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| Developer |
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SNK Playmore |
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SNK Playmore |
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| Game Type |
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Fighting, 1v1 |
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| System |
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Arcade |
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| Release Date |
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Japan - 07.24.03
USA - 07.24.03 |
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SNK vs Capcom: Chaos (Arcade)
Review by: Campbell Tran (10.16.03)
One of the happier stories of late for fans of the fighting genre was SNK's
long-awaited rise from the ashes to be reborn as SNK-Playmore: a company with
a renewed commitment to keeping 2-D games alive.
It shouldn't be news to anybody that the 2-D fighting game genre has been a
beleaguered one as of late. Aside from the cult-favorite Guilty Gear series,
the last major 2-D fighter released is the two year old Capcom vs SNK 2:
Millenium Fighting 2001. The genre as a whole is dying slowly, and it would
need one heck of a savior to revive the flagging interest in the genre that
revitalized arcades way back in 1991.
Enter SNK vs Capcom: Chaos.
The hype surrounding this game was deafening in the months preceding its
release. Not only would it be the first major effort by the newly formed
SNK-Playmore, it would also be the first "traditional" 2-D fighter released in
years, not to mention the company's answer to Capcom's popular cross over
series. To put it simply, the genre needed this game to be good.
Graphics & Presentation:
It almost seems unfair to comment on SvC's graphics since they are run on
the antiquated Neo-Geo hardware, which hails from the same generation as the
good ol' Super Nintendo. SNK has done an admirable job of making do with what
they have to work with, though in light of visually stunning games like Guilty
Gear XX it's become pretty clear that the system has been pushed far beyond its
limits and desperately needs a change.
That said, SvC Chaos is not a pretty thing to behold. The character art and
animation alone is wildly inconsistent all the way across the board. The King
of Fighters sprites that were imported into this game all share a roughly
uniform art style (some of which aged better than others), but all of the newly
drawn characters are done with an entirely different style that makes quite a
jarring contrast. Even among the new characters the quality of art is far too
inconsistent. Characters like Tessa and Demitri are look great and sport some
smooth animation even by today's fighting game standards. Others, like Vega,
Dhalsim and Sagat have laughably choppy animation in some of their moves and
have an overall stiff look to them. Zero (from Capcom's Mega Man X series)
has such a different art style from the rest of the cast it seems like he was
quickly thrown on as an afterthought.
The backgrounds in SvC mostly have a sort of post-apocalyptic motif to them.
They are almost all very barren, detail-less, and incredibly boring. The
background titled "Abandoned Factory" is just as exciting as it sounds. The
only two backgrounds I found to be of any interest were the "Guardian Dogs
Temple" and the ever-popular "Nude Place". I'm guessing "nude" was a
translator's attempt to find another word for "empty". Or something.
Graphics Score: 3 / 10
Sound:
Thankfully, the Neo-Geo's aural abilities have held up quite a bit better
over the years. On the effects end, SvC gets the job done for the most part.
The impact sound effects all carry the necessary weight behind them to make
them both satisfying and convincing, and the projectiles attacks are
accompanied by the appropriate whooshing and flaring sounds. There is one
particular "whump" sound effect with a dull slapping sound that sounds
incredibly goofy though, and the individual kicks on one of Chun Li's super
moves sound more like a machine gun than anything else.
The voice talent for SvC is superb though, with all the over the top yelling,
screaming and grunting you've come to expect from an SNK game. The voice actor
for Sagat got a little TOO overzealous with his job, though, which makes Sagat
sound more than a little silly. Voice samples for most King Of Fighters
characters have been recycled for this game as well as a couple of Capcom
characters', but we're used to that sort of thing.
The SNK-Playmore tried to branch out a bit on the music front with SvC. As
opposed to their popular melodic-based tunes, SvC opts for a more contemporary
ambient/groove-based soundtrack. It still has that unmistakable "SNK feel" to
it, though, with an abundance of synthy guitar licks and a noticible hint of
J-Pop influence here and there. The tracks themselves are mostly unnoticable
and forgettable, which is of course due in large part to the ambient style.
Sound Score: 6 / 10
NEXT >> Innovation & Gameplay
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