Game makers SNK and Capcom are famous for their 2-D one on one fighters, and they had a pretty big rivalry between each other for a while.  So that’s why it was a big deal back in the early 2000s when they both collaborated in making a few fighting games featuring both companies’ characters pitted against each other.  Crossover games like this weren’t as commonplace back then.  One of the first of these SNK vs. Capcom games was The Match of the Millennium for SNK’s handheld NEO GEO Pocket Color.  It was one of the best games for that system and now you can play it on Switch!

This game features the biggest roster of fighters on the handheld, with over a dozen and almost as many unlockable ones.  You get characters from SNK greats like King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and Samurai Shodown.  As well as Capcom favorites from games like Street Fighter and DarkStalkers.  The main story mode is a little different for each character.  There is also a two player mode.  I didn’t think this would work since you had to use a link cable in the original game, but they got around it here but having a second NEO GEO Pocket Color pop up so the other player can choose their character!

One of my favorite modes in this game is Olympic, where you can tackle challenges like fighting 100 matches or beating five fighters as fast as you can.  But there are also mini-games in this mode that feature other SNK and Capcom classics as well.  Like a whack-a-mole style shooting game with Metal Slug characters, a Ghost N Goblins platform jumping challenge, or a music/rhythm game with Felicia.

Really the only problem with the game is that since it came out 20 years ago, it doesn’t have all the quality of life features that a lot of today’s fighters have.  But luckily, there is an option screen that takes care of a lot of that.  You view the action on a mock up NEO GEO Pocket Color handheld (which is weird when you are playing the handheld on the Switch handheld mode), but you can choose to zoom in on the screen to make it much easier to see.  You can also toggle various screen filters, rewind, and view the game’s original instruction booklet.

Other minor problems are that it takes too long to unlock characters, and the A and B buttons feel reversed in the mini-games.  But aside from Gals Fighters, this is easily one of the best games on the NEO GEO Pocket Color.  I wonder if someday they’ll port my favorite NEO GEO Pocket Color game to the Switch?  That game would be SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash!

Kid Factor:

SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Blood, Sexual Themes, Use of Tobacco, and Violence.  You do punch and kick other fighters, but the cartoony silly graphics really negate a lot of the violence.  I didn’t notice any blood or tobacco, and the sexual themes seem reserved for the art in the instruction booklet, where some of the female fighters wear skimpy outfits.  But really I’d be OK with just about any age playing this.

Tags: Game Reviews