zoxea liked :
+ Excellent backgrounds

Zoxea didn't like :
- Game engine screwed up
- Outdated Capcom characters
- Unsuitable controls
- Trash remix

Overall score : 2



Reviewed by: Shirow