 |
Review: SNK vs Capcom: CHAOS (alternative) |
SvC Chaos has finally hit the PS2. The arcade version was criticized for being poor, untested, and failing to live up to the lofty standard expected of dream match games. The PS2 version promised to rectify some of the mistakes of the arcade version. I had patiently waited for this release, and I immediately played it the instant I got it out of the packaging. How does it measure up?
The most obvious of the changes is in the graphics department. The new effects for the energy, fire, and projectile attacks is fabulous. Fireballs now appear smooth and translucent. Fire effects, such as Kyo’s Oniyaki or Mai’s Ryuenbu, no longer look jagged. These attacks, along with a few others, have been given the translucent makeover as well, and they dissipate once the fighter has completed the attack. This translucency is very pleasing to the eye, as it blends with the 2D sprites quite well, and is a welcome change from the standard jaggy projectiles expected of SNK. The backgrounds have been slightly tweaked; most of them have a convincing pseudo-3D feel to them now (the ‘forest’ and ‘blockade space’ ones most notably). However, the majority of them remain the generic blue, black, and brown snore fests from the arcade. C’mon, this is the PlayStation2 version! A few new ones, reminiscent of the ports of latter King of Fighters games, would’ve been more than welcome. The sprites aren’t that hot either. While some look good, others look simply awkward, and SNK is showing signs of Morrigan syndrome in this department (the Geese and Goenitz sprites date back to King of Fighters ‘96). In all, the graphics have improved, but could’ve used a little more work.
The sound remains largely unchanged. Instead of AST versions of the soundtrack, beefed-up versions of the OST present. The tracks sound less like synthesized ass this time around, and lend the game a serious if melancholy air. It’s pretty much your standard SNK fare, so nothing much to note here. The voices (super duper announcer included) and sound effects have been ported over perfectly and in full effect.
Lastly, the gameplay is more or less the same as the arcade. Aside from moving a bit smoother, the game remains faithful to the arcade version. Loading times are very minimal. The Max Mode, Exceeds, C+D counters, and the infamous GCFS are all at your disposal. The bosses Shin Akuma and Shin Mr. Karate are still as brutal and challenging as ever. They’re beastly because of instant recovery times, giant fucking fireballs, the ability to perform supers without using up super stock at all, and doing Exceeds at exactly the right time. Shin Mr. Karate always does his unblockable Ryoko Ranbu Exceed as you are getting up from a sweep; Shin Akuma never does his Exceed unless you’re down to ‘ life or less, and has you in the corner. Jesus. I had a quite a time defeating these two, now that I can’t use save states. The game in general is difficult, even on lower difficulty settings, and the powerful mid bosses and end bosses only compound that fact. This may not be the game you’d want to use to introduce your friends to the fighters genre, since it can get pretty frustrating (but thank God for the handsome ‘Continue Service’ options).
The major change noticeable in gameplay is the absence of the notorious Geese and Zero infinites. I have to confess, going into Training mode (hidden chars, the Shin bosses included, can now be accessed by pressing and holding R1 at the select screen-just check the inner select screen columns and enjoy) to find out if these infinites still existed was one of the first things that I did upon acquiring this game. However, the complexion of the game remains largely unchanged, even with the removal of infinites. The tiers (hohoho) remain the same. Zero remains top tier and abusive due to his speed, traps, and Cyber Elves. Geese Howard is strong too, with high priority, hard-hitting normals, and Reppukens of every size and shape. On the opposite side of the spectrum, characters like M.Bison and Choi flat out suck, and Hugo remains a large piece of combo bait.
The standard Arcade, Versus, Practice, and Survival modes are present in SvC Chaos. True to the tradition SNK ports, there is a Gallery with unlockables galore. The hidden bosses, Athena and Red Arremer, are similarly unlockable in Survival mode. My main gripe is with the Control options. The four face buttons I have no trouble with. But the shoulder buttons are lacking. The only commands that you can assign to the shoulders are A+B, C+D, B+C, and Taunt. I assume that these are the only combinations listed, as they are be frequently used for throws, and starting Exceeds such as the Deadly Rave. However, I felt that it would’ve been better if more assignment options for the buttons were available. This would’ve made for the ease in the performance of supers. Bad SNK.
Configuration issues aside, the game seems to work well with the PS2 controller. The controls are quite responsive. Specials, supers, and Exceeds come out exactly when you want them to. I’ve even pulled off a few Exceeds and supers (Raging Storm, anyone) in the PS2 version that were such a pain to pull off in the arcade.
In conclusion, I give the PS2 version of SvC Chaos a slightly higher score than the arcade one. It’s a handsome, polished port. If in the future I crave to play SvC again, this will definitely be the version that I will choose. It still suffers from the major issues that plagued the arcade version however. It’s just a decent one-player game, and turns to ‘blargh’ in the two-player game. It leaves such a large ‘what could have been’ specter dangling over it. If you’re an avid SNK or Capcom supporter, then this is a good title to buy. Otherwise, I doubt that you will have any long-term fun with this title. NO ESCAPE!
