Capcom Vs. SNK 2 EO

Written by Charlie Sinhaseni on 11/2/2002 for GC  

You may be wondering what the incentive to purchase Capcom Vs. SNK 2 is and it’s simple, there is none. Though the game is still technically and visually sound, the control is just so horrid that it’ll make you wonder why this project was even green-lighted. In case you’re not familiar with the game’s concept it’s simple, take the most popular stars of Capcom’s fighting franchises and pit them against SNK’s most popular stars in one colossal battle for the ages. It’s a matchup that resided in the dreams of 2D fighting fans the world over and to be honest, it’s a great concept. Too bad it’s an idea that looks and plays like it’s two years old, maybe it’s because it is.

This game is basically a rehash of the PS2 game, which was essentially a rehash of the Dreamcast game, which was (you guessed it) a rehash of the arcade game. Though the ports were basically arcade perfect, they never really garnered much attention. It’s because in order to compensate for the two very different fighting engines, the timing for both brands was tweaked and thus, the gameplay was hard to get a hold of, especially for veteran gamers. Even though they had received the game of their dreams, this turned off much of the hardcore fan populous, including myself.

To be honest, this game is the same game that we all played a few years back. It looks the same and essentially plays the same, the only thing the GameCube version adds is the dummied down controls. Otherwise, it’s just more of the same old same old. There’s no incentive for owners of any previous version to upgrade because quite frankly, this is more of a downgrade than an upgrade. There are no new characters, the grooves are still the same and in essence, it’s still the same old game. If you really want to know what this game is about, read our reviews of the DREAMCAST and PS2 versions of the game, you’re not going to find it here. There’s no point in me going over what the game is about when it’s already been done twice here at the Pen.

I found myself loving the Dreamcast version and found myself enjoying the PS2 version, but now, nearly two years after the game’s introduction, I find myself becoming bored with it. Named EO for Easy Operation, there’s not much new here and in some respects, the game has taken a complete nosedive. The key addition to this title is that the special moves have been mapped to the C joystick on the GameCube controller. Instead of using the skills that you’ve developed over the course of a decade, you can now perform your character’s special moves with the flick of your thumb. I found this to be pretty insulting, almost as if Capcom was admitting that their own concepts were inefficient and ineffective. No more down, down right, right punch maneuvers, press right on the C stick and my two year old niece can toss fireballs like a pro. So much for all those quarters that I threw away at the arcade when I was a kid. This simplified control also damages the basic gameplay elements that we have come to accustom ourselves with. Moves that need to be charged (such as Guile’s Sonic Boom) no longer need to be charged, you can just flick your stick to the right and voila, Sonic-a Boom! Remember all those times you got pissed off at the arcade when the computer would walk forward and toss a sonic boom at you? Well now you can plot your revenge on the game’s AI. Of course this new system of performing moves basically turns this game into a game that is more fit for a toddler rather than a hard-nosed veteran. Remember when people used to give you props because you could perform a spinning pile driver with Zangief? Well those days are long gone. Simply push right on the C stick and you too can be spinning pile drivered by your newborn nephew.

The fun doesn’t end there though; the kicks and punches are mapped to the L and R buttons by default. The intensity of the move depends on how hard you press the button down, the harder the press the more powerful the move. Of course if you’ve held the GameCube controller in your hands you’ll realize that those aren’t exactly the most responsive buttons on the controller. Can you imagine trying to pull off Chun-Li’s rapid kick maneuver or Blanka’s electric shock move? You can’t, because it’s impossible to do! Instead, Capcom wants you to use the C stick to do the move, don’t want you stressing yourself now.

You might be wondering why Capcom decided to simplify their control scheme and I didn’t really quite understand it until I played the game for myself. It’s simple; the GameCube controller is NOT capable of handling complex maneuvers and now that I think about it, neither is any other pad that is currently in development. The d-pad is simply too tiny and too inept to handle any sort of precision handling, it’s basically there for aesthetics are far as I’m concerned. Instead, you’ll be controller your character’s movements via the analog stick and that too is far inferior to anything on the PS2 or the Dreamcast. It’s too muddled and sluggish to allow for any sort of accurate movements, you’ll probably have a hard time pulling of a fireball with it, I know I did.
This game does well to replicate the technical aspects of its arcade brethren. The 2D characters still hold up pretty well against the beautifully rendered 3D backgrounds. However, in remaining faithful to its arcade counterparts, some of the models still remain extremely horrendous, Morrigan most certainly comes to mind here. Many of the characters are still pixilated, just like they were two years ago. You’d think that with all this time to tinker with the game that the graphics could have been reworked and modernized for the times. In fact, that’s the whole feeling that this game exudes, the look is dated, the feel is dated, hell, even the banner under the game reads “Millionaire Fight 2001, a true sign of the times for the game.

This game reminds me of the way I felt when Street Fighter II: Championship Edition came out for the SEGA Genesis. The game looked great and all, but it was just unplayable with the inept gamepad. Now here I am, nearly a decade later and I’m still having the same problems. If this game proves anything, it’s that the GameCube controller just cannot handle a 2D fighting game that requires precision input. Sure, games where random button presses will still work, but anything requiring more than two different directional presses will find a way to confuse the gamepad. This is a great addition to any Street Fighter lover’s collections, but it definitely doesn’t belong in the casual gamer’s library.