Since their starts in the gaming industry, Capcom and SNK have become two of the pioneering developers of 2D fighting games. They’ve created such important sagas like Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown. It was for this reason that in the early 2000s, a game featuring the most emblematic characters from both companies was released, one that would fulfill the dreams of many fans of the genre. This title became a success and, as expected, spawned a sequel that improved every department.
For starters, Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium, has an expanded roster compared to its predecessor, with more than 40 characters. You can choose only one of them to fight or, if you prefer, you can form battle teams. There are also other features like choosing between six different fighting styles for each character, a special meter gauge for super attacks, all types of combos, jumping maneuvers, and special techniques to perform. As you can imagine, the possible combinations of all these elements during the fights are amazing. The best part is that the combat system is simple and addictive, just like the one seen in any of the Street Fighter games.
Diving a little bit more into the novelties introduced by this game; we have team battles against the CPU that feature a "ratios" system, where each fighter has a specific influence within the team. In other words, their hits deal more or less damage depending on their "importance." This, combined with the varied fighting styles, better known as "Grooves," allows us to customize the possibilities of any character to our liking, depending on the functions available within each fighting style, of course.
Regarding the technological and visual aspects, the game still looks great despite its time of release. In fact, this version for the PS2 is identical to the one I played in the arcades as a kid, it has all the same character animations and detailed backgrounds, which are in 3D and have a similar style to the ones seen in Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
In conclusion, the only thing I can criticize about this game is that it has only a few stages and lacks at least one more original extra game mode. Even so, there is no doubt that this is one of the most complete, addictive, and fun 2D fighting titles that appeared for the legendary PS2.
Capcom vs SNK 2, I have it on the classic Xbox console and is one of the fighting games I played when I was little, it gave me many hours of fun and I still remember when my skin crawled when the akuma or rugal appeared demonized haha.
It was a game that revolutionized crossover games, they should make one for current consoles. Thanks for talking about this game my friend!