Playtest: SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos

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[b]<span style=\'font-size:27pt;line-height:100%\'>Playtest: SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos</span>[/b]

Considering how many years it took Capcom to finally permit its legion of fighting greats to clash with SNK\'s finest, it\'s still surprising how little effort appeared to have been put into the Capcom vs. SNK titles. Sprites that hadn\'t been updated since they first appeared on arcade screens in the early \'90s and unadventurous character line-ups were just two factors that saw what should have been the crossover to end them all ending up as certified anticlimax.

What some of you may not know is that SNK managed to tell its side of the story - twice - prior to CvS on the highly underrated NeoGeo Pocket Color handheld system. Admittedly one was a card battle game, but the other, SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium was a wondrous little fighter featuring super-deformed versions of Ryu, Terry Bogard, and co.

Quite why it\'s taken another five years to produce a \'grown up\' version isn\'t entirely clear, but the final result - the rather confusedly named SNK vs Capcom SVC Chaos - is a far more imaginative and worthy clash of the titans than Capcom\'s home effort.

[b]\"Play In Real Earnest\"[/b]

Before thoughts of SNK\'s beautiful 3D realisation of its decade-old The King of Fighters series enter your mind, be warned that SVC Chaos is an unashamedly old-school, sprite-laden beat \'em up. You\'ll find more polygons in a basic geometry lesson than this.

SNK\'s inimitable 2D art style still has its charm, however, favouring a slightly more realistic slant on character design and a palette that seems positively muted compare to Capcom\'s brighter and brasher approach. Saying that, Street Fighter staples like Ken and Sagat don\'t look tremendously different, although it must be said that Guile\'s hair is somehow even more ridiculously huge, and Chun-Li appears to have, ahem, \'grown\' somewhat to provide a suitably ample counter to SNK\'s always-bouncy Mai Shiranui.

[b]Mars People vs. Tessa[/b]

Don\'t be put off by the mention of these mainstays, though; while the game does feature plenty of almost-too-familiar faces among its 36-strong roster, there\'s a wide array of unexpected - and in some cases obscenely obscure - treats thrown in there to keep devotees happy.

On SNK\'s side, there\'s pink-haired samurai Genjyuro and hulking man-mountain Earthquake from the Samurai Shodown series; Shiki, a lithe swordswoman from the little-known Samurai Shodown 64 (which appeared on the short-lived Hyper Neo Geo 64 arcade system) makes her 2D debut; and, most bizarrely of all, one of the laser gun-wielding, jellyfish-like Mars People who were last seen as gun-fodder in Metal Slug 3.

In Capcom\'s corner, there\'s Hugo (nee Andore) from classic coin-op Final Fight and more recently the latter iterations of Street Fighter III; Mega Man\'s loyal friend Zero; Demitri, the muscular vampire from the Darkstalkers games (who wins \'best move of the game\' with his ability to momentarily turn any male character into an inspired female form); and Tessa, a magic-wielding witch from rarely-seen beat \'em up Warzard (aka Red Earth).

Particularly talented fighters will even get a chance to face off against - and ultimately play as - SNK\'s Athena (star of two \'80s coin-ops and long-term KOF favourite) and, best of all, Red Arremer, the notoriously difficult demon from Capcom\'s classic Ghosts \'n Goblins games.

[b]Fight, fight, wherever you may be[/b]

With such an inspired array of characters, it seems a shame that the locations they brawl in - typically a high point for SNK fighters - are severely lacking in both number and imagination. It would have been rewarding if, as in the case of Capcom vs. SNK 2, the backdrops were populated by characters who didn\'t make the playable cut, but instead we have largely non-descript areas whose only point of real interest are the badly-translated names. Imagine our dismay when we discover that the so-called \"Nude Place\" was actually just a chapel.

If, for some reason, there was a need to choose between interesting fighters and interesting backgrounds, then SNK made the right decision, but a few more like the rather disturbing \"Hell\" (a cemetery populated by the partially-buried faces of screaming tormented souls set against a flaming vortex) certainly wouldn\'t have gone amiss.

Of course, neither character variety nor pretty backdrops matter a jot if there isn\'t a decent fighting system behind it all, and fortunately SVC Chaos doesn\'t let us down in that regard.

[b]How SNK got its Groove back
[/b]
Those used to the relatively rigid and technical nature of SNK\'s fighters will feel right at home here, with all of the homegrown talent feeling comfortably familiar. Fans of Capcom\'s slightly more fluid methods will initially struggle to get to grips with it, especially when it comes to controlling old Street Fighter favourites, but get used to its various idiosyncrasies and you\'ll discover an effective and flexible form of combat.

In stark contrast to CvS\'s comprehensive choice of fighting \'Grooves\', SVC sticks with just the one. It won\'t come as a surprise to learn that executing special moves and striking your opponent will gradually build up a bar that can be used to perform stronger super moves, but there are still a few twists on the formula to prevent it from feeling too derivative.

Building your bar to the top, for example, will automatically activate \'Maximum\' mode, which allows you perform as many super moves or super bar-draining \'Guard Cancel\' techniques as you like until it expires. It\'s not as beneficial as it sounds - the bar depletes much quicker if you use either of the aforementioned techniques - but it does only remove a third of the meter, allowing resourceful players to frequently replenish it with ease.

In a nod to KOF\'s \'desperation\' moves, you can also activate a hyper-powerful \'Exceed\' attack if your energy bar falls into the red danger zone. Such table-turning manoeuvres can only be used once per bout (not per round) so it\'s essential that they\'re used at precisely the right moment.

[b]\"Not A Match. Struggle!!\"
[/b]
There\'s no denying that SVC Chaos is dated in many respects, but local distributor QV Software should still be applauded for treating Aussie beat \'em up aficionados to what is undoubtedly a fine lo-fi fighting experience. It might not win any converts from those of you brought up on a diet of Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter, but if you dare to look beyond the visuals you\'ll find a game that offers an equally deep and rewarding scrapping experience, and at a budget price of $49.95 when it\'s released in March.


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