It seems that nowadays fighters aren’t great unless they feature ridiculous combos and blinding visual effects that consume an entire screen. While games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 have provided some extremely enjoyable 2D goodness, it feels as if the skill needed to be powerful force in the classic Street Fighter II games has been lost. Give a eleven year old kid a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the Dreamcast and I’ll guarantee that he’ll be able to pull off Super Combos by mashing random buttons on the controller. Even more disturbing is the fact that the recently released Street Fighter Anniversary Collection for the PlayStation 2 won’t be appreciated by the masses simply because it lacks the flash needed to appeal to gamers these days. However, it’s fortunate that over the past few years Capcom and SNK have joined forces to produce, in a sense, classical fighting games based on their traditional fighting game franchises and that has come in the form of the Capcom vs. SNK series.
The Capcom vs. SNK series of games have been an incredibly satisfying gaming experience for fans of classic 2D fighters like myself. They’re not too flashy and they’re meant to cater to fans of franchises like King of Fighters and Street Fighter. This fact alone makes them worthy of a look from any old school 2D fighting game fan. Supposedly, this Capcom and SNK "versus" series is supposed to come to an end with its latest title, SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom. If it truly is coming to an end, let it be known that it’ll be coming to an end on a good note.
Despite SVC Chaos not being an entirely new or unique experience, it’s much different than even the previous Capcom vs. SNK games. But don’t look at this as a bad thing. SVC Chaos is a bare bones 2D fighter that feels like a throwback to the genre’s era of arcade dominance in the mid 90s. There are no tag team battles and there are no seizure inducing super combos that involve the mashing of three or more buttons. SVC Chaos is a one on one brawler that requires a players utmost attention. It
"SVC Chaos is a bare bones 2D fighter that feels like a throwback to the genre’s era of arcade dominance in the mid 90s"
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relies on skill, timing, and becoming accustomed to each character used in the game.
Veteran 2D fighting fans should know what to expect. Interestingly enough, the game feels very much like a cross between Super Street Fighter II Turbo and King of Fighters 97’. With this said, let it be known that this game does not feature aerial blocks or parrying techniques. You’ve got you strong attacks, your (quicker) light attacks, special moves (fireballs, etc.) and super combos, which are utilized in an acceptable fashion. No more, no less.
In previous Capcom games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, super combos have been known to completely end a match in practically one blow. Something which has been a staple in the Capcom vs. SNK series is that super combos have never been over-exaggerated to that extent, and thankfully SVC Chaos also keeps things acceptable. As you would expect, super combos in the game are measured by a bar at the bottom of the screen which grows with every successful offensive attack landed. These super combos can be executed at each respective level (1, 2, & 3), but when players reach the maximum level (3) they can execute what is called a "Exceed" combo. An Exceed combo can be described as a more super than super combo. As you can imagine these moves are powerful, and they can actually deplete one whole heath bar out of the two players start out with at the beginning of a fight. However, there’s a catch... these Exceed combos can only be performed once during a fight, as well as only performable for a short amount of time, and, as you will soon find out, are very difficult to perform.
I mentioned that Exceed combos are difficult to perform mostly because they involve many directional movements. With some practice you would assume that they won’t be too difficult, especially since there’s
"these control issues may ruin the experience of the game just a tad"
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a "moves list" that’s easily accessible when pausing the game, and this is true, practice usually allows for players to polish up on difficult to master maneuvers. However, the difficulty in performing these moves has more to do with the failure of the Xbox controller being suitable for fighting games more than anything else.
The directional pad on the Controller S is placed in an odd position for your thumb to slide over and to press the directions correctly, and the analog stick, while excellent for simple front to back and half circle movements, isn’t quick or as accurate enough to perform these moves successfully. In addition, it isn’t a rare occurrence to accidentally hit the L trigger, thus performing a taunt and interrupting any attack planned, which then leaves you open for any kind of attack.
As you would assume, these control issues may ruin the experience of the game just a tad. Any player would get annoyed when attempting to pull of a specific maneuver and instead end up throwing a simple punch, or jumping. However, despite this, SVC Chaos still manages to be a fun, traditional fighting experience. Of course, in that traditional sense, SVC Chaos can become very challenging, if not, "cheasy."
When playing the game’s Arcade and Survival modes, after pummeling the first four to five opponents, the difficulty level goes through the roof. Opponents like M. Bison, Shin - Akuma, a jacked up Mr. Karate and Iori, and Evil Ken, can deliver unfair ass kickings. Although, interestingly enough, developer Playmore has included an option, after lousing a bout, to somewhat even things out. How’s that you ask? Well, if you choose do so, players may lower the difficulty of their opponent, decrease their health bar by 1/3, or even keep their super combo bar at max level. While these options may not sit well in the stomach of a hardcore player, they’re still interesting to have, and there’s always the choice of not choosing any of the three mentioned.
Although not mentioned earlier, SVC Chaos’ main draw is its online multi-player aspect through Xbox Live. Seeing how arcades are dead, this aspect should satisfy the wants of skilled fighters to kick some complete strangers ass, even if they’re half way across the nation. For the most part, fights run well over Xbox Live. Personally, I have not experienced any serious lag, and that is a very, very good thing. The only unfortunate aspects of this mode is that there isn’t a
"It won’t appeal to anyone other than fans of the genre"
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rematch option after the fight is over, because of this you’ll have to return to the game’s lobby every time, and it’s also a bit disappointing that at the current time there aren’t enough Xbox Live players with this game, but hopefully that will improve in the future.
In truth, the game’s Xbox Live aspect is the only gameplay mode that will truly keep players coming back. The game’s Arcade single-player mode is exactly what the title suggests, and this gameplay mode has been a staple in 2D fighters for the past fifteen years. It allows for players to take one the game’s 32 fighters (12 of which are hidden) through this mode, beat up your opponents, and eventually view a classic-styled ending for each character. Before the start of each match, each character will hold a unique conversation with their opponent, and I must say that the dialogue between the characters are rather humorous, but not because of witty writing, but more so because of the fact that most of dialogue is just terrible. Not helping the fact is that the dialogue only appears on the screen for a few seconds, giving players little time to actually read it.
It’s shame that not many 2D fighters implement a deep singe-player adventure like that introduced in Street Fighter Alpha 3. They would all benefit from a mode that allowed players to build upon each characters strengths through a World Tour-like mode. Additionally, there’s also a Survival mode, which is really just there for the challenge, and a mode which allows you to customize the colors of the game’s characters to your own preference. Sure, while the inclusion of these modes are interesting, they’re really not all that appealing. Just think of it this way, if there wasn’t traditional Arcade mode or Xbox Live multi-player, it wouldn’t even be worth to check this game out.
What is unfortunate about the game is that its presentational aspects aren’t all that amazing either. While the art direction is great, especially since many of the Street Fighter characters look like a throwback to the original Street Fighter II designs, they’re a pixelated mess. The high resolution character designs and 3D backdrops of modern fighters are nowhere to be found found. In all truth, the visuals in this game could’ve been pulled off to the same effect ten years ago. Perhaps, SNK should learn to upgrade and develop games on more modern arcade hardware. However, it doesn’t stop at the game’s visuals.
Nope, the audio aspect of the game isn’t all that spectacular either. To the ear, they come off as sounding like primative MIDI tracks used during the early days of the sixteen bit generation. None of the game’s themes are memorable except for that of the game’s character endings. Although, it’s fortunate that the blurbs and shouts of the game’s characters haven’t suffered the same fate. They all have the intensity known for in classic 2D fighters, and also that humor that comes from hearing pointless gibberish.
SVC Chaos is a traditional 2D fighter. It won’t appeal to anyone other than fans of the genre. It simply does not have the bells a whistles needed to appeal to most modern game players. This is somewhat depressing because the game is enjoyable. It is fun to play, challenging, and polished very well in terms of gameplay. If perhaps it had more variety in terms of single-player modes I would suggest it to a larger group of gamers, but as it is now, it’s only worth the venture if you’re a fan of the classic 2D fighting scene.
