SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos PS2 Review

Pitting popular characters against one another has for some time been a popular feature in many forms of entertainment, including our favourite of pastimes of course: videogames. Capcom VS SNK was developed by Capcom, whilst SVC Chaos is developed by SNK Playmore, got that?

As the name suggests, SVC Chaos (which stands for SNK VS Capcom Chaos by the way) features 36 characters coming from the universes of both SNK and Capcom. Even with this healthy amount of characters, the roster certainly isn’t going to appease everyone, with some popular omissions, likely to leave some fans disgruntled at their favourite characters being left out in the cold. Some Capcom favourites present include Ryu, Ken, Guile and Chun Li, whilst on the SNK side, we have Kyo, Iori, Mai and Terry, being just a few of the characters on offer.

A neat little touch is the fact that these characters chat to one another before a match begins. These conversations are often amusing, with many characters mocking certain aspects of each other. It’s commendable that even though the game doesn’t feature any real story to speak of, the developers still attempted to inject some form of character in to the title.

Fans of King of Fighters should feel right at home, though people more familiar with Capcom style fighting games (and fans of both brands are advised to play the game) SVC Chaos will take some time getting accustomed to, as SNK have always done things a bit differently to the more recognised Capcom. The game not only features a totally different control scheme, but also features many gameplay additions that aren’t present in Capcom titles. The new exceed move, allows players with acutely flagging energy levels to unleash a devastating manoeuvre in a last attempt at turning around their fortunes during a match. With this impressive feature, an apparent beating can be transformed in to utter sweet victory. However, on the downside it can only be used a single time in a match’s entirety, so obviously it must be used effectively if you wish to overcome your opponent during a bout.

Being an SNK game, the visual style has an overall more realistic touch than the cartoon look that Capcom often opts for with its games and it can be quite odd – at least to begin with – seeing the Street Fighter favourites and the like looking less colourful and far more serious than usual, but the style lacks the character and just doesn’t look anywhere near as nice as the more anime like graphics, not to mention that the game looks horribly dated by today’s standard. The battle grounds aren’t terribly exciting either and are lacking in number, meaning you’ll soon get sick and tired of facing off in the same old locations again and again.

Despite its problems, SVC Chaos is still an enjoyable enough diversion from Street Fighter and company, but is certainly far from the best of 2D fighters. Hardcore fighting fans will be pleased at the gathering of characters from the two respected brands and it’s those very people who will get the most from this decent but unspectacular scrapper.

6/10