SNK vs. series
Encyclopedia
The SNK vs. Capcom series is a collection of video games by either Capcom
or SNK
featuring characters that appear in games created by both companies. The "vs. series" terminology originates from the fact that many of these games (but not all) are fighting game
s.
As a rule, games in this series either contain SNK vs. Capcom or Capcom vs. SNK, the first company denoting the company behind the game's development. Games in this series appear for various platforms, including the NAOMI (arcade
), Neo-Geo
(arcade), PlayStation
, PlayStation 2
, Nintendo GameCube
, Nintendo DS
, Xbox
, Neo Geo Pocket
, Neo-Geo Pocket Color, and Sega Dreamcast.
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 didn't profit from the game, which didn't help their financial problems). 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. SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS will 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 demand it.
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
or SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
featuring characters that appear in games created by both companies. The "vs. series" terminology originates from the fact that many of these games (but not all) are fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
s.
As a rule, games in this series either contain SNK vs. Capcom or Capcom vs. SNK, the first company denoting the company behind the game's development. Games in this series appear for various platforms, including the NAOMI (arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
), Neo-Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
(arcade), PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, Neo Geo Pocket
Neo Geo Pocket
The Neo Geo Pocket was SNK's first hand held video game system, released in Japan in late 1998; however, lower than expected sales resulted in its discontinuation in 1999, and was immediately succeeded by the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The system only had a retail release within the Japan and Hong Kong...
, Neo-Geo Pocket Color, and Sega Dreamcast.
History
The supposed origin behind this series was an issue of Arcadia magazine in which there were articles covering both The King of Fighters '98The King of Fighters '98
The King of Fighters '98 is a fighting game released by SNK released for the Neo Geo arcade and home console. It is the fifth game in The King of Fighters series...
and Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter Alpha 3, known as in Japan and Asia, is a fighting game by Capcom originally released for the CPS II arcade hardware. It is the third game in the Street Fighter Alpha series, following Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and Street Fighter Alpha 2...
, 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
1999 in video gaming
-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...
(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
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and their eventual closing in 2000
2000 in video gaming
-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...
. 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 didn't profit from the game, which didn't help their financial problems). 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. SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS will probably be the last crossover game between both companies. However, in an interview from January 2009, Yoshinori Ono, the producer of Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter IV
is a fighting game produced by Capcom. It is the first numbered Street Fighter game released by Capcom since . The coin-operated arcade game was released in Japan on July 18, 2008, with North American arcades importing the machines by August...
, expressed interest in a possible third game if fans demand it.
Capcom-produced games
- Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000is a head-to-head fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for Segas NAOMI hardware and later ported to the Dreamcast...
- Released for SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
s NAOMINaomi-Literature:* Naomi * Naomi , by Junichiro Tanizaki* "Noémi", part IV of the novel The Man with the Golden Touch by Mór Jókai-Music:* Noemi , Italian singer and music video director...
arcade hardware in 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 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 HibikiDan Hibikiis a video game character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. Introduced in Street Fighter Alpha, Dan is consistently portrayed as an arrogant, overconfident, yet utterly feeble character.-Concept and creation:...
and Joe HigashiJoe Higashiis a video game character created by SNK Playmore . He makes his first appearance in the fighting game Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as one of the three playable characters from the game...
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.
- 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
- Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001Capcom vs. SNK 2Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, known as Millionaire Fighting 2001 in Japan, is a sequel to the fighting game Capcom vs. SNK. This game was released on NAOMI hardware in the arcade...
- Titled Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting 2001 in Japan. Released for the NAOMI hardware in and ported to the Dreamcast (in Japan only) and PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
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 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).
SNK-produced games
- SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the MillenniumSNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millenniumis a fighting game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It features a total of 26 characters from SNK and Capcom, eight of which are hidden. Play options includes 2-fighter tag teams, 3-fighter queue teams, and of course, one-on-one...
- A portable fighting game developed by DimpsDimpsis an Osaka, Japan-based video game development studio with an additional office in Tokyo, Japan. Employing a staff of 218 people, it is known for developing such games as the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai trilogy for the PlayStation 2, and the Sonic the Hedgehog games specific to the Game Boy Advance and...
and released for the Neo Geo Pocket ColorNeo Geo Pocket ColorThe Neo Geo Pocket Color , is a 16-bit colour handheld game console by SNK. It was the last console they produced in the Neo Geo family...
. The game features three different playing rules to choose from (Single Battle, Tag Match, and Team Battle). The game also features an "Olympic Mode" with themed minigames. - SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters ClashSNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters ClashSNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash is a series of SNK Playmore games between 1999 and 2006 for hand-held consoles.This game has a CCG theme, spun off from the popular series of fighting games by SNK and Capcom, and also including references to many other kinds of games from both companies. The...
- Also released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, a collectable card game featuring trading card based on SNK's and Capcom's properties. Two versions were produced; the SNK Supporter's Version and the Capcom Supporter's Version. - SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition - The sequel to Card Fighters Clash, released on the Neo Geo Pocket Color in Japan and Asia only. Includes cards based on Capcom vs. SNK 2.
- SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos - Released for the Neo GeoNeo Geo (console)The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
(both arcade and home versions) and ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A one-on-one fighting game featuring 36 characters. - SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS - A Card Fighters Clash sequel released for the Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
.