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> Results: Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO
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Capcomﾒs Street Fighter characters, familiar to all but the newest or most sheltered video game players and fighter fans, have starred in more games than should be possible. Itﾒs a testament to the simplicity and addictive quality of Capcomﾒs 2D fighting prowess that sales never seem to slump. For much of the 90ﾒs the 2D realm consisted of a battle between Capcomﾒs stars and the 2D fighters from rival SNK. Fans mourned when SNK went out of business a couple years ago, but Capcom has resurrected its enemies for yet another battle.  The game offers a remarkable assortment of fighters, fighting styles, and variety of play. 40 characters, each with their own special powers, attacks, timing issues, personalities, sound bites, and play balancing gets magnified three-fold by three separate ﾓ-ismsﾔ which alter their powers, and three new ﾓgroovesﾔ, which mix them up yet again. Thereﾒs a lot to learn, memorize and it ensures that playing a foe of equal skill is never dull because you can never sure what character heﾒs going to pick and how that character will fight. The graphics are decent. Some of these fighters look like they havenﾒt been spiffed up for todayﾒs console systems. Especially the older Street Fighter guys, they look just plain bad next to newly added characters from the SNK stable. But the animation is still smooth, the backgrounds have been significantly redone and feature new, often startling animations, and the special effects are just plain awesome. The audio is pretty much the same old, same old that Capcom has been using for the better part of a decade now. Itﾒs all good, because those sound effects are part of the reason fans keep buying the same game over and over again. The only real flaw is the manual. They used to show all out the fighters and reveal all their special moves. With 40 fighters available here, all the options, and all the new characters from SNK, one can only call this manual pathetic. It explains nothing and throws you to the Xbox Live wolves that laid out the extra cash for the strategy guide. All told thereﾒs very little reason to own this game beyond the SNK characters. At least thatﾒs true for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions of the game, but the Xbox version breaks new ground. Everyone knows that these games, born of arcade coin-ops, are meant to be played competitively. This meant having friends over or playing your siblings. Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO plays over Xbox Live and the result is nothing short of revolutionary. The service is barebones and does nothing match make players based on skill, but the ability to start up a relatively lag free game at a momentﾒs notice and trade trash talk with another gamer, is just priceless and a welcome addition to the series. If you are, or have ever been, a Street Fighter 2D fight fan, then Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO for the Xbox and Xbox Live service (which requires a separate broadband connection), is a must buy for you. Kid Factor Ah the wholesome violence of an electrified Blanka, Guileﾒs Sonic Boom, and Chun-Liﾒs lovely hundred MPH kick, thatﾒs 2D Street Fighter and itﾒs amazing how, in the eyes of this GamerDad, the once mildly controversial violence (this ainﾒt Mortal Kombat) looks tame and pure today. What Street Fighter means is great gameplay and this is a terrific way to introduce your kids to the fun, timing and skill related smackdown of this terrific fighting game. Best of all it adds all the wacky SNK characters and, if youﾒve got Xbox Live, youﾒll show them what it felt like when you were a lad, getting smacked around by some tiny anonymous student in thick glasses. Street Fighter ﾖ always the great equalizer between bullies and nerds. Reviewerﾒs Recommended Ages: 9+ ESRB: T-Teen Developer: Capcom Producer: Capcom Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO |
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