Fighting Games Friday: How Capcom vs. SNK Got Into the Groove

Polygon’s Matt Leone has assembled and provided one great feature after another detailing the development histories of Capcom’s Street Fighter games for about the last year. The series began with the original Street Fighter, and continued with Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, and Street Fighter III. They’re long, but it’s worth reading thoughts from developers who worked on these games throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, and the opinions from those who were either Capcom (or SNK) employees or Street Fighter/fighting game enthusiasts at the time.

My hope was that the next feature would detail the development of the Street Fighter EX series, but documenting that might prove a more daunting task considering the games were developed by Arika with Capcom serving an assistant role. The newest feature actually details the history of the Capcom vs. SNK series, the Capcom-developed crossover titles between two rival companies at the time. It’s just as detailed as the previous features, though it includes more input from SNK developers thanks to characters from their franchises being involved. A number of points in this feature were already common knowledge thanks to the internet coming into its own around the time the games released, but others are illuminating.

The Capcom vs. SNK series came to life through an effort between the two companies to bury the hatchet, in a way. Developers in both companies always had a friendly rivalry, and poked fun at each other through characters in their games. The real rivalry was between the heads of both companies: Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto and SNK founder Eikichi Kawasaki. There was too much potential money involved for them to not patch things up here, but nothing in the piece suggests the two were on friendly terms afterward.

The idea for the first Capcom vs. SNK title was to make a game closer to the King of Fighters installments rather than the Street Fighter games and other Capcom vs. games. Players could choose teams of three, but had the option of using less characters (one or two) in exchange for more power and health, and it used a four-button scheme. This first game didn’t take off thanks to serious balance issues, with matches running too long because of styles and characters being underpowered. It was Capcom vs. SNK 2 that realized the potential for the formula, with more balanced styles (formally known as “Grooves”), a wider variety of characters, and the use of a six-button scheme to solidify it as a Capcom game rather than an SNK one. It’s still played in several tournaments to this day for good reason.

Interestingly, the idea for a Capcom and SNK crossover was tossed around both companies before plans were made public. An internal version of The King of Fighters ’98 was created with both Ryu and Ken playable, alongside, uhhh, Goku from Dragon Ball Z. This has existed for over two decades and has somehow not been dumped online. There’s a frightening possibility that this version has been lost to time, but here’s hoping it remains among someone’s files.

It would be good for research purposes if it was released and documented, as it might have been used for the implementation of Ryu and Ken in SNK’s own eventual take on the crossover formula: SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. The Capcom characters used the same sprite style SNK’s games used for years, and ran on the same MVS arcade board. SVC Chaos was one of the first releases from the reformed SNK, then SNK Playmore, and it showed. It arrived in an unpolished state, and came too late to capitalize on the crossover hype, particularly considering that SNK themselves hadn’t existed for years after originally folding in 2000.

In fact, it’s noted in the piece that Capcom’s own Capcom vs. SNK titles weren’t overwhelmingly successful either. Maybe some players who felt burned by the first game didn’t return for the second, but the decline of the arcade business was a serious factor.

The immediate future for Capcom fighting games following CvS2 was dire. The piece mentioned that an ex-SNK team was put on Capcom Fighting All-Stars after they arrived at Capcom, but the game just didn’t come together after being heavily criticized for its underwhelming looks and subpar gameplay from playtesting sessions. Released in its place was Capcom Fighting Jam, a title with sprite reuse that indicated how Capcom dedicated a small budget and minimal resources to it. A fourth Street Fighter III version was also in the works, but was canned.

The fighting game teams were assigned to work on other games being made for home consoles, an initiative pushed by former producer Keiji Inafune. The developers assembled them using their fighting game creation expertise. Capcom vs. SNK 2 director Hideaki Itsuno, for instance, applied the experience to Devil May Cry 3 and its progeny. Another team wanted to work on an Animal Crossing-style game that eventually morphed into the first Monster Hunter title. (This eventually came full circle with the Animal Crossing-inspired Monster Hunter: Poka Poka Felyne Village.) The fall of arcades ushered in the darkest days for the fighting game genre, particularly 2D fighters, until Street Fighter IV came along to revitalize it.

The Capcom and SNK crossover wasn’t the most successful initiative, but its legacy has carried on through how CvS2 is an evergreen title in the eyes of fighting game tournament organizers. But not everyone at Capcom has given up on a sequel. Itsuno mentioned near the piece’s end that he’d love to work on a Capcom vs. SNK 3 one day. The chance of it happening isn’t large, but not all hope is lost for another crossover between the two companies.