![SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Review - Screenshot 1 of 5](https://images.pushsquare.com/screenshots/149221/900x.jpg)
Capcom has always had a bit of an uneven relationship with its partners when it comes to crossover fighting games. We got Street Fighter X Tekken, but Tekken never returned the favour; plus, Marvel and Tatsunoko aren’t game developers, so there was obviously no return trip there. Naturally, we’re leading up to say that SNK and Capcom were in the same situation, but that’s actually not the case – even though we totally understand why you’d think that.
The SNK vs. Capcom series is a strange curiosity in the overall Capcom vs. pantheon. It actually kicked off on SNK’s side with SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, which is a card game that launched exclusively on the NEO GEO Pocket Color (with a Nintendo Switch re-release a couple of years back). But of course, when you hear ‘SNK vs Capcom’ the obvious thought is a fighting game, and SNK would deliver a month later with SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium which is a bona-fide fighting game... for the NEO GEO Pocket Color. Again, it’s good for what it is, but it’s not really what you want from a game called SNK vs Capcom, is it?
![SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Review - Screenshot 2 of 5](https://images.pushsquare.com/screenshots/149224/900x.jpg)
Thankfully, 2000 and 2001 came with a one-two punch from Capcom in the form of Capcom vs SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001. These two Capcom-developed titles pitted fighters from both companies against each other in an arcade fighting game. What made them so special was how they adapted both sides into one cohesive unit thanks to the Groove and Ratio systems. There's a reason Capcom vs SNK 2 is considered one of the best fighting games ever made, alongside the likes of Street Fighter 3: Third Strike and Garou: Mark of the Wolves to this very day.
But there was always the question of how an SNK-developed Capcom vs. game would turn out, and a few years later we got our answer in the form of SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos, which teaches us that not all crossovers are created equal. Don’t get us wrong, SVC Chaos is not a bad game by any means, but it’s a huge letdown in comparison to the Capcom offerings.
One of the things that made the Capcom vs SNK games so appealing was how they blended the personality and gameplay of both sides into a cohesive fighting game that really felt like a celebration of the two companies fighting classics, whereas SVC Chaos feels like a toned-down version of King of Fighters 2002 with Capcom characters.
![SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Review - Screenshot 3 of 5](https://images.pushsquare.com/screenshots/149229/900x.jpg)
Speaking of the Capcom characters, we reach one of SVC Chaos’ biggest downfalls: the roster. While the Capcom vs SNK rosters weren’t barn burners, SVC Chaos has perhaps the lamest main roster choices you could pick. With the exception of Street Fighter 3’s Hugo and Red Earth’s Tessa, the default roster of Capcom fighters all hail from Street Fighter 2. Obviously these characters are iconic for a reason, but given this was three years after Marvel vs Capcom 2's unique roster that featured names from Resident Evil, Captain Commando, and many more, it’s a bit of a disappointment. Plus, if you’re prone to playing grappler characters, Hugo is your only option – but this game is not made for grabs.
SVC Chaos does at least shine is in its secret characters. While the base roster is boring, SNK decided to get weird with it for the hidden fighters (which are easily selectable in this new port by holding L1 on the character select). Not only do we get the likes of Zero from Mega Man Zero, Demitri from Darkstalkers, and the introduction of the dumbest Street Fighter character, Violent Ken. But frankly bizarre choices like Ghosts 'n Goblins’ Red Arremer (or Firebrand, as it's known in Marvel vs Capcom 3) and Metal Slug’s Mars People, which is an alien jellyfish that communicates by saying "beep boop".
![SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Review - Screenshot 4 of 5](https://images.pushsquare.com/screenshots/149227/900x.jpg)
However, these secret characters quickly reveal SVC Chaos’ biggest issue: the balance. Almost every one of these fighters is ridiculously unbalanced, with Zero, Violent Ken, and especially Athena (who has regular moves that you’d mistake for supers) able to decimate you in seconds. Fighting against Goenitz in the arcade mode as Hugo is one of the most miserable experiences you can have due to his near-instant projectile spam and ridiculous amounts of chip damage. It's not quite Arc System Works' Fist of the North Star levels of unbalanced, but it's probably comparable to Capcom's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Thankfully, there's another area where SVC Chaos excels over its predecessors, in its absolutely gorgeous sprite work. While Capcom vs. games tend to reuse sprites (we all know about the Morrigan sprite, right?), SNK has created new art for the fighters, and it looks phenomenal. Special shoutouts have to go to the larger characters like Samurai Shodown’s Earthquake, Hugo, and Demitri — who looks better than he ever has in a Capcom game.
As for the PS4 port itself, there’s not really all that much to talk about. It’s a port of the arcade game with no real bells and whistles attached other than the gallery mode (featuring character, promo, and stage art, but lacking anything super interesting like design documents). The training mode is fairly barebones, there’s no rewind of save state options like you would find in Capcom Fighting Collection or similar releases, and there’s no way to just set up 1v1 fights against the CPU; arcade is your only choice, meaning you can’t practise specific matchups.
![SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Review - Screenshot 5 of 5](https://images.pushsquare.com/screenshots/149222/900x.jpg)
Of course, the main selling point of this PS4 port is the online play, complete with rollback netcode. And for the most part, it feels about right. It’s not quite as brilliant as the netcode found in Guilty Gear Strive or Street Fighter 6, so dealing with high ping is still a bother, but it’s solid when it works. However, there are very limited options when searching for or creating matches. When you go into the available lobbies, there’s no connection indicator – nor can you search for a minimum connection, or whether to match up with wired or wireless connections. To make matters worse, it’s already rare to find more than 30 people online with no crossplay available.
Conclusion
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos is a weird curiosity in the history of fighting games. While it did have the monumental task of following up on one of the best fighters ever made, it’s hard to deny that it's a bit of a letdown. It does have bright spots like some unique character choices and a range of fantastic sprites, but it doesn’t stand up with Capcom or SNK’s best. Meanwhile, the PS4 port itself is as okay as okay can be. It won’t blow you away with extra content or features — it’s simply a solid way to play SVC Chaos.
Comments 35
It’s still surreal seeing this on ps4. Also Hugo looks like a beefcake.
Who are you to tell my what I want? I didn't want it before, but I want it now. Day 4 spite buy
@SMcCrae95 Thanks, edited
I'm just hoping this is being put out as a bit of a warm up before they release CVS 1 & 2; a release to test reception to this style of port and whatnot.
Outside of that, I've been enjoying the game well enough. More than anything, I'm just happy seeing Demitri in another game, and looking better than ever, at that!
To be fair, they know this isn't going to blow up online so they seem to have treated it as a curiosity for nostalgic players to mess around with. With that in mind, the imbalance in the characters makes for a fun, drunk time with friends. It's never going to be a serious tournament fighter.
I always had mixed feelings about this game. It’s just so bizarre with its music and background stages. But it is a decent fighter, unbalanced but decent. 6 is the right score for this game.
@Czar_Khastik Jokes on you day one was three days ago!
@Czar_Khastik why hello there, Batista!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nzobsJyLiqM&pp=ygUaYmF0aXN0YSBnaW1tZSB3aGF0IGkgd2FudCA%3D
@Yousef- That's something Oscar-worthy right there
Fun fact, my name when shortened in English would actually be Dave, just like Batista
@Czar_Khastik oh wow that’s neat! And yes, I did in fact want a cool fun fact, thanks for GIVING ME WHAT I WANT.
It has Dimitri, Zero, Tessa, Violent Ken, and Red Arremer...bro those are some pretty unique Capcom choices.
The fact Dimitri got a new Sprite just for this game was sick, and a miracle it wasn't Morrigan or Felicia instead.
"Super unbalanced"
Well it's an old fighting games so there's no way they gonna balanced it.
But welcome to fighting games from 90's to early 00's era where balance isn't really the focus compare to nowadays. I mean, that's one of the biggest charm of old fg's where you can still found infinite combo or TOD and broken-top tier characters left untouched by the devs 😆
I hope anyone from PS who gonna review MvC Collection will not take down a point just because they found out they can do infinite combo with Iron Man in MvC 2 😆
@PuppetMaster LIGHT PUNCH
MEDIUM PUNCH
@InfidelFrigidstraigh I do shout them out! But outside of Tessa those are all hidden fighters (Which I did mention as one of the highlights)
Violent Ken is so lame though
@SMcCrae95 Bruh lol
And im over here waiting for him to be in a mainline SF game 😆
I never got a chance to play it but people said the original wasn't that good.
Gonna pick this up using PS Stars bucks. I think I only ever had a burnt PS2 copy of this game back in 2003. Shout out Pacific Mall!
@PuppetMaster I disagree there. They rebalanced KoF98 fairly recently. And KoF 2k2 not long before that. I was hoping they'd do something similar for this one. Oh well
tatsunoko vs capcom please capcom!
@PuppetMaster have you ever played TvC by the way ??
Its great to have Snk Vs Capcom at last though without having to buy a new geo console.
I like the Snk art style more and youtube videos of skilled people playing the neogeo game are amazing.
Bought if for Switch and been enjoying it, though, as with all older fighting games, the difficulty really annoys me at times. Would probably give it a 7/10, not the greatest roster but still pretty good and the game is fun to play overall.
@Synthatron_Prime I can't find the info that said SNK released a balance patch for KoF 98 and 2K2. Are you sure you're not misunderstood with patch for online netcode and lobbies or unofficial mods?
@nomither6 Yeah i've played it many moons ago on PC.
@PuppetMaster it was about 10 years ago when it released but that was still about 17 years after it's initial release. The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition was the one I was thinking of. It rebalanced several of the characters and modes.
Also 2k2 Unlimited match had balance changes but that was 2009 or 2010.
@Synthatron_Prime Oh sorry, you mean balance update but as a different version of the game. I thought SNK released a new balance patch for 98 & 2K2 UM Steam & PS4 version. My bad.
Yeah they could do that for SvC but they probably too busy with CotW, KoF 15, AoF 4, and Samsho RPG. And i feel this port is just a test to see if people really want a new SvC game.
@PuppetMaster my fault for not clarifying. I consider them the same game but you're right they are technically different versions. But yeah it's no big deal. This game has always been janky.
Hoping they look to CvS next. I'd love to see them do something cool with part 2 like balancing and maybe adding those cool 2d backgrounds from part 1. Unlikely though...
@PuppetMaster oh damn i had no idea it was on PC . i guess you weren’t all to impressed by it ? i thought it was a good wii game , & underrated
@nomither6 I forgot to add i played it on emulator, i think it was a Neo-Geo emu. Imho the game wasn't that good especially if i compared it with CvS 2 which is excellent or other SNK games. But iirc SvC was released not long after SNK got bankrupt back in 2001 and they became SNK Playmore where they had small budget for their games. So i quite understand why SvC doesn't has top quality.
@Synthatron_Prime You should cross your fingers for CvS 1 & 2. Big chance it will be a straight port but with rollback netcode, training mode, graphic filter, and some gallery mode.
I want Capcom collection 3D fighting
Star gladiator
Rival schools
street fighter ex 1 2 and 3
I don't really understand the point of this release, when there's the Marvel vs Capcom collection soon to be released? Seems a waste of time and money to me!
I have always loved the game, but the one thing I was very disappointed about this release is the lack of color edit mode, that was a feature that was on the original Xbox version back in 2004 when it was released, that made the game so much more fun and also the thought that you only have four continues before you have to start over again, there could have been more features even a survival mode, but no color edit mode really disappointed me very much
I think I might be the only person that cares about backgrounds in my fighters. This game has some that are almost completely flat, static images. I'm glad SNK rose from the ashes, but this era of SNK saddens me.
@Synthatron_Prime The Capcom Fighting Collection seems to be a series. With all of this SNK collab stuff and Matsumoto saying they are itching to do another Vs game, I wouldn't be surprised if we got an CVS collection.
I prefer the first CVS. Both are absolute gems, I just enjoy the tone of the first and the backgrounds more than the second.
I believed Tekken X Street Fighter was coming out for so many years. Wish it did.
@Platinum-Bucket
Doubt this game has any bearing on Capcom releasing a CVS 1&2 collection. SVC was made by SNK. The reception wasn't good when it originally released and it seems about the same now. I bought it day one on Xbox and got the MVS cart years later. It's fine, but a mess.
I had this back on the old fat Xbox. Got it on PS5 the other day and Mr Karate on CPU lvl 4 was a beast 🤣
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