Best Capcom Vs SNK Games

If the Marvel Vs Capcom Fighting Collection wasn’t mind-blowing enough, Capcom revealed they’re making a Capcom Fighting Collection 2. On top of including Arcade/Dreamcast-only rarities like Project Justice and Plasma Sword, CFC2 has Capcom Vs SNK 1 & 2. After years of yearning for a proper re-release of those games, they’re finally going to get it.

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It’s not due out until 2025, though it’s coming out hot on the heels of SNK’s surprise re-release of SNK Vs Capcom: SVC Chaos — and Terry Bogard’s imminent appearance in Street Fighter 6. Still, these crossovers aren’t all created equal. Some are better than others, so these are the best Capcom-SNK crossover games, ranked by quality.

6 SNK Vs Capcom: SVC Chaos

More Of A Dark Horse Than A Black Sheep

SNK managed to bounce back from bankruptcy thanks to some careful dealing that saw them buy back all their old IPs. However, it set them back a lot compared to their pre-bankruptcy days, which can be seen in SNK Vs Capcom: SVC Chaos. Some people blame its muddy graphics, sound, and animation on the aging Neo Geo hardware, but graphical powerhouses like The Last Blade and Garou: Mark of the Wolves ran on it perfectly fine.

It's more likely they suffered time constraints to get the game out while their deal with Capcom was still valid, and they didn't have enough hands on deck to polish it up enough, leading to the messy result. Still, it has its admirers, as it has a lot of unique gameplay quirks that can't be found in other games, like the tide-turning Exceed supers. It also has fun character interactions akin to Art of Fighting 2 or Mortal Kombat 1, and an interesting roster. No other game since SVC has featured Red Earth's Tessa or the Megaman Zero version of Zero.

5 SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash

It Ditches The Grooves In Favor Of Attack Mode

• Developer: SNK
• Platforms: Neo Geo Pocket Color, Nintendo Switch
• Release: October 1999

As wonky as SVC is, SNK actually made the most crossover games out of their deal with Capcom. It’s just that the bulk of them were on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, an underrated handheld machine made to rapidly replace their monochrome Neo Geo Pocket. It has some great games and great controls, though it could never beat the almighty Game Boy Color.

Still, people can’t play SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash on the GBC. It was a card-dueling game exclusive to the NGPC that played like Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh, only with chibi renditions of SNK and Capcom characters as cards, Special Points as mana, and Action Cards as Enchantments. It was simpler too, though no less charming, and can still be played today via the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.2 on the Nintendo Switch.

4 SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition

Big In Japan, But Too Big To Travel

• Developer: SNK
• Platform: Neo Geo Pocket Color
• Release: September 2001

The big downside to Card Fighters Clash 1 is that it isn’t SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition. Released only in Japan, it offered the same MTG-lite gameplay but with even more characters from both companies, and it came on a single cartridge instead. If Dino Crisis, Project Justice, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and King of Fighters ’99 fans wanted to make decks with their favorite characters, they could do that now with this game.

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It also threw in 40 Reaction Cards players could use to counter their opponents’ cards during their turn, making the card slinging feel more like a fight. It was the last game to be officially released on the NGPC, and it hasn’t had an official re-release since then. Not even in the NGPC Selection volumes. The only way people can play it now is if they look for the game online, imported or otherwise, then look for the fan translation patch if their Japanese isn't up to snuff.

3 Capcom Vs SNK: Millennium Fight 2000

The Calm Before The Storm As The Series Begins

Capcom Vs SNK’s big fault is that its sequel is an improvement in practically all areas. For example, the new Ratio system, where players form a team, whose overall strength must max out at 4, wasn’t as refined. Instead of letting players toggle the character’s strength ratio, they had fixed values. For example, Sakura is stuck at Ratio 1 (R1), and could only team up with 3 other R1 characters (Dan, King, etc.), an R2 character (Ryu, Terry, etc.) And an R1 character, a single R3 character (Sagat, Geese, etc.), and no R4 characters (Akuma, etc.).

If that sounds tricky, it was. It made picking teams feel like a jigsaw puzzle compared to its more fluid sequel. That said, it features some nice new sprites for the SNK cast, and it arguably has the best stages in the series. They don’t have CvS2’s fancy 3D fripperies. Instead, they have a neat atmosphere with their own nice graphical effects, like the shadows in the back-alley stage, or the bolder background characters in Shinsekai and the Sakazaki dojo.

2 SNK Vs Capcom: The Match Of The Millennium

8-Bits: More Than Enough To Thrill Anything That Moves

• Developer: SNK.
• Platforms: Neo Geo Pocket Color, Nintendo Switch, PC.
• Release: November 1999.

SNK didn’t just make card dueling games for the NGPC. They made what some consider to be the best crossover game between the companies in SNK Vs Capcom: The Match of the Millennium. It was certainly richer in features than CvS1, as players could switch it between 2-player tag team action or KOF-style 3-person queue teams. They also offered better fighting styles, replacing CvS1’s lackluster SNK/S-Groove with Counter mode (i.e. KOF's Advanced mode), which lets players power up their characters with Maximum Mode.

It had a beefy roster, including some characters who never made it into the big arcade crossovers, like Darkstalkers’ BB Hood and Last Blade’s Akari. That’s not to mention its Olympics mode, where people play different Capcom and SNK-themed minigames to earn in-game currency to buy unlockables. It could also buy extra content for Card Fighters Clash and the Dreamcast ports of KOF ’98 and CvS1. Sadly, its Switch port is unlikely to do the same for the CFC2.

1 Capcom Vs SNK 2: Mark Of The Millennium 2001

This Was Definitely The Match To Remember

However, without a doubt, the most iconic SNK-Capcom crossover is Capcom Vs SNK 2. It only offers queue-style teams, but it fixed the Ratio system where people could stick to their mains by adjusting their strength themselves instead (i.e. Sakura could be any ratio the player wanted). That, and its 6 grooves — each based on different Capcom and SNK games — offered a new level of strategy. Characters who were bottom-tier in one groove could have a fighting chance in another, and good ones could become absolute monsters in others.

It had catchier music than its predecessor (particularly on the London stage), and more testing bosses, as Shin Akuma and God Rugal could test people's nerves more than Geese or M.Bison. The game isn’t the most balanced game around, as anyone who’s fought Blanka or A-Groove Sakura can attest, yet its different techniques offer players of all levels the chance to expand their skills. The only thing that could excite fans more than a CvS2 re-release would be Capcom Vs SNK 3.