Capcom vs. SNK 2: EO GameCube Review #1 at Nintendo Cubed3

3655 Posted on 23.01.2003

Ahhh, Street fighter, how we all love it. Come on, you know you do. One of the original games of old, it introduced us to the likes of Ken, Ryu, E. Honda and Blanka, put them in an arena and made them fight to the death. Well its back, and has teamed up with another major beat em up- SNK. Decidedly less popular, but still great in it's own ways.

This game takes form of an arcade-style 2D slugfest. Overall, there are 46 fighters to choose from (!), with 2 available to unlock. This brings it to a highly respectable second place in number of characters in a beat em up (the winner goes to Capcom vs Marvel 2, with a staggering 55 fighters). Its doubtful that you would ever get tired of this game because of the sheer number of combatants, especially in Vs mode against your friends.

The button configuration is the low point of the game, but it isn't Capcom's fault at all, its actually the controller * shock*. Yes that's right. The seemingly perfect controller comes rather unstuck when trying to cope with the 6 button- configuration. All the buttons are used. B is light punch, A is medium punch and L is heavy punch. Y is light kick, X is medium kick and R is heavy kick. Z is used for taunting. Using the two shoulder buttons is annoying and the D-pad can be a bit difficult for pulling off special moves. This is different to the old school arcade feel that this game has around it, and I think that if you want to appreciate this game in its full glory (and have money to spare) then an arcade stick wouldn't go amiss. However this game is still good with a regular controller, but just feels a tad awkward.

So what does the EO in the title stand for? Easy Operation. This has been added to help and make a more enjoyable battle, with special moves becoming easier to pull off. When you select a fighter you'll get the choice between 'GC-ism' or 'AC-ism'. 'AC-ism' is the regular style, where you have to pull moves off in certain ways to get combos and special moves. 'GC-ism' takes that annoyance away. The B,X,Y and A now become unused. The L and R buttons now become medium attacks and you'll get a special move depending on which way you tilt you C stick. You can change between the two, and play with whichever 'ism' you feel comfortable with.

So how does it look? Very arcadey. I warn you. Do not buy this game if you're expecting lush, Soul Calibur 2-like graphics. It's very colourful and the sprites are drawn and animated very well, but it's not exactly a testimony to the GameCube's power. They look a bit pixellated a bit blocky. The still look great, but I'm just annoyed that they weren't updated a bit from the PS2 version. Think of a 2-D arcade game and that's it.

Gameplay

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Graphics

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Sound

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Value

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Cubed3 Rating

7/10

Good - Bronze Award

About this score

Street Fighter's back! Not exactly what we hoped for, but hey, beggars cant be choosy. Problems? Yes, but this is still the best 'proper' beat em up you get for your money for the GameCube without a doubt. I wouldn't really recommend it now though unless you desperately need another beat em up besides Bloody Roar. If you don't really mind what game you get, as long as it's good, and aren't bothered about getting a beat em up, I would avoid this. There are far better games out there worth your wonga.