SNK vs. Capcom

SNK vs. Capcom
Genre(s) Collectible card game
Fighting
Developer(s) Capcom Production Studio 1
Dimps
SNK
Publisher(s) Capcom
SNK
SNK Playmore
Platform(s) Arcade, Dreamcast, Windows, Neo-Geo, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Switch, PlayStation
PlayStation 2, Xbox
First release SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash
November 21, 1999
Latest release SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (Nintendo Switch)
February 17, 2021

SNK vs. Capcom, or alternately Capcom vs. SNK, is a series of crossover video games by either Capcom or SNK featuring characters that appear in games created by either company. Most of these are fighting games, and take on a similar format to Capcom's own Marvel vs. Capcom series, in which the players create teams of fighters and have them fight each other. Games in this series either contain SNK vs. Capcom or Capcom vs. SNK in their titles, with the first company named denoting the company behind the game's development.

Reception to the series has been varied; the Capcom-developed titles were the most positively-received, while the SNK-developed installments received more mixed reviews.

History

Release timeline
1999 SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash
SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
2000 Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
2001 Capcom vs. SNK 2
SVC: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition
2002
2003 SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
2004
2005
2006 SVC: Card Fighters DS

The supposed origin behind this series was an issue of Arcadia magazine in which there were articles covering both The King of Fighters '98 and Street Fighter Alpha 3, both of which were released at around the same time. Readers had misread the cover, which said KOF vs. SF, to mean that there was a fighting game that would pit characters from Street Fighter and The King of Fighters. Because of this uproar, Capcom and SNK supposedly signed a deal that would allow them to produce only two fighting games concerning both franchises in 1999 (the Card Fighters series (see below) were not fighting games and therefore were exempt from the rule). It is highly suggested that SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos was only made in order to fulfill the contract obligations that SNK made prior to the company filing bankruptcy and their eventual closing in 2000. Also, if one company was the main creator of one game, the distributing company would gain the profits and not the company that licensed the characters for use (although SNK gave the rights to use the SNK characters to Capcom for the first Capcom vs. SNK game, SNK did not profit from the game, which did not help their financial problems).

While no new SNK vs. Capcom titles have been released since Card Fighters DS, characters from both companies have appeared together in a handful of other titles, including Bandai Namco's Tekken 7, Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Cygames' Granblue Fantasy, and Netmarble/SNK's The King of Fighters All Star.

Future

In a 2021 interview with Polygon, director Hideaki Itsuno confirmed that at one point, there had been plans for a new, 3D installment in the series, but that it had been cancelled due to SNK's bankruptcy. The 3D assets created for Capcom vs. SNK 3 were later repurposed for the cancelled Capcom Fighting All-Stars; said project was set to include The King of Fighters protagonist Kyo Kusanagi as a guest character during its planned release after a deal was struck with the then-reformed SNK Playmore. There were interviews with SNK that it would be possible to renew their contract with Capcom to make new SNK vs. Capcom games, but in another interview, both companies stated that they would not do any further collaboration with each other, claiming SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS would probably be the last crossover game between both companies. However, in an interview from January 2009, Yoshinori Ono, the producer of Street Fighter IV, expressed interest in a possible third game if fans demanded it.

In August 2022, SNK producer Yasuyuki Oda stated that "both parties" were interested in a potential revival of the series.

SNK-produced games

Capcom-produced games

  • Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 – Released for Sega's NAOMI arcade hardware in 2000 and ported to the Dreamcast during the same year, the original Capcom vs. SNK features 28 characters (evenly divided between Capcom and SNK properties), two selectable fighting styles or "grooves" (based on the gameplay systems featured in The King of Fighters and Street Fighter Alpha series) and a ratio-based character selection system that determines the number of characters in a player's team based on their strength.
    • An updated version titled Capcom vs. SNK Pro, released for the arcades and Dreamcast in Japan and ported to the PlayStation in 2001, which adds Dan Hibiki and Joe Higashi to the character roster (they originally appeared only in the ending sequence of the original game). The Dreamcast version of the game also discards the shop option to earn extra characters and colors, having all of them available by default.
  • Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 – Titled Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting 2001 in Japan. Released for the NAOMI hardware in 2001 and ported to the Dreamcast (in Japan only) and PlayStation 2 during the same year. The game expands on the "Groove" system from the previous game by featuring six different fighting styles or "Grooves" and adds twelve new characters in addition to the ones featured in Capcom vs. SNK Pro.
    • The Nintendo GameCube and Xbox versions were released under the title of Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO. According to the Japanese official website for the GameCube version, EO stands for Easy Operation, because of a new feature that allows the player to assign special techniques to the right analog stick (C Stick for the GameCube version).

Characters

List of characters
Character Side SNK-developed Capcom-developed
MotM Chaos CvS CvS2
Akari Ichijou SNK Yes No No No
Akuma Capcom Yes Yes Yes Yes
Athena Asamiya SNK Yes Yes No Yes
Baby Bonnie Hood Capcom Yes No No No
Balrog Capcom No Yes Yes Yes
Benimaru Nikaido SNK No No Yes Yes
Blanka Capcom No No Yes Yes
Cammy Capcom No No Yes Yes
Chang Koehan SNK No No No Yes
Choi Bounge SNK No Yes No Assist
Chun-Li Capcom Yes Yes Yes Yes
Dan Capcom Yes Yes Pro Yes
Demitri Maximoff Capcom No Yes No No
Dhalsim Capcom No Yes Yes Yes
E. Honda Capcom No No Yes Yes
Eagle Capcom No No No Yes
Earthquake SNK No Yes No No
Evil Ryu Capcom Yes No Yes Home
Felicia Capcom Yes No No No
Geese Howard SNK Yes Yes Yes Yes
Genjuro Kibagami SNK No Yes No No
God Rugal SNK No No No Yes
Goenitz SNK No Yes No No
Guile Capcom Yes Yes Yes Yes
Haohmaru SNK Yes No No Yes
Hibiki Takane SNK No No No Yes
Honki ni Natta Mr. Karate SNK No Yes No No
Hugo Capcom No Yes No No
Iori Yagami SNK Yes Yes Yes Yes
Joe Higashi SNK No No Pro Yes
Kasumi Todoh SNK No Yes No No
Ken Capcom Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kim Kaphwan SNK No Yes Yes Yes
King SNK No No Yes Yes
Kyo Kusanagi SNK Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kyosuke Kagami Capcom No No No Yes
Leona Heidern SNK Yes No No No
M. Bison Capcom Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mai Shiranui SNK Yes Yes Yes Yes
Maki Capcom No No No Yes
Mars People SNK No Yes No No
Morrigan Aensland Capcom Yes No Yes Yes
Mr. Karate SNK No Yes No No
Nakoruru SNK Yes No Yes Yes
Raiden SNK No No Yes Yes
Red Arremer Capcom No Yes No No
Rock Howard SNK No No No Yes
Rolento Capcom No No No Yes
Rugal Bernstein SNK No No Yes Yes
Ryo Sakazaki SNK Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ryu Capcom Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ryuhaku Todoh SNK No No No Yes
Ryuji Yamazaki SNK No No Yes Yes
Sagat Capcom No Yes Yes Yes
Sakura Capcom Yes No Yes Yes
Shiki SNK No Yes No No
Shin Akuma Capcom No Yes No Yes
Terry Bogard SNK Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tessa Capcom No Yes No No
Vega Capcom No Yes Yes Yes
Vice SNK No No Yes Yes
Violent Ken Capcom No Yes No No
Wild Iori SNK Yes Yes Yes Home
Yun Capcom No No No Yes
Yuri Sakazaki SNK Yes No Yes Yes
Zangief Capcom Yes No Yes Yes
Zero Capcom No Yes No No
Total 22 36 35 48
  1. In Capcom vs. SNK 2, Choi is not playable separately, but constantly accompanies Chang during battle and will attack opponents as part of Chang's moveset.

Reception

Card Fighters DS and SVC Chaos had a polarized, mixed reception, with a Metacritic score of 48% and 57% respectively. The two Capcom-developed games and Match of the Millennium have fared better, with Capcom vs. SNK 2 achieving a Metacritic score of 81%.

In 2012, Complex ranked Capcom vs. SNK at number 38 on the list of the best video game franchises.