Capcom Fighting Collection 2 Just Changed Everything!

Capcom fighting collection 2 just blew my mind just months after it was announced that the huge Marvel versus Capcom fighting collection would be released the Japanese company have dropped another absolutely huge bombshell on us in an almost unbelievable turn of events we have received news that eight more of capcom's most legendary fighting games will all be returning in the form of one compilation from the Capcom versus SNK games to the likes of project Justice and even the power Stone titles this is a simply amazing turn of events so with all of this said join me today in this very special upload as we discuss every single game included that we can play hello ladies and gentlemen Big Daddy top hats here this is the astonishing Capcom fighting collection 2 yeah I don't know about you but I'm incredibly excited to add the Marvel vs Capcom collection to my collection as well as the equally appetizing Capcom fighting collection 2 the compilation we will be covering everything from today however if you simply can't wait for this goodness and want a huge selection of sprite based titles right now then I highly recommend you check out the original Capcom fighting collection that one features the dark stalkers games cyberbots hyper Street Fighter 2 and even the never previously released at home red Earth get the collection containing 10 games using my affiliate link for 80% cheap cheaper than elsewhere reducing the price to a ludicrously low $886,000 of other titles and even a huge discount on Street Fighter 6 and the season 2 DLC giving you access to M bison and soon Terry Bogard happy shopping anyway let's begin to discuss all of the eight excellent offerings we can play in Capcom fighting collection 2 yeah plasma sword is a video game until now at least I've never talked about on this channel before this title released in both the arcades and on the Sega Dreamcast is a quirky 3D weapons-based fighter that was first available to play on the Sony zn2 arcade Hardware back in 1998 before arriving on sega's powerful Home console the following year plasma sword is actually notable due to it being the direct sequel to the older Capcom fighting game known as star Gladiator a title that is historically significant for functioning as capcom's first ever made inh house fighting game featuring 3D polygonal graphics with the developers and publisher only have an experience with Sprite based Fighters previously it probably comes to you as no surprise whatsoever that star Gladiator is rudimentary in places the 1996 game released on the zn1 arcade hardware and the Sony PlayStation was described by Next Generation as being a quirky stylish game that is more subtle than obvious with Innovative gameplay and likable character design they would also praise star Gladiator due to the fact that the player had the ability to move attack and defend in three dimensions with intuitive and simple controls for executing the moves game pro approved of the game's graphical effects unique combo system and characters and deemed it a satisfying first foray into 3D for Capcom however due to its low frame rate most are not exactly desperate to day to go back to this one it's sequel the game we are focusing on now though plasma sword has aged far more gracefully carrying over many of the mechanics found in Star Gladiator plasmaa delivers a far more refined experience the cast of the original game return plus 14 new characters even though 10 are just mirror images of returning ones stylistically at least we have 24 fighters to choose from both the first game and this one features series protagonist hayato kanzaki a rebellious young Japanese Galactic Bounty Hunter he roams the Galaxy wiing a blazing plasa sword fighting for survival while secretly caring for those he loves raised in a humble orphanage he fiercely protects its children and his closest companions June Saturn and gof with a heart of gold masked by his Rogue exterior hayato's unbreakable bond with his friends fuels his Relentless battle against the Sinister billstein and the tyrannical F Empire but lurking within him is a dark arer Force black hayato an evil doppelganger born from a Sinister microchip implanted by billstein himself when the chip activates hayato loses control becoming a terrifying Unstoppable force that attacks both friends and foe alike if this all sounds familiar then your suspicions regarding what this franchise was based on is correct according to former Capcom Community manager Seth Killian the original Star Gladiator was not just based on Star Wars originally it was designed as a Star Wars game featuring Star Wars characters to boot providing us with a reason as to why there appears to be lightsabers and the dark side of the fce found within this space romp further to this if you recognize the hayato character himself despite never playing this actual game that's because he is also a playable fighter in Marvel versus Capcom 2 so there's another piece of trivia for you with a plot Span in both games we are first introduced to this world in the year 2,348 in this period Humanity stands at the Pinnacle of interstellar exploration having charted the stars for over four centuries civilizations across the cosmos have been contacted and humans now seamlessly immigrate from planet to planet mingling with alien species in a golden age of Peace but even in this harmonious era the threat of War lurs beneath the surface tensions arise a few alien races push into Earth Federation to develop an extraordinary new defense enter Dr Edward billstein a brilliant Nobel Peace prizewinning physicist he's groundbreaking discovery of a new energy source one that Taps into the very power of a human mind promises to change everything Bill Stein calls this energy plasma power a full that can revolutionize both science and warfare using this remarkable Energy bill Stein designs a plasma powered weapon capable of Defending Earth from any outside threat you know basically the Death Star he his invention brings him instant Fame and Fortune but hidden beneath his success is A Dark Truth in his obsession with unlocking the secrets of plasma power bill Stein conducted horrifying experiments on human subjects when the Earth Federation uncovers this atrocity Bill Stein is stripped of his honors arrested and banished to a satellite prison orbiting the desolate Planet Zeta the plasma weapon project is indefinitely sheld and Earth's hopes for peace seem restored the mere knowledge of Earth's plasma technology deters potential enemies from challenging the Federation yet peace is fleeting go years later a devastating attack obliterates an Earth Federation military base the culprits a dangerous Rebel group calling them themselves the fourth Empire The Mastermind behind the Rebellion is none other than Bill Stein himself having escaped his prison he has fashioned himself a powerful cyborg body and now seeks revenge on the Federation that portrayed him with his sight set on Earth Bill Stein rallies alien factions to his course preparing to unleash Chaos on the galatic itic scale as the four Empire's attacks grow more coordinated their true Target becomes chillingly clear Earth in a desperate move the Earth Federation scrambles the fly those with the rare ability to harness plasma power only a handful of individuals can control this mindbending energy and now Earth's last hope in stopping Bill Stein's March Of Destruction the project code named star Gladiator begins a final gamble to defeat the Rogue scientist before he conquers the universe given a solid story reason for everyone in the original Star Gladiator to attempt to kick each other's heads in in the original Star Gladiator skilled players must take on Bill Stein at the end of the game on stage n depending on how fast players can take him down will determine what happens next either the game will conclude with a full send in or the player is then taken to a special battle against an unplayable computer controlled true final boss named ghost billstein beating him results in you being able to see each character's true ending as for plasma sword the game included the Capcom fighting collection 2 Whispers Echo across the Galaxy somehow billstein has returned more terrifying than ever housed in a new and even more powerful cybernetic body but that's not all chilling reports speak of a ghostly figure that resembles Bill Stein's old form halting the edges of battlefields as fear spreads it becomes clear the full vampire has risen again rebuilding its forces and reigniting its mission of universal domination in Bill Stein's name the Call to Arms reaches familiar faces Veterans of a l struggle against the fth empire and these are drawn back into the fry they know the cost of failure but this time they're not alone new allies rise to join the fight forming an unlikely team forged into Crucible of War amongst them is zelkin Once An Enemy now a trusted Ally who has switched sides to bring down the Empire he once served gen setsu a hulken Warrior from Japan's military Elite bringing unparallel strength and tactical skills of the battle Eagle a young American hero with a bird motif dreams of saving the universe and proving themselves worthy of the legends of Earth's past and then there's Ellie a cheerful and mysterious rhythmic gymnast from Japan who fights for grace that conceals her lethal power as the star Gladiators Unite with these new comrades they are thrust into an allout war that threatens not just Earth but the entire universe the fate of countless worlds hangs in the balance as old grudges new friendships and unexpected alliances Collide in the final battle against the f Empire's terrifying Ambitions in this graphically impressive weapon based sequel the four button control scheme returns that was established in the previous game two of the buttons can be utilized for weapon-based attacks whereas another is reserved for a kick with the other button being utilized for side stepping and dashing star Gladiator had previously established a mechanic known as the plasma combo system in the older game during the heat of battle skilled Fighters can unleash a devastating technique that bypasses even the toughest defenses by chaining together a precise sequence of attacks a fighter can break through their opponent's guard catching them off guard even while they're blocking when a fighter lands a five fit combo and follows it up with a well time press of a specific button they activate the powerful plasma finyl this special move Taps into an advanced technique delivering a brutal attack capable of inflicting massive damage in plasma sword the plasma combo system from the original game was replaced by a far more Dynamic and strategic mechanic the plasma strike system this new system gave every character a plasma gauge a powerful energy meter similar to those in Street Fighter and dark stalkers allowing for greater flexibility in combat but plasma gauge could store up to three full levels of energy giving Fighters the ability to unleash devastating plasma strikes super moves that could dramatically turn the ti of battle the more a player builds up their plasma gauge through attacks and defense the more options they have whether holding on to energy for a gamechanging moment or releasing it in a flurry of devastating plasma strikes bists them as layers of strategy foring players to carefully manage their resources and time their ultimate attacks for Maximum Impact the plasma strike system not only heightens the intensity of combat but gives players more control over when and how they unleash their most powerful moves making each fight a dynamic and unpredictable Showdown buiild non change in plasma sword the combat system takes another bold Leap Forward introducing a new mechanic that transforms the battlefield into an endless 3D plane unlike the first game where Fighters could be knocked out of the arena for a quick win the absence of ring outs meant battles were now purely about skill and endurance this expansive 3D stage allow players to fully immerse themselves in the action and a new layer of tactical movement to outmaneuver their opponents the game's combo system also evolved blending elements of both 2D and 3D fighting games while players can execute set combos by tapping a specific sequence of buttons they now have the ability to weave special moves directly into those combos much like in classic 2D Fighters this gives every encounter a fluid unpredictable Rhythm similar to the Street Fighter EX Series where one world times move can completely shift the momentum in plasma sword one of the other most exciting new mechanics introduced was the plasma field ability a unique special skill that set each character apart in battle by consuming one full level of their plasma gauge Fighters can unleash a powerful plasma field a sphere of energy that surrounds them creating an immediate Advantage if an opponent gets caught within the plasma Field's radius the expansive 3D Battlefield is instantly confined by four invisible walls trapping both combatants in a close quarter Arena but the real Intrigue lays in how each character's plasma field is uniquely tailored to their fighting style the effects range wildly adding further layers of depth to every battle some characters can perform infinite plasma strikes during the plasma Field's activation While others might grow to gigantic sizes overwhelming their opponents with sheer force a few can even bend the rules of time freezing opponents in place for a devastating onslaught this diversity of abilities makes master in the plasma field a crucial strategy ensuring that no two battles are ever the same in the game's arcade mode players must run through eight stages of intense combat at the fifth stage a mid boss appears serving as both a challenging adversary and a narrative Milestone that reveals more about the character's Journey the real test comes in the AP stage where players must face off against a final boss that's specific to their chosen fighter this climactic battle will not only test player skills but also serves as a critical moment in the character's Arc throughout arcade mode players accumulate battle ability points which determine the outcome of their character story if a player doesn't gather enough points they receive an Abridged ending leaving some of the story's questions unanswered however for those skilled enough to a Master required points a hidden Challenger Waits an encounter of a secret CPU control character known as the true final boss defeating this hidden adversary unlocks the true ending offering players an extended and more satisfying conclusion their character storyline with its Dynamic plasma field mechanic and intricate arcade mode progression plasma sword not only deepened the combat experience but also crafted the rich narrative that gives players a personal stake in every battle making each Victory more rewarding and each defeat more motivating as for the critical reception surrounding the original release of this game next Generation would give their thoughts on the title's arcade debut back in '98 they were comment that Capcom has taken few if any big steps forward with plasma sword but the fighting game giant has managed to round out and deepen the gameplay Essentials of its growing 3D Library game pro would later call the Dreamcast version of a title a good-looking game with lots of visual variety it's not in the top tier of fighting games with Soul Caliber but it does offer plenty of intense action especially when you're trading huge special attacks of a human opponent reflecting back in all of this plasma sword was a significant release as it marked capcom's continued for R into 3D fighting games it introduced Advanced gameplay mechanics semi game sci-fi theme distinct character roster and futuristic setting set it apart from other Fighters that focused on fantasy or martial arts praise for its smooth transition to home consoles he became a stand out title on the Dreamcast further cementing capcom's reputation in the fighting game arena but of course we have so much more of capcom's legacy to cover today so on with the video the Fantastical year that was 1998 in this glorious period Capcom had just released one of their most polished fighting games yet Street Fighter Alpha 3 the apex of the Alpha Series and a video game that included the most expansive Street Fighter roster as of yet as for their fellow competitor an arcade giant SNK they had recently released the fighting game The King of Fighters 98 for both the neoo arcade and home consoles King of Fighters 98 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 were both critical successes and for many years particularly in South America and Asia fans debated which offering from the two franchises was better however with SNK and Capcom being direct Rivals within both fighting game and arcade Market the chances of seeing the characters from these two ever face off seemed slim but that didn't stop seeds from being planted over this period you see Street Fighter Alpha 3 and King of Fighters 98 would be covered by several gaming Publications obviously even in the same magazines due to being released around the same time a magazine known as Arcadia would be one of these Publications and since they were covering both games in the same issue the typical clickbait style decision was made to smack King of Fighters versus Street Fighter across their bloody magazines front cover unsurprisingly considering most people to not bother researching past reading a headline this would lead to many people who saw this Magazine on shelves to just automatically assume there was a crossover in the works meaning they believed it would only be a matter of time until until we saw the cast of Street Fighter duke it out with the King of Fighters the Magazine's clickbait style headline led to many gamers doing what Gamers do best pissing and moaning that the headline was not as literal enough for their feeble brains to have been able to comprehend being a content creator myself I am more than familiar with dealing with these absolute borosa surus rexes who despise sensationalism and instead yearn for a sanitary world where no one puts fun spins on topics and instead just delivers dull monotonous facts my God a portion of gamers are boring sad grumpy bastards this General uproar within the Magazine's metaphorical comment section resulted in many readers voicing their annoyance at the publication but regardless of a reason behind this unnecessary outrage some say that this racket and noise grabbed the attention of both Capcom and SNK which would supposedly result in getting the ball rolling with the real Capcom versus SNK games that would eventually surface years later in a 2021 interview with polygon we would get to learn more about how this crossover came together with tekashi nishiyama playing a pivotal role in in this process what's significant about nishiyama is that he had previously played a crucial role in pioneering fighting games and pushing them forward working for both companies first he created the original Street Fighter game working for Capcom in 1987 then later fatal Fury for SNK in 1991 the game Star in Terry bogar that can be seen as Street Fighter spiritual successor Nori taka fizu who was the General producer at Capcom Japan notes that Nish the then head of development SNK had dinner with capcom's head of development yoshiki okamoto with a two suggesting to each other they try and have a crossover game made Nish arm himself adds we talked about putting the P behind us and the idea came up of combining our forces and using each of our company characters in a collaborative project and okam thought that the idea was very interesting so I told okamoto to convince tochimoto to make that happen I would convince karasaki to make it happen toisa tanabe a pixel art supervisor at SNK at the time adds at the time it's not as if SNK and Capcom never talked to each other or anything but I had the impression that there was some bad blood between the two when I heard Capcom and SNK would be collaborating it felt like ah spring is here like there was a thoring in relations between the two companies for me personally it previously felt kind of difficult to approach people at Capcom but thanks to that collaboration I got to know the people there our relationships improved and we would go out drinking together and stuff we used to do these Capcom versus SNK drinking parties together tab also notes that he doesn't know if this is something he should be saying but coincidentally 2 years before Capcom versus SNK came out they made King of Fighters 98 and actually had a little bit of time after they finished development so the team ended up making a build of a game with Rio and Kenan it he builds on this by saying this isn't something that a lot of people know but I was playing as Ry and Ken in King of Fighters 98 we did this on the development Hardware so of course it was never on a physical cartridge the two companies initially signed an agreement so that Capcom could make a Capcom versus SNK fighting game and SNK can make a crossover car game to help push for snk's new handheld for Neo Geo pocket the deal St would entail that the Distributing Company would gain all of the profits from the game they had published and not the company that licensed the characters for use basically meaning that Capcom would take all of the money from the game they made and SNK would receive the whole pot from the game they made while there would end up being a four of crossover games between the two companies let's focus on the first of these made by Capcom Capcom versus SNK Millennium fight 200000 would first arrive in arcades in Japan on the 13th of August in the year 2000 Marvel versus Capcom 2 released the same year the game would run on the powerful Sega Naomi Hardware the arcade board that shared many of the same components as the Sega Dreamcast once again like with Marvel versus Capcom the hardware similarities between the Naomi and Sega Home console would make pting the game over to the Dreamcast extremely easy resting of the game arriving in homes just one month later speaking of this historic game we may as well check out its epic introductory sequence that was designed to instantly deliver hype so let's have a quick look green match of the century [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Capcom versus SNK Millennium fight 200000 as you can see from this awesomeness the rumor that nobody believed was true was now a reality going far to celebrate both companies legacies the opening scene even showcases screenshots from several old Street Fighter and King of Fighters games for Tech suggests that it is finally time to establish who is the strongest so with that said let's dig deeper straight into this unbelievable game rather than arriving instantly at a player select screen when starting the game you're instead asked to select a Groove with two choices either Capcom or SNK the two grooves are essentially two different gameplay systems which we shall discuss more about shortly from there you then reach for character select screen where you pick Fighters followed by a choice between playing at either a normal or Turbo play speed now more excitingly let's talk about the game roster the game features a tantalizing 33 different playable characters with 28 of these being available from the beginning and the others featuring as unlockables as expected the game presents an even split of both characters from the Capcom Universe with those from the SNK Universe interestingly and perhaps even disappointingly aesthetically the roster is not as diverse as say Marvel versus Capcom 2 and as a result there are far few auty and zany characters present no Mega Man r or amingos here but I guess this does at least set a more serious tone speaking of the roster it is worth noting that regarding capcom's offerings nearly every fighter is just from the street fighter franchise Morgan is the only exception to this with her featuring as the lone non Street Fighter Capcom character on the SNK side of things the roster would mix characters up from King of Fighters fatal Fury the art of fighting and even Samurai Showdown leading to a little more diversity in terms of the franchises representing SNK with most of the characters looking like they mean serious business compared to Marvel versus Capcom this game was no laughing matter I guess capcom's a face off with comic book superheroes and villains was just a rough and tumble but against fellow fighting game characters from another company this was war regarding the game's fighting mechanics let us start by talking about the two grooves we mentioned earlier the Capcom Groove is a gameplay system taken straight from the Street Fighter Alpha Series which basically consists of filling the three level combo gauge to perform more powerful special moves the SNK groove on the other hand consists of manually charging up the meter by holding down both heavy attack buttons to perform super moves in addition to this the SNK Groove also features something known as desperation mode which gives a fighter an advantage when their life is nearly depleted in terms of the gameplay mechanics that this title introduces more than just a Groove system though the game also entails what's known as the ratio system resulting in every character being split into four groups the four groups are all based on strength with ratio one characters being the weakest with ratio four characters being at the top of the food chain this means that when committing a match or an entire playthrough you must select a team but the combined team's ratio must equal no higher than four for example you could pick a team of multiple ratio one characters or pick one character from ratio 4 the choice is yours in terms of how the characters will split into these four groups ratio 2 appears to be more popular characters than that of those ratio one ratio three appears to be characters who were bosses in previous games and ratio 4 seems to be more powerful hidden fighters such as Akuma and Evil Ryu for example to St the obvious fights are one in this game when all the fighters on an opposing team have been knocked out as expected the sizes of the teams vary depending on which ratio group Fighters have been chosen from the ratio system although Innovative sadly does lead to a few drawbacks though for example the combinations of Fighters available for different teams you can perform a limited and restrictive as the ratio can never add up to more than four so the vast variations in teams available to use in say Marvel versus Capcom 2 is unfortunately absent here the othera drawback is a character is only as powerful as that of the person that happens to be controlling them so calling the ratio four characters the most powerful is subjective really in most cases you probably have a better chance of winning most fights with four ratio one characters rather than just one ratio 4 as although the ratio one characters deal less damage with regular attacks their specials and combo abilities can be very effective hence strength in numbers often seems to be the win in Formula here however these issues can be somewhat rectified later in the game when you unlock the ability to edit character ratios in versus mode opening up a lot more choices and the ability to create more tailored teams in terms of the game's visuals personally I think they look pretty fantastic the matches take place in glorious 2D with most of the Capcom Fighters appearing to have been plucked from the street fighter Alpha Series with the SNK ones all being drawn in Capcom star from scratch a strong case could be made that the SNK lineup of characters redrawn in the street fighter art style arguably makes them look even better than ever before the stage backdrops look absolutely incredible there are more detailed than any found in the earlier Marvel versus games and have certainly aged a lot better than the 3D backgrounds found in Marvel versus Capcom 2 the stages in this one are bright and Vivid and offer a lot of movement in terms of play modes with the Dreamcast version of the game it offers an arcade versus practice and team Attack Mode as well as a secret mode where you can spend your points accumulated throughout the game on alternative costumes and stages automatically giving the game additional single player replay value over many older fighting games so as you can see Capcom versus SNK is a very different beast from a Marvel versus Capcom series and features many gameplay elements that wildly differ from other games with in this series with that said I guess it is time to go back and look at how this game was received by journalists of the period they absolutely loved Marvel vs Capcom 2 earlier that year but what did they think of the first Capcom versus SNK game on a Home console let's find out Gamespot would review the game favorably summarizing that issues of balance aside Capcom have produced a great game though the SNK characters repertoire of moves had to be simplified to fit into the scheme what remains of them Works quite well in the present context fans of either series would do well to check the game out as it needn't be reiterated how tempting fights between the characters of these rival companies are to watch unfold let alone have an active hand in the video game critic would add to this with the following the graphics here are stellar and the backgrounds are the best I've seen in any fighter hands down many other the stages of interes in intro sequences as well and the excellent music is also worth noting gaming Target would pile the praise on by stating if there was only one fighting game to get for the rest of the year surely this is it it may have its share of slight problems but the stupendous gameplay is just too good to pass up IG love the game too and would round their right up with Capcom versus SNK shouldn't be measured by what it isn't but instead by what it is a slightly flawed if not terrific Fusion or some of the best fighting games that ever graced our consoles Capcom versus SNK stands tall as one of the single greatest Dreamcast games ever released so there you have it ladies and gentlemen the game was popular with critics despite the game's minor flaws when it comes to capcon though you know just one single iteration of a game is never enough so as a result Capcom versus SNK will be back in the following year with a new iteration of the same game this update would be known as Capcom versus SNK Pro so let's look at what this version was all about the game in uced two new characters Joe higashi from Fatal Fury and Dan Habi from the Street Fighter Alpha Series on top of this existing characters would be given new moves and new play modes were introduced but was it worth releasing this update to the game just one year after the last version well Pro was eventually released on two different home consoles the first of which was the Sega Dreamcast and the Dreamcast version of a game was released exclusively in Japan which one would probably put down to the slow death of a dream car in North America the game remains essentially the same as its predecessor with very few tweaks here and there games blot would cover this Japanese exclusive prais him again for many of the same reasons they did the previous year however they would also state that if you already have a first game and have played it long enough to unlock many of its Secrets you're find picking up an import copy of Millennium Fight Pro amounts to nothing more than paying full price with two characters and that just isn't worth worth it going away from the dream cars the existence of Capcom versus SNK Pro would lead to the game being released on the Sony PlayStation but let us keep in mind that Capcom versus SNK was designed to run on the Sega Naomi so how well could the much weaker Son PlayStation do when it came to handling the game especially when the system had never been good when running 2D spite based titles anyway well Capcom versus SNK Pro is decent for a Playstation title but it Pals in comparison to It Dream cast counterpart the color palette looks washed out and the Sprites look less vibrant Cuts were also made that both the character and background animations making movement less fluid still apart from those differences the game is not as hindered as the Marvel versus Capcom series on the platform IGN would covered the PlayStation version of the game stating there hasn't been a PS1 fighter this good since Alpha 3 Dreamcast vets however may want to stay away as there's nothing here to entice those folks to go downgrade even still capcon versus SNK is a great Slugger and deserves our wholehearted recommendation for new and uninitiated alike games spot on the other hand would be a little less favorable with their version stating Capcom versus SNK Pro for the PlayStation is about as good a port as it could be all things considered however there are a lot of things to consider the game is on the Aged PlayStation Hardware has some pretty substantial load times doesn't play very well with the standard dual shock controller and thanks to its lower graphical resolution it tends to have less detailed backgrounds and ugly special effects is also a port of a game that came out 2 years ago so that about rounds off all of the different versions of Capcom versus SNK Millennium fight 2000 the game's first version on the Naomi and Dreamcast was a beautiful little title to offer the play experience largely different from Mar versus Capcom 2 which launched the same year although the ratio system was FL flawed in places it was interesting to see Capcom try something new with their tried and tested fighting game genre Capcom versus SNK Pro on the other hand stinks of a typical Capcom style cash grab where they release the same game with minimal changes multiple times in a greedy effort to make a little bit of extra cash I guess they had those SNK IPS and wanted to milk them for all they were worth still let's be honest they're even more predatory today insanely charging $60 if you want to purchase something as basic as the street F 6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for skins Yes you heard that right $60 for Turtles for skins disgusting jokes at greedy capcom's expense aside Capcom versus SNK marks a special moment in history witnessing the game being published toyohisa tanabe notes how epic a moment it was for him adding I had worked on the King of Fighters games at SNK and those were kind of the big party titles or a bunch of different characters came together but Capcom versus SNK took that festive party atmosphere to the next level by transcending the company's boundaries in many ways it was like a dream game for me it was so nice seeing the characters that we had designed get reinterpreted by the people at Capcom and as a game to I really loved it at the time it felt like the only way we could ever top this would be if we made a truly Olympic scale fighting game something crazy like Sega versus NCO versus SNK versus Capcom so the dream game that many had fantasized about f existed but if you know your video game history you will know that this was just one of many crossovers between the two companies capcorn versus snk2 Mark of a millennium 2001 known as millionaire fighting 2001 in Japan would be capcom's epic follow-up to Millennium fight 2000 and what an impressive title this is for those who have played both of these games straight from the GetGo you will notice a new feature a change in the Groove system in Millennium fight you could choose between two one Groove offered mechanics more in line with the street fighter series whereas the other was more in line with mechanics found in the king of fighter series Mark of the Millennium 2001 differs in that it now offered six different grooves instead of just two which really switches things up so let's discuss how each of these grooves work the SE Groove is a system reminiscent of the one found in the Street Fighter Alpha Series as observed in the third installment through the aism it's primary aspect involves a super gauge that is divided into three tiers this gauge gradually fills during the course of the battle enabling the utilization of super moves the potency of the button pressed for executing these moves not only influences the inflicted damage but also dictates the extent of the gauge depletion additionally this system is the sole Groove that permits aerial blocking other gameplay elements Encompass a dash guard cancel counterattacks rolling Dodges and tactical recoveries the a Grove is just like Street Fighter Alpha 3's VM this mechanic also deactivates super moves in exchange for custom combos these custom combos enable players to link hit seamlessly into each other within a combo to initiate these combos players need to press both hard attack buttons when their gauge is completely filled after which it will gradually decrease additional gameplay elements include Dash guard cancel counterattacks rolling Dodges and fall Breakers the P Grove employs the iconic super gauge format from Super Street Fighter 2 turbo as seen in Street Fighter Alpha 3's xsm variant the system revolves around a solitary gauge that gradually fills as the player inflicts or receives damage once this gauge reaches capacity it grants access to a potent super move or super desperation move this mechanism also accommodates parrying enabling players to deflect incom and attack strategically to set up counterattacks a technique reminiscent of the Street Fighter three series additional gameplay elements Encompass a dash ability a short jump mechanic and T iCal recoveries the other three grooves instead are built around SNK game mechanics so with that said let's address the S gr a gameplay mechanic reminiscent of the King of Fighters 94 and 95 along with the extra mode from 97 to 98 in this system players are required to accumulate energy in their power Gauge by guiding their character to channel their in achap when the character's health is critically low indicated by the traditional flashing red gauge they gained the ability to perform level one super moves and super desperation moves an unlimited number of times however unleashing level three super moves and Desperation moves necessitates both low health and a fully charged power gauge in a faithful nod to the source material this groove exclusively offers a side step Dodge maneuver Additionally the game play enails a variety of other elements including the ability to Sprint execute brief jumps initiate guard councel counterattacks and strategically recover from difficult situations the en GR is much like the system introduced in the King of Fighters 96 and continued onwards players accumulate stock as their power gauge feels these stocks can be expended in various ways including executing super moves or super desperation moves obtaining temporary boost to attack and defense or performing a guard cancel for evasive maneuvers additional gameplay elements include mechanics like running short jumping counterattacking with guard cancel moves executing rolling Dodges and initiating full Breakers finally we have the k group a gameplay system reminiscent of a Samurai Showdown series featuring a power bar that gradually fills as the character sustains damage upon reaching maximum capacity indicated by the Blazing aari rage emblem the character's appearance will shift to a crimson Hue and the gauge will commence gradual depletion however this state empowers the characters attacks infusing them with heightened potency further more the character gains the capability to execute level three supers during their interval which persists until the gauge empties and the character's visual presentation reverts to its original state this particular style of gameplay also incorporates the just aend mechanic inspired by G marov of woles notable additional gameplay attributes Encompass a dashing maneuver abbreviated jumping techniques and ability to counteract fools in a Nimble manner all these grooves present a huge number of options to experiment with instantly making Capcom versus snk2 one of the most rich and diverse fighting games around and this is of only just scratching the surface of what this game brings to the table another substantial change from its predecessor and an element that many fans would love with this one was the return of a traditional six button control scheme something that had been absent in both the first Capcom versus SNK game and Marvel versus Capcom 2 as well a popular choice indeed particularly amongst fighting game die hards in polygon's oral history piece on the legacy of the franchise overall James Chen a Capcom versus SNK FAQ writer would comment on this change noting when Capcom versus SNK 2 came out that to me felt like this was the next great Street Fighter game because they added all the grooves Capcom versus snk1 if people don't remember put players attacks on four buttons and that didn't feel very Street Fighter and I know a lot of people didn't like that when Capcom versus snk2 came out and it went back to six buttons I wrote FAQs for both of those games and you can kind of see it in my FAQ for Capcom versus snk2 that I just keep talking about the fact that it's six buttons again and how wonderful it is I was so happy that it was six buttons and the graphics was so good the gameplay was really solid in it it really felt to me like this is where Street Fighter needs to go in the FAQ itself I'm like you've got to play this game please play this game because it's so good let's make this game popular you know I'm practically begging readers to play the game because I was so enamored with it at the time and I just thought it was going to be the next thing beyond the excellent grooves and lorded control system we can't talk about Capcom versus snk2 without talking about the game's roster the character select screen offers up a huge selection of 48 fighters to choose from which was way more than the game that came before it the game once again utilizes the power of the Sega iomi arcade board with the meat and potatoes of this game expectedly consisting of the player selecting a team of fighters from various Capcom and SNK games they must fight each other's team teams winning battles by defeating all the opponents from the opposing team some elements included in the previous game make a return but many are tweaked including the ratio system the first game allowed you to build a team based on certain characters in game power levels which could total up to no more than four for example you could build a team of four level one characters have a team of two level two characters or fight with one level four character you are all good as long as the number added up to four regarding the ratios in the game sequel teams this time can consist of no more than a maximum of three Fighters which I guess makes a lot of sense as the previous game gave a player an advantage who selected four level one characters over other combination teams the old ratio Concept in the previous game was a nice idea in theory but it didn't deliver the most balanced experience as mentioned earlier this game contains 48 different Fighters which is a marked improvement over the number included in the previous game the awesome decision would be made for this game to include fighters from a much broader range of different fighting games than what was offered up prior as on the Capcom side of things before for example we only had Street Fighter 2 characters at Morgan on the Capcom side of things this time the roster would include for example kuki from the rival schools franchise and rento from final fight however to be fair rento did also appear within the Alpha Series final fight wfu macki would also make her way over and eagle from the first ever Street Fighter game y from Street Fighter 3 would also be the sole representative from the Street Fighter 3 games which tells you all you need to know about what Capcom thought of that installment in the series at the time regarding SNK newcomers there would be a lot on their side of things too including characters being brought over from g mark of the wolf Samurai Showdown art of Fightin psycho Soldier and The Last Blade 2 just to name a few games that characters would be drawn from from all of this it is clear that the roster is more diverse in terms of franchises included than with the previous game but it remains a very Street Fighter and king of Fighters heavy at its heart which is nothing to complain about I suppose speaking of the many fighters this game includes you would hope that Capcom would have gone to the effort to redraw many of their Sprites to make sure they all fit into this game's new environment and look as awesome as all of the fresh SNK characters they had drawn but nope sadly that wasn't the case at all as amazing as this game is nearly all of the Capcom characters rights have been plucked from other games preventing it from feeling completely uniform and a bit lazy in the art Direction in places the most egregious of these is of course the inclusion of Morgan's 1994 dark stalker Sprite work which was now 7 years old by this point it almost felt like a running gag considering how many times you got so many games this exact Sprite work have been included in in contrast the SNK characters look really nice and it was great to see capcom's interpretation of each of them in terms of the stage backdrops you will probably noticed that the 2D back grounds from the first game are gone and 3D backdrops have been drawn in their places this graphical style is identical to that used in Marvel versus Capcom 2 which we covered on this channel at an earlier date as You' expect from a game program to run on the Sega iomi arcade Hardware the first platform the game would arrive on would be the Sega Dreamcast after the arcade Gamespot would cover the launch of this game in October of 2001 which would only see a release in Japan on this platform due to Sega of America cutting off support to the system in the West by that point with regards to gamespot's take on the first console portion of this title they gave their thoughts stating they believe the changes in the game will have a more significant impact depending on how serious you are about your 2D Fighters the new additions make the game technically superior to the first but not necessarily better enough to Merit purchase if you already have the first one games spot would go on to criticize for game six button controls stating they were not suitable for a Dreamcast pad whilst praising in the game's Groove system allowing the player a lot of customizable options another aspect they would praise would be a feature they would debut in the console version of this game which is an unlockable ability to create your own Groove offering even more customization than before Gamespot like myself would criticize the ReUse of many very old Sprites in the game stating Capcom versus snk2 looks about the same as last year's game it's been said before but some of these characters look simply archaic by now oneeyed sagot hasn't changed since Street Fighter Alpha from 1995 and Morgan the suak buus from dark stalker Series dates back even earlier the game's biggest graphical problem is still that the art St throughout is so inconsistent from character to character Gamespot would Rave about the stage backdrops though with praise such as the characters all seem to blend in well with the game's attractive new fully 3D backgrounds which are filled with some really obscure references to some of Capcom and nk's older games the write up concluded with fans of the first Capcom versus SNK game should be pleased with a sequel if they don't expect too much from it Capcom versus snk2 offers just enough additions and changes to be justifiable as the next complete game in the series though it doesn't take any major detours it's CAU from the same cloth as countless other Capcom fighting games but it's got more features more characters and more depth than a lot of them review sources appear to like this Dreamcast game too with total games.net for example calling it the most beautifully balanced well-crafted 2D beat him up to Grace God's Fair Earth with a Dreamcast dead and mostly buried in the west the game would launch worldwide in the living room when it was ported over to the Sony PlayStation 2 a platform which as its very day is still the most popular gamees console of all time Gamespot would revisit this game on a different platform literally 1 month later confirming that the PlayStation 2 version of this 2D fighting game is essentially ident IAL to the Dreamcast version that was recently released in Japan as a result the PS2 review for this game by GameSpot is pretty similar to their Dreamcast article although they did upgrade review score from 7.8 to 8.1 For What appears to be on account for the fact that the PS2 at the time had less decent 2D Fighters than that of the Dreamcast IM will praise it too stating it is a very fine 2D Fighter the only disadvantage to its arrival on the PS2 is its inevitable difficulty caused by the PS2 controller past this point the game would arrive on both the original Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube meaning that the game had appeared across all four major consoles that generation in fact correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this was the first Capcom fighting game to appear on a Nintendo console since Street Fighter Alpha 2 on the Super Nintendo so it had been a while of a big end reports of these systems were tweaked from the PS2 and the Dreamcast versions and as a result the game was released as Capcom versus snk2 EO with the e standing for easy operation easy operation refers to a change in control mechanics that allow the player to perform special attacks by simply moving the right analog stick in a certain direction all the Home console versions of the game include some bonus characters such as evil ruse shukuma and ultimate rugal for example all of these characters are powered up versions of existing Fighters within the arcade game the GameCube version of the game contains a New Groove known as The gccc Groove which has simplified controls with the gamecube's inferior controller that is in my opinion less suitable for fighting games and yes Smash Brothers doesn't count the Xbox version of the game would include online play for up to two players VI use of the Xbox Live service as expected from a 2d game which as you would gather would be fairly simple to run on the four consoles the game was reported to the game is virtually identical across all four systems with only minor differences despite this the GameCube version of a game would receive lower scores than other platforms due to the console's poor native controller which was not designed pay any thoughts into how traditional fighting games would handle on the platform in polygon's oral history piece on Capcom versus SNK former Capcom Community manager Seth Killian would comment on this amazing game stating Capcom versus snk1 was not a bad game but its slow low stake style created a black hole where hype went to die Capcom versus snk2 felt like a game that said yes to pretty much every dumb idea that Designer suggested and yet somehow made it all work it was simultaneously traditional and wild I return to Classic 2D Street Fighter style combat but with a huge roster the widest and wildest system mechanics in Capcom history plus a chance to mix them all to taste a return to the Capcom style six button controls added an essential dose of extra moves the match flow got tightened up limiting players to three characters per team but persist the mechanics went bananas offering players a choice of six entire entirely different flavors for each of their favorite characters grooves didn't just swap super moves they changed everything from defensive options on down to core movement mechanics combine that amount of choice with 48 characters and you've got a huge space for players to experiment and explore personally I don't think you could provide a better description than that explaining why this game is now so beloved Capcom versus snk2 easily sits at the top of the pile as one of the greatest Sprite based fighting games ever and it is no wonder really why so many are so fond of this one continuing to yearn from Modern sequel the experience that could be found here is truly epic 1999 was an interesting time period in gaming offering a distinctive and unparalleled experience for console enthusiasts during his era a significant portion of the Gaming Community still found solace in the Aging yet venerable Sony PlayStation which had gracefully withered in for half a decade since its initial release despite the passage of time a dedicated contingent of players remained steadfast in their commitment to the iconic console embracing the wealth of titles into the Mast over the years during this time frame there were those who were more sophisticated amongst the gaming public though these were the proud owners of Sega dream casts a gaming console that boldly asserted its dominance as the most powerful in the world leaving its competitors trailing in its wake the Sega Dreamcast of its Cutting Edge features and Superior capabilities represented the Paradigm shifting gaming that set it apart as a formidable force in the industry near the turn of the Millennium the Dreamcast would feature a plethora of great games many of which were like nothing that Gamers had ever experienced before a perfect example of one of these titles is of course the subject of today's video powerstone the Sega Dreamcast was a console that could truly bring the arcade experience home and in many cases it would do this literally before making their debut on the Sega Dreamcast Home console numerous games embarked on their gaming Journey as arcade titles finding their roots in the immersive Realm of the Sega Naomi Hardware this arcade board board striking architectural similarities to the iconic Home console forming a technological bridge between the pulsation atmosphere of arcades and the comfort of Home gaming experiences one such exemplary title that followed this trajectory was Power Stone an exhilarating game that made its initial appearance in Japanese arcades in February of 1999 this unique transition from the arcade to the Dreamcast showcased a seamless connection between the two platforms allowing Avid Gamers to Relish in this classic in both environments now with a stage set let's check out the introductory scene that was featured at the beginning of this Japanese arcade gem fore stor [Music] welcome to war to be fair the intro reveals little about the game outside of a brief synopsis of the story and a look at the colorful lineup of characters the game contains past this point a preview of a game can be seen for those who are yet to insert the coins so let's delve deeper into this amazing title set against the rich backdrop of the 19th century at the heart of this game and experience lies a group of fervent believers who find inspiration and motivation in the Realms of Legends myths and superstitions their Collective Zeal propels them on a quest for fame glory and above all the pursuit of a legendary treasure that is rumored to have the power to fulfill any conceivable dream the coveted Power Stone in the expansive world of this game The Legend of the Power Stone serves as a beacon attracting Seekers from every corner of the planet these Believers consume by the aore of the Power Stone engaging in an obsessive and often tumultuous Quest igniting fires and sparking intense punch-ups as they individually strive to lay claim to this mythical Grail as one immerses of themselves in this tow we will encounter a player select screen a gateway to a roster of 10 distinct Heroes each of their own unique attributes skills and backstory once you choose a character the game propels you into a world of dynamic battles bitting you against a diverse cast of characters also VI for control of the elusive power Stones the battles unfold in a manner reminiscent of traditional fighting games yet a groundbreaking twist these confrontations transpire in fully realized three-dimensional environments this departure from the conventional confines of two-dimensional fighting games introduces a refreshing and immersive Dimension to the gaming experience the arenas for these one-onone Jewels are scattered across various locations around the globe providing a visually stunning backdrop to the int clashes between characters the threedimensional environments not only alter the Tactical considerations for players but also Elevate the overall gaming experience inviting strategic maneuvering and dynamic interactions rarely previously explored in the fighting game genre in the multifaceted realm of this captivating game characters wield a diverse arsenal of combat techniques seamlessly blending flurries of punches and kicks with an array of special attacks however the battlefield is not limited to Mere hand-to-hand combat as characters can Elevate their strategic progress by wielding various objects As Weapons tables chairs rocks and even bombs become tools of Engagement introducing an element of unpredictability and chaos to the dynamic fight to Thum folds amidst the chaos the coveted power Stones make their appearance resembling radiant gems in an array of captivating colors these mystical artifacts hold the key to unlocking heightened abilities adding extra depth to the game playay a testament to the game's Innovation players who demonstrate nimbleness and strategic Acumen can amass three power Stones triggering a transformative process akin to Sonic's metamorphosis into supersonic with the chaos emeralds in this ascended State characters undergo a profound transformation becoming more powerful versions of themselves this empowerment unleashes two distinct super specials a longrange potent attack and a close range formidable maneuver drawing parallels to the Dynamics of other iconic franchises this heightened form is not a Perpetual State rather it is contingent on the player's Power Bars which acts as a finite reservoir for these enhanced abilities the Grandeur of the super special attacks comes at a cost completely draining the power bar while smaller special moves only deplete a portion as the battles unfold the traditional fighting game structure remains intact With Victory determined by the depletion of one of a Fighter's life bars yet amidst The Familiar beats the game weaves distinctive amount algam of elements The Echoes of renowned franchises like Street Fighter and dark stalkers are not coincidental as this game proudly stands as another illustrious creation from the renowned gaming Powerhouse Capcom beyond the Revolutionary gameplay That Power Stone introduced its aure is further heightened by the captivating and imaginative environment in which it unfolds stepping into the game is akin to entering a 19th century Universe adorned with pirate ships temples and taverns exuding a distinctive steampunk vibe this unconventional setting stands in STK contrast to the more conventional backdrops found in other Capcom games creating an immersive and Visually stunning world for players to explore and Conquer in an Illuminating Insight from The Game's head designer Hideki ituno the Genesis of this unique setting becomes clearer Ito shares I was going to go for a modern-day setting to appeal to as many players as possible but modern day technology lacks a certain flare there's just no Romance to it so I went with a 19th century before such technology become ubiquitous this deliberate choice to embrace an era where technology hadn't yet permeated daily life allowed for the infusion of a romantic adventurous Spirit into the game's narrative and Aesthetics speaking of the game's narrative it draws inspiration from the swashbuckler Adventures found in Indiana Jones and the Dynamic Martial Arts sequence is synonymous with Jackie Cham movies ito's youth steeped in the excitement of these cinematic influences is reflected in The Game's plot a harmonious blend of fighting and exploration in ito's own words it seemed to me to be the kind of positive setting anyone could feel excited about encapsulating the Infectious enthusiasm that permeates the game's atmosphere equally remarkable is the novel approach powerstone takes to its gameplay unlike conventional fighting games the battles unfold from an isometric perspective with moving cameras providing a dynamic and engaging experience the origins of this distinctive gameplay Trace back to the game gam embryonic stages as a Street Fighter 2 style side view fighting game it sunno reveals that the initial design involved pushing the stick twice in the direction to move into or out of the screen however a pivotal Turning Point occurred during development as the game's producer dauki isuka recounts it was only halfway through development that it changed to an overhead view I remember how great it felt once we got the game to a place where it seemed completely different from Street Fighter in Essence power Stone's Journey from conceptualization to realization is a testament to the creative minds at Capcom daring to defy conventions and explore Uncharted territories within the gaming landscape diving deeper into the lineage of Power Stone and its roots in the fighting game genre it's essential to acknowledge the rich history that ituno brought to the table prior to Power Stone ituno had already left an indelible mark on the world of fighting games through his contributions to notable Capcom titles such as star Gladiator r rival schools and Street Fighter Alpha 3 armed with a wealth of experience Garner from working on these titles ituno harbored a vision to transcend the established norms and breathe new life into the genre his goal was clear to innovate and deliver an experience that would Captivate not only the dedicated fighting game Community but also resonate with a broader audience drawing on the lessons learned from crafting other games Ito aimed to preserve the satisfying gameplay Dynamic of 2D Fighters while introducing the free freedom of movement inherent in a three-dimensional space in a candid Revelation ituno shared his Insight stating one of my aims with Power Stone was to bring my experience to something that would be well received by players other than just hardcore fighting fans this is a poignant reflection on the state of the fighting game landscape at that time the genre had become increasingly Niche with titles like Street Fighter 3 and its revisions struggling commercially even the sequel to rival schools titled project Justice faced challenges in fing its audience such titles with their intricate mechanics and steep learning curves further alienated the broader audience powerstone of its innovative approach and accessibility sought to bridge this Gap and appeal to a wider demographic looking back at the late '90s it marked a transformative period for fighting games while the genre faced challenges it eventually experienced a resurgent in the late 2000s it's interesting to note though that such a Resurgence was partially fued by a shift towards simplified controls as seen in games like Marvel versus Capcom 3 and tatoko versus Capcom and even more recently Street Fighter 6 came with the option of even more basic controls these changes were introduced to make fighting games more accessible to Casual players overturning the stigma that had developed around the genre but the Forward Thinking Power Stone was made with the Casual audience in mind before other Capcom fighters in essence Power Stone occupies a unique space in the timeline of fighting games at transitional phase where Innovation and accessibility became Paramount Power Stone under its Sun's creative guidance embraced a revolutionary concept Simplicity without sacrificing depth unlike traditional fighting games that often require an intricate understanding of complex move sets Ito designed a game with the premise that players could effectively navigate the battles by mastering just three fundamental moves a punch a kick and a jump but on top of these basic attacks a distinguishing feature that set Power Stone apart was his Dynamic utilization of weapons scattered throughout the stages he soon envisioned a gameplay Dynamic where players could inflict substantial damage by seizing and effectively deploying these weapons the Arsenal range from conventional melee weapons to more exotic items and their usage extended Beyond mere striking players could throw them strategically and an extra layer of tactical depth speaking about the inclusion of weapons it soono elicited we made the weapons powerful to encourage players to use them a lot we didn't want to just add something on top of the fighting gameplay so much as make items part of the fighting strategy itself this intentional integration of weapons and strategic assets reflected ito's commitment to elevating the gameplay experience offering players not just a gimmick but an integral component that contributed to the overall fighting strategy Thea collectic cast of characters in powerstone further underscores the game's commitment to diversity and uniqueness Edward Falcon the charismatic main protagonist hailing from London adopts a boxing fighting style infusing the game of a touch of British flare Wang Tang an aspiring chef and martial artist from Japan brings a culinary twist to his combat techniques even channeling energy blasts reminiscent of iconic anime moves the roster extends to aami a Master swordsman galuda a towering Native American Kraken a pirate world and a Buccaneer fighting style Jack a mysterious Englishman draped in bandages and valgus a colossal monster employing a wrestling fighting style this diverse array of characters not only contributes to the visual richness of Power Stone but also introduces varied fighting styles and the lay of strategy for players to explore power Stone's meticulous character design reflects an appreciation for cultural diversity and a commitment to offering players a well-rounded and engaging gaming experience venturing into the realm of power Stone's final challenge valgus is the end game's boss vas's prowess is such that he has been known to induce moments of frustration even prompting rage quits from players myself included and an extra layer of intensity to the overall gameplay the culmination of the game concluded with a fight against a frustrating adversary like bgus further demonstrates power Stone's dedication to delivering a challenge and immersive narrative Arc in regards to this title's unique history remarkably power Stone's journey to prominence took an unexpected detour before landing famously on the Sega Dreamcast initially the game was slated for release on a different platform the 3d2 a console touted as a Powerhouse comparable to sega's final Home console however the 3d2 faced an unfortunate fate and was ultimately cancelled as fate would have it though Capcom swiftly switched gears redirecting the development to the Sega Naomi and subsequently the Dreamcast with of course the rest now be history as we Traverse through time the critical reception of Power Stone in 1999 9 becomes a pivotal chapter in his legacy Gamespot a prominent voice in gaming journalism presented a mixed response acknowledging capcom's extensive history in the fighting game genre while praising powerstone departure from the traditional 2D gameplay Gamespot tempered its enthusiasm asserting that the excitement May wne over time the game's unconventional nature easy accessibility and initial enjoyment were acknowledged but concerns about long-term appeal lingered critics grappled with defining Power Stone within the context of Capcom storyed Legacy grappling with the departure from familiar 2D gameplay the dichotomy of short-term enjoyment versus long-term engagement underscore the game's unique position in the fighting game landscape of the time reflecting on GameStop's review of Power Stone it becomes evident that their initial assessment may have missed the mark especially considering the enduring popularity the game enjoys among fans even two decades later the discrepancy between the critical evaluation and the sustained enthusiasm from players highlights the challenges and inaccuracies that can accompany game journalism in this case powerstone STS an example of great resilience in terms of entertainment value proving that the term long-term enjoyment finds a fit and application here examining the broader context is intriguing to note how Power Stone with its distinctive gameplay and visuals defied easy categorization within the traditional fighting game genre the game with its unique mechanics and 3D Arena setup stood apart from its 2D counterparts prompting some to question whether it truly belonged to the fighting game genre at all the evolution of genres is seen in the transition from Super Mario Brothers to the 3D platformer ERA with Mario 64 provides a parallel Power Stone likewise marked a departure from conventional fighting games Paving the way for a distinct category the emerging 3D Arena fighting sub genre while journalists of a time may have struggled with classifying power Stone it's important to recognize its role as one of the best early examples of a 3D Arena fighting game in ajre that now boasts plenty of titles of this kind power Stone's influence is unmistakable however it's crucial to appreciate that in 1999 this genre was in its infancy with Power Stone helping to Pioneer a form of interactive combat that would later become a stapling gaming this is why this game deserves your respect there is no doubt that by this this point Power Stone is a legendary video game with an excellent Legacy behind it but do you know what's even better than Power Stone well Power Stone 2 of course released for Sega Naomi arcade hardware and the Sega Dreamcast itself both in the year 200000 powerstone 2 not only Builds on everything that the first game established but turns up the option for fun drastically by introducing four player action this made the title more chaotic and more suitable for parties than ever before Power Stone 2 features five interactive 3D stages right from the start along with two intense boss stages that players can access in the game's thrilling original mode while the original mode sticks closely to a storyline format players engage in two Fierce battles on standard stages before squaring off against the Fierce and Pharaoh Walker boss afterwards another Skirmish takes place all building up to the climactic doctor aod boss battle fix infusion attack system makes a return the famous mechanic whereby each character starts their their own ground and air moves but once they've collected three power Stones they undergo a powerful transformation unleashing devastating Fusion attacks in Power Stone 2 every stage is a dynamic Battlefield that evolves as the fights rage on keeping players on their toes with thrilling unpredictable shifts take the airplane stage for example what starts as a high flying brle across a massive war plane quickly transforms into an aerial freefor all as the plane disintegrates sending all players skydiving through the clouds but the excitement doesn't stop there just as you're about to hit the ground the Fight Continues on a floating platform creating three heart pounding substages within a single level the chaotic energy just like in the first game is Amplified by the sheer variety of items scattered across each stage item boxes contain a surprise every time whether it's an item unlocked in adventure mode or created in the item shop and sometimes even a coveted Power Stone the arsenal of weapons is as wild as it is diverse players can wield everything from flamethrowers massive Hammers and swords to Bear traps roller blades and even a magazine that could be held like a projectile and it's not just about inflicting damage there are Health restoring food items shields for protection invisibility Elixir at etive sprays to slow down foes and wings for those crucial extra jumps there are even special cards that allow you to mix items together for added strategic death each stage also brings its own unique set of interactive elements and weapons in the submarine level for instance you'll find turrets to man tiny planes to launch bombs and even icebergs to haul at your enemies and with a game's highly interactive environments players can leap off walls to gain extra height use stage elements to their advantage and turn the very landscape into a weapon power Stone 2's exciting Adventure Mode adds a whole new layer of strategy to with r playay ability while it plays similar to the intense one-on-one and arcade modes avenge mode comes with a Twist an inventory system where players collect items and money as they battle their way through the game after you've amassed your loot head over to the item shop run by the secret character male where the fun really begins the item shop is your gateway to unlocking powerful New Gear either by purchasing items outright or by experimenting with the game's unique item mixing system combine existing items can result in some of the most powerful outright wacky Creations giving you access to equipment that can't be found anywhere else this feature significantly extends the game's lifespan as players will find themselves hunting down rare items and experimenting with combinations for hours on end but that's not all Power Stone 2 also features a clever vmu application called the minibook which lets you manage your item collection on the go you can inspect your inventory trade items with friends and even register up to five items as handy items which gives you a major Edge by making them available in original mode with Adventure mode and the item Shop powerstone 2 takes the action beyond the battlefield offering players endless possibilities for customization strategy and Discovery making every play through feel fresh and unpredictable Power Stone 2 is essentially Power Stone but with more this of course led to the game receiving decent reviews at the time securing mostly eight and nines out of 10 next generation will report that is an Innovative and beautiful fighting game Power Stone 2 will keep you entertained for hours just make sure to bring along a few friends game pro would comment that fans of the first Power Stone game should definitely check out this sequel while it's basically the more of the same Power Stone engine of the first game the extra characters weapons and play modes make Power Stone 2 a top offering in the Dreamcast action fighting genre another source from the time would add that power stone 2 is everything you'd hoped for since the original with madap action and four player Mayhem as is Power Stone 2 is a great multiplayer title that should bring smiles to the faces of powerstone junkies across the country 6 years after the game's initial arcade and Sega Dreamcast release in 2006 both power Stones would resurface in the Power Stone Collection released for the Sony PlayStation Portable thus meaning that the Power Stone games became available on the go for the first time for close the two decades after this not only did we never receive a power Stone 3 but both titles disappeared into da for somewhat too this is of course until recently with the game's reemerging as part of Capcom fighting collection 2 maybe there really is hope for a power Stone fre someday we start today's Tower off in 1997 with the arcade release of rival schools United by Fate the game ran off of Sony zeden Hardware making the game easily portable over to the Sony PlayStation in 1998 the Beloved game would become available on the Sony PlayStation around the world throughout that same year after the release of this one things would begin to get a tad more chronologically confusing as the PlayStation game in Japan would receive an updated re-release much like what Capcom consistently did with Street Fighter 2 when they gave us super versions turbo versions Etc the updated version of rival schools was only released on the Sony PlayStation and exclusively in Japan carrying a title that translates to private Justice Academy Hot Blooded youth or Diary 2 talk about a bloody mouth away the game would add additional characters new mini games and an updated version of the school Sim mode but the title remained largely the same the next installment in the series and the focus of our video today would be a true sequel to the original game and will firstly release in Japan in the arcades in the year 2000 like Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Capcom versus SNK games this title was developed to run on Sega Naomi Hardware the arcade gaming counterpart to the Sega Dreamcast meaning that Capcom had more power to work with this time than with the more basic Sony ZN technology as we are taking a deep dive look at this one we may as well start by taking a look at the game's intro [Music] [Music] youe spe [Music] the opening sequence of the game basically establishes this Fighters plot one year has passed since the event of the original game and things are back to normal in the city the characters have gone back to resume their school Liv Liv and are enjoying the calm peace however the peace hasn't lasted and the cast have found themselves in a new battle the intro goes on to show off some of the characters from the series polygon rendered in their new Sega Naomi Glory from their handdrawn illustrations of who appears to be the Game's new main antagonist flashing up along with multiple comic book like depictions of other representatives from the franchise all in all it helps establish a new art for series which we shall cover more about shortly in the arcade selectable story mode you start out by choosing the high school to play as with each consisting of a combination of three characters instantaneously you may notice that some of these schools have brand new characters within their combinations and there is even a completely new one that has been added to the lineup as well but once again we will get to all of this soon the first change you will notice from this screen is that you are prompted to select a team of three which is a departure from a team of two you are prompted to select with the game's previously storment once again it appears that project justice has taken influence once more from the Capcom versus series as Marvel versus Capcom 2 also upgraded its mechanics from two on two fights to three on three so the natural progression makes a lot of sense the fighting system within this game is lifted from the first rival schools title however some notable changes are brought to the table such as the three on three combat we just mentioned this alteration means there were more opportunities to perform team up attacks but the fighters all also have the ability to carry out a new type of attack these are known as party up attacks a threepers special move that varies based on which characters is initiating the attack the extra member also gives players the ability to cancel opponent's team up specials this can be achieved by inputting a team up counter command if this turn of events takes place short fighting secenes between one character from each team occurs if the player who initiated the sequence gets the first hitting prior to the timer expiring then the incoming team up attack will be cancelled switching the game back to the main fight if the opposing player get the first hit in or the time limit simply runs out then the team of attack will be executed all in all offering a very interesting Dynamic for competitive play the Vigor meter present from the previous rival schools game also makes a return however this time it is limited to five levels as opposed to nine different techniques require The Vig meter to be filled to different levels a threers party of attack costs an entire five levels whereas team ups cost two and councils cost one meaning you need to be somewhat economical with your choice of moves as attacks literally come at a cost the arcade version of this game offers two different play modes the first of which being story story mode lets you pick from a pre-formed team of characters representing a particular school this is so players can follow a rigid storyline fights come with before and after cut scenes to help progress the story along but these can vary due to the plot having branching paths which are determined by match results and decisions made by the combatant the arcade version also offers free mode which annoyingly did not allow players at the time of release to play the game for free however the joke is on Capcom now as anyone can emulate this game and play free mode for free anyway so at least there is that free mode lets you form a team out of any three characters you want and matches take place against other random teams of three this mode features no story and offers the same amount of Freedom provided by Marvel versus Capcom 2 both modes enter a boss fight which we will touch on more shortly as it is now time to discuss the game story and new characters as mentioned earlier in the video the game is set one calendar year after the previous entry of the series in Project Justice a mysterious group comes to the Forefront known as the reverse Society this group appears to be headed by a cold-hearted ruthless Ninja Assassin known as Kuro kurishima the group has the ambition to rule Japan so therefore need to take out anyone who would be capable of stopping them due to this Kuro attacks Riso in Moana the principal of Justice High and the father to batsu who are both recurring characters from the last game Kuro also sends his minions including his loyal subordinate Momo and older sister yua to cause tension and distrust within the other rival schools and also carry out a plot to brainwash the leader of the gido gang to cause more issues the final string to kuro's evil bow is his plan to destroy batsu which he executes by disguising himself as a batsu doppelganger this is so that he can attack other Fighters leading them to believe bassu himself was committing the crimes so as you can see Kuro exists to cause tension between all of the game schools and Fighters causing them all to fight against each other once again which is a fun little plot really and a decent reason for everyone to be fighting Believe It or Not Kuro does not end up as the game's final emboss but instead the final battle takes place against hio like in the previous game once again story-wise hoo has become possessed by his father muen and is consumed by hatred and evil this demonically possessed version of hoo is creatively known as demon hoo who is a topless sword wielded Maniac reminiscent of SEO and all of the other Tesco value David Bowie clones that anime villains seem to always nearly look like for some reason so with the basic skeleton structure of a story explained let's run through the new characters this entry brings to the table starting with representatives from the too high school we have ran hiiki a student who serves as the chief editor of school newspaper with a have the sporty School known as gorin high which also has a new student known as Momo who we touched on earlier in the video who functions as a mole and Ally to Kuro whilst this tennis player is on the side of the game's villain she is only doing so for fun rather than being innately evil the school full of American transfer students Pacific High remains of an unchanged lineup from a previous game as does gido high a school known for its gang problem the super Elite Academy Justice highs lineup remains unchanged too the completely new school the game includes is San High an old girl school that promotes the motto of raising women who display feminine virtues and value the time on a traditions of Japan Akira previously of GID High has been sent to this offshore island School however this school has a secret underground or female gang problem as well joining Akira at this school we also have Zaki a gang leader who is confrontational and Rough Around the Edges but someone who can be forgiven to her friends then we have Yura the sister of Kuro who we touched on earlier in the video she is seen to be high class and even fights using the violin as a weapon this girl is basically the female equivalent of me or Karen from Street Fighter I guess also non Affiliated from the school as discussed earlier we also have the game's main antagonist Kuro the character responsible for brainwashing several characters in the game and bringing chaos amongst the schools in fairness Kuro is most Central to the plot of all so we have discussed this arcade games new V mechanic story and additional characters this one brought to the franchise in terms of visually how this game looks it is a big step up from the previous installment on the PlayStation with the Sega Naomi giving players a game with smoother polygons with less jaggedy edges as a result project justice has aesthetically aged a lot better than the earli Rival scools that was created to run on the Sony ZN Hardware the stages offer a nice selection of backdrops that vary in appearance with obviously many appearing to emulate School setting things we have classrooms playgrounds and playing fields amongst the selection of stages as well as a few backdrops that have nothing to do with schools that break things up a little bit my personal favorite for example is the train stage simply because the level provides a bit more going on in the background with the Sega Naomi and Sega Dreamcast being so architecturally similar many elements of the eventual home release of the title on the Dreamcast remained unchanged and graphically the title looks just as impressive as it did did on the arcade Hardware the game would see a Japanese release in December of the year 2000 a European release in April 2001 as project Justice rival scorts 2 and finally a North American release in May of 2001 simply as project Justice like many fighting games that get transferred from the arcades to the home a range of new play modes were implemented in addition to the game story and free arcade play modes the game added a training mode League battles and tournament battles options the Japanese version of this game and the international version however are completely different as if you watched my older video on the original rival schools game you would know the school Sim mode present in the Japanese version was not included in the western release this was partially due to dating Sims not being something that most westerners would find appealing in their games so this play mode that offers the opportunity to create your own player was cut from the Western release of the PlayStation classic interestingly in the Dreamcast game project Justice the creator player mode makes a return but the dating Sim is gone and it has been replaced with a ball game format like the da in Sim previously the ball game mode was also acted from the international releases instead the Western version of project Justice offers a range of extra characters to players all of which are made up of assets present within the creator player mode from the Japanese version so each version of the game has its own merits so that was a basic rundown of a game in its ports so now let's see what joural of time thought of this game on release Gamespot stated capcom's rival schooles was an arcade fighting game that became a PlayStation SLE hit the unique game had a nice fun fighting system and the character designs were unlike anything else on the market these things came together to make the original game a success and it's these same things that make the off delayed Dreamcast sequel worth picking up rival schools looked good for a PlayStation game and project Justice makes for a good-looking Dreamcast game originally designed for the iomi hardware in arcades the Dreamcast version looks virtually identical to its coin up counterpart the characters look great and they're animated well enough the game soundtrack consists of w heavy guitar rock and the game sound effects are typical fighting game fair it is a must stone for fans of the series and a game worth looking at if you're looking for a fun stylish fighter I gen would praise the game too stating while not trying to enter the arena of Soul Caliber the graphic quality of project Justice is pretty good nice 3D backgrounds and some fun looking character models really give this game a distinct look with the power of Dreamcast you get a cleaner more colorful version than the Rival School series on the PlayStation project justice has a pretty solid fighting engine but as I stated above this game does not take itself seriously if you didn't know that from the wacky character designs you're definitely notice it when playing the game project Justice delivers hilarious fight and action for those that never took High School too seriously all in all project Justice received strong reviews with many journalist commenting that the game was essentially a more polished version of rival schools that had appeared on the PlayStation previously this is pretty much the perfect summation of what the game is and the reasons to play it in my previous video I made about rival scores my main criticism of the game was its ugly dated polygonal graphics project Justice on the other hand offers much more palatable visuals that are a little more easy on the eye today all in all I guess project Justice did little to change the game however it is to this day still the final and most polished title in the Rival School series The rival schools games are a fantastic breath of fresh air from all of capcom's 2D fighting games over the period and in many ways it's almost criminal that they have left the franchise in hibernation for so long but at least we got AK Kira in Street Fighter 5 I suppose which is something I guess known as Capcom fting evolution in North America and Capcom fighting Jam around the rest of the world what better way to begin analyzing this game than by checking out his arcade the track sequence so without further Ado let's take a look [Music] [Music] the vibrant upbeat introduction although not featuring any fighting instantly gives us a strong indication as to what this game is all about basically you had heard of Marvel versus Capcom and Capcom versus SNK well this one is basically Capcom versus Capcom the fact that the company made so many fighting games meant that Capcom had a ginormous roster of Fighters to pick from and include in such a title with room to include potentially more than ever before especially when we consider that roster spots would not be taken up by Marvel or SNK Fighters This Time Around unsurprisingly even though there were many fighting games in capcom's portfolio when it comes to Capcom fighting Evolution as usual the company would rely on their biggest Cash Cow to carry this new franchise Bloody Street Fighter this means that Street Fighter characters take up the majority of roster spots within the game taking priority above those from other series sadly despite having a huge pool of Fighters to choose from Capcom instead opted to have a reasonably small roster for this one the game's 21 characters are split into different groups based on their respective franchises so let's briefly go through the gamees representatives and discuss where each of them are from obviously a Capcom crossover game wouldn't be a crossover game without fighters from Street Fighter 2 with this game being no exception we have four popular characters from Street Fighter to appearing in this one all of which have appeared in previous Capcom Crossovers and rightfully so as these are some of the most recognizable characters in all of gaming history further to this we also have dark stalker characters included too speaking of which most of them had appeared across previous crossover fighting games however this would be jeda's first appearance outside of the dark stalkers Universe originally debuting in dark stalkers 3 in a rather nice surprise we would also receive a selection of characters from the game red Earth which in my opinion is the most Pleasant addition to this fighting game especially considering how little love red Earth generally gets of the four characters representing red Earth we have the Thundercat like conand the Barbarian EST hybrid known as Leo the Japanese Ninja Warrior known as Kenji and even more surprisingly two of red Earth's previously uncontrollable Boss characters who are also playable these include Hower the huge T-Rex beast from the original game and hydron the mischievous half Nautilus and half caken monster this marks both the first and last time either of these characters have been playable in any Capcom title moving on we have a selection of four fighters from Street Fighter 3 which is a tad disappointed in a way as Chun Lee is one of this group's Representatives sure she was a part of third strike and was one of the most elected Fighters but she is certainly more heavily associated with Street Fighter 2 than any other game at least we would get Alex Yun and yurian though all Representatives who debuted in Street Fighter 3 games none of these characters are included in capcom's previous fighting crossover games either so this marked the character's first ever appearance outside of the Street Fighter 3 franchise finally the game offers representatives from Street Fighter Alpha as expected we would have Sakura representing the alphal lot which is no surprise when we consider how much Japan seems to love her the character inspired by Sailor Moon and other Heroes of this Japanese archetype had already appeared in both Marvel and SNK versus games along with rival schools too so she was a veteran of crossover Fighters by this point Rose and Karen would also be playable in a crossover for the first time and lastly we could play as a guy his inclusion though is slightly frustrating as it just makes you wonder what could have been rather than including three different Street Fighter teams they could have instead made one a final fight one and that's without even mentioning the possibility of a rival schools team at least we got one completely new character for the game though Ingrid which brings us on to a whole another section of this video while this was Ingrid's debut she actually originates from an unreleased 3D fighting game known as capcorn fighting Allstars this game that was never to be was sadly cancelled in August 2003 which raises the question why well it is said that Capcom had beta tested the game but after receiving negative feedback from players and spending more months in development the game would be scrapped all together rather interestingly though its cancellation would result in many elements of its gameplay being reused for the production of capcon fight Evolution with Ingrid for example being resurrected from the fouled games project as for f and evolution players must choose two characters on this game's character select screen this is due to you guessed it tag team matches players because what would a capcorn crossover fighting game be without a Teddy Long reference [ __ ] love tag team matches mechanically it is very different though from say Marvel versus Capcom in Capcom F Evolution you can only control one character per round rather than actually tagging in and tagging out players select a pair of characters then begin begin a match with one of those characters if you win a round you can carry on playing as your first pick if you lose you pick up control of your second fighter so really I guess it's more two on two rather than say tag which must have been disappointing for old Teddy sadly as you can see this does not offer the same chaotic Amusement that the Marvel versus Capcom games provided but In fairness to the developers the game was never intended to do so in the first place the unique feature of this title was that it was intended to be about balancing different fighting game mechanics under one Roof then pitting for different styles against one another characters from three different Street Fighter games May mean that this one lacks fighting game Universe diversity but we do get mechanics mixed up from three different Street Fighter games prior to this for a long time mixing different styles posed some interesting questions among fighting game enthusiasts many people had their preferred fighting game and one particular title they exceled that a player could be great at Street Fighter Alpha but less competent competitively at Street Fighter three for example therefore it was always debatable who truly was the best in some ways Capcom F Evolution existed to answer the age-old question of who would win in a fight when discussing fantasy scenarios such as who would win in a matchup between Muhammad Ali and Jackie Chan or 100 billion Lions and the sun Capcom fighting Evolution was designed to be a game where the mechanics from five different Capcom Fighters would be included but balanced out and tune to make things as competitive postive as possible a pretty bold and interesting feat but was such a concept successfully executable well history now shows us in the case of this game at least that although Capcom did this they didn't do it very well within this game where you can pick different characters representing different franchises against one another each selection of Fighters functions differently from the next street fighters 2 characters come with basic combo abilities and super bars they can perform super combos and execute air blocks and their fight style is mechanically most similar to Super Street Fighter 2 turbo as for the Street Fighter Alpha Characters they differ in that they can perform both super combos and custom combos they can also perform air blocks and also safe fors where they can perform rolls further to this they can execute Alpha counters used at the cost of the character super meter simple counter attacks can also be performed while blocking regarding Street th 3 two meter gauges are present for these characters so over games Fighters can use their traditional super arts and ex moves these Fighters can also Dash forward and backwards and the famous parrying system is present the quick stand and super technique can also be performed when players of these combatants as for the non Street Fighter characters the dark stalkers and red Earth Representatives have received power boosts in this game because characters from both franchises have fewer techniques up their sleeve than in more complex developed Street Fighter games in addition to this dark ster characters can AIR block Dash guard cancel and perform boosted special moves and chain combos finally the powered up red Earth roster members feature abilities inherited from their game in the original RPG elements were present meaning characters could level up and perform stronger attacks by stocking up on gems such a feature is present here too along with the ability to use techniques known as ultimate guards and ultimate counters ultimately this is the reason we never got say a final fight team as final fight isn't a fighting game franchise where mechanics could be carried over well unless we include final fight revenge of course but the less said about that the better looking at the different fighting styles included it quickly becomes clearer why these were the five games Capcom chose to try and smash together while seeing characters from polygonal Fighters such as star Gladiator and rival schools would have been lovely or say wrestlers from Saturday night slam Masters doing so would have meant a lot more work for those who already worked on this rather challenging project it would be tough to disagree that conceptually creating a game featuring all these different mechanics is a tall task which we will touch more on shortly but first let's talk about this one's Graphics while marrying up the mechanics of multiple games seems like something that would require a lot of effort to pull off it appears that Capcom made little to know effort regarding the game Sprite work from what I can see at least it looks like every fighter with of course the exception of Ingrid that Capcom took them straight from other fighting games making the overall design of this one not look very uniform and in instead look like a copy and pasted very cheap and tacky looking mess in some ways this lack of care and attention to detail makes the game look like a mad bootleg or Cobble together fan project rather than an officially published legitimate game many of these characters are not just from different games but were created to take advantage of completely different Hardware too for example you will notice that the Street Fighter 3 characters have much more detail and animation than the Street Fighter Alpha Characters so it looks incredibly odd to see them all featuring the same game it's very lazy indeed backgrounds are dull and unimaginative and do not feat of the same amount of detail and attention that many other Capcom Fighters have received it all looks very uninspiring to say the least in addition to the game's small roster of 21 Fighters fortunately we at least got two Boss characters as well these are Akuma from Street Fighter Fame and pyron from dark stalkers so again characters and Sprites that have been taken directly from much older games so sadly there is no red Earth secret boss fight which is a crying shame considering the original title was just a huge Boss Rush anyway but not surprising when you consider the complete lack of attention to detail with many elements within this game graphically Capcom didn't give us anything impressive to look at and it's crazy to think really that they used so much Sprite work from games that were 10 years old at the point of Evolutions release as for this one's General reception IGN would be amongst the Publications that would give give the game attention with them concluding at First It's actually kind of easy to get caught up in what Capcom figh and evolution brings to the table it managed to borrow more than 20 different characters from five established franchises complete with new and remixed theme songs and brand new stages I noticed some definite advantages for a Street Fighter 2 and Alpha crew which frequently do more damage have better Combos and have seemingly faster reaction times the the biggest problem that Evolution faces however is that its character selection is thin and bizarrely populated Capcom fighting evolution is a game that's obviously just pull in Sprites over from older titles that are barely using up any space this isn't really acceptable Capcom fighting Evolution fails in certain presentation aspects too for those looking for a true evolution of the fighting genre like the title implies you're in for a severe disappointment there is just not much to it that you haven't seen or experienced before Gamespot would also give the game coverage stating the game is clearly best suited for hardcore fans of capcom's fighting games who might enjoy exploring some of the nuances here but probably won't find much reason to keep coming back there's not that drastic of a difference from one fighting system to the next but the subtle differences between them do give the game some depth it helps to some extent that many of the game's Fighters have been at least slightly tweaked since you last saw them unless you're dying to experience all the strange matchups possible here you could just as well go back to play whichever game all these Fighters held from overall across various Publications the game was not particularly well Reed the mixture of fighting game mechanics impressed but the number of assets this game recycled paired with the game's tiny roster put a lot of reviewers and future consumers off reportedly the game was briefly enjoyed competitively in Japan but would soon be dropped from major fighting game tournaments in more recent years the game's producer Yoshi Nori Ono has commented on the game's lack of popularity admitting that the game was essentially just salvaged from the wreckage that was Capcom fighting Allstars he also commented on the crossover mechanics and inclusion of various gameplay systems from different games that led to balancing issues with the title adding to problems during development one of the game's producers was moved to work on another project right in the middle of this one so maybe the inconsistency in staff helped lead to the inconsistent deal of this title looking back at fighting Evolution although the concept behind it was an extremely neat and novel idea put in fighting game mechanics from one game against a variety of others is very tough to pull off well it pretty much results in a freak Show spectacle like when Floyd Mayweather boxed Logan pool for example is fun on paper but terrible to experience in real life perhaps even more more relevant to this one who remembers that earlier cash grab fight where Colin McGregor boxed Mayweather just like Capcom fight Evolution contests this real life match had unbalanced mechanics as McGregor had no chance of winning a boxing match Mayweather in boxing was obviously going to be op Capcom fighting Evolution suffers from the very same issue balancing simply isn't always possible between entirely different styles so therefore the game fil to deliver on its core concept building on its lack of appe pill the small uninspiring roster is also ridiculous and somehow huge fan favorites would fail to be included a crossover Street Fighter and dark stalker game with neither chem Masters nor Morgan is frankly absurd I think the only way Capcom fight and evolution could have worked was to go a completely different route I think the game should have contained one well refined system a defined fighting game mechanical Style with simply a huge roster of Fighters existing as amazing fan Service as stated earlier throwing characters from all the already included franchises together alongside more final fight rival schools star Gladiator slam Masters and more could have been epic and that's only when talking about Capcom fighting games throw Mega Man and Coen 2 for good measure this could have been a fighting game for the ages if done very differently coming off of the back of SNK and Marvel crossover games people expected something far better especially when we consider the game instantly lost appe pill due to no crossover company being present this time Capcom needed to go really hard on celebrating their own history but simply didn't bother I guess a case could be made that this one was as lackluster as it was simply due to Capcom not wanting their hard work to go to waste on Capcom fighting all star but what was Cobble together in its place would be one of capcom's most infinite fighting games ever this is why by Capcom fighting Evolution F Street Fighter Alpha 3 is such an amazing title but to give us context regarding the release of this game we need to go back to 1998 it was a busy time for the fighting game genre with arguably more titles being released than ever before a few years after the success of Street Fighter 2 Capcom was choosing to milk the street fighter brand for all it was worth in 1998 alone the world would see cast members from Street fighter competing in Pocket Fighters Street Fighter ex2 M Versa Capcom and of course Street Fighter Alpha 3 it was a confusing time to be a casual fan with Street Fighter characters appearing so frequently that many gamers didn't even know where to turn in fact in September 1997 Capcom would released Street Fighter 3 second impact in arcades an updated version of Street Fighter 3 new generation while hardcore fighting game players loved Street Fighter 3 and its iterations there were several fact s that put off the Casual Market the first reason was that the games were arcade locked for a few years and even when they did come to home consoles they were exclusive to the Sega Dreamcast A system that underperformed sales-wise besides the delayed home release of the console exclusivity the games controls and mechanics were more complex and convoluted than previous entries alien 18 casual gamers arguably the most important factor hindering Street Fighter 3 success was his character roster the belov Street Fighter 2 established an iconic lineup of Fighters The Gamers were eager to hold on to however the first version of Street Fighter 3 only featured Rio and Ken from the original lineup and that was apparently only due to Fan pressure for some bizarre reason Capcom wanted to throw everything they had established out of the window and replaced the lineup with a new generation of Fighters which many gamers immediately rejected now why am I talking about Street Fighter 3 so much in a video with a section what's meant to be focused on on Street Fighter Alpha 3 well many of the factors that prevented Street Fighter 3 from Gaining traction were not echoed with the release of Street Fighter Alpha 3 which came out during the Street Fighter 3 second impact era while Street Fighter 3 games are sequels to Street Fighter 2 the Alpha Series of prequels all three alpha games were developed to run on the Capcom system 2 arcade Hardware making them easier to port to home consoles this meant that Street Fighter Alpha 3 was accessible to a much larger audience including PlayStation owners which made it easier for fans to enjoy the game without the barriers that held back Street Fighter 3 unlike the Dreamcast exclusive Street Fighter 3 which featured impressive Sprite work that required powerful Hardware to run smoothly Alpha 3 was accessible to the majority of Gamers and that made all the difference building on what was to love about the game Street Fighter Alpha 3 offered players an absolutely gargantuan roster not only did it include all 17 characters from Super Street Fighter 2 turbo many of them depicted in the Alpha Series style for the first time but it also introduced 18 additional characters bringing the total roster to 35 this was more Choice than any Street Fighter game had ever offered before these additional characters came from a mix of sources some from a final fight series some from the original 1987 Street Fighter game others established in previous alpha games and a few that were brand new to the series some of these new characters first appeared in the arcade version of the game While others were introduced in the Home console ports for example eh Honda banka vager and balro from Street Fighter 2 were added to the Alpha Series for the first time along with Cody from final fight Additionally the game introduced completely new characters such as Juni and Julie brainwashed female assassins known as the dolls as well as Carin a self-styled rival to Sakura another new addition was rainbow Mika a Japanese female wrestler who idolizes zangie who is now a massive fan favorite with the home version of the game more characters like DJ Fong guile and t-hawk would also join the lineup these characters would later make it to the arcade in a more refined arcade release titled Street Fighter Alpha 3 upper now that we've discussed the game's rostar is most significant selling point this raises the question what else did Street Fighter Alpha 3 offer players that was different from other Street Fighter games in previous Street Fighter Alpha games players could choose between two different play modes manual and auto auto mode allow characters to automatically guard against a limited number of attacks provided they weren't in the middle of of performing an action and it also enabled instant super combos by pressing a punch and kick of the same strength simultaneously however this came at the cost of reducing the maximum level of super combo gauge to one this system was ditched in Alpha 3 in favor of giving players three distinct fighting styles known as isms in the Wester standard play mode was called aism based on previous Street Fighter Alpha gameplay where players could use a three-level super combo gauge to perform special moves in Japan this mode was called zismo series is called Street Fighter zero there then there is exsm which was influenced by Super Street Fighter 2 turbo in this mode players had one single level super gauge to access one powerful super combo move while certain mechanics from previous alpha games like air blocking and Alpha counters were removed lastly vism and variable ISM allowed players to perform custom combos however using theism players couldn't access super combos in the traditional way but had to press both punch and kick buttons of the same strength that execute the custom combo each of these isms had its own advantages and disadvantages for example exsm provides a higher attack power but the lowest defense while Vis ism is the opposite offering more defensive options but less attack power ASM is a balanced Middle Ground The Chosen ISM also affects the character's move set adding another layer of depth and complexity to the fighting experience additionally Alpha 3 introduces hidden play modes like classic Mode which remove super combos and air juggling offering a more traditional fighting experience one of a new gameplay mechanics in Street fter Alpha 3 was the guard power gauge this gauge limited how much a player can block incoming attacks once depleted the player can no longer block and becomes vulnerable to attacks each time a guard is broken the gauge shrinks making it harder to guard in future rounds beside of the Guard power gauge also varies depending of the characters elected adding more strategy to the game similar to previous alpha games alpha 3 features its own range of unique stage backdrops further distinguishing it from other Street Fighter titles Capcom put more effort into adding stylistic variation to each entry in the Alpha Series compared to what they had done with the Street Fighter 2 games the PlayStation version of alpha 3 also introduced a special feature called world tour mode allowing players to fight around the world against different fighters in their homelands similar to Street Fighter 2 this mode added variety by offering players power UPS as they progressed such as reducing the likelihood of becoming dizzy unlike previous Street Fighter games world tour mode required players to develop specific skills such as winning fights by only using combos or performing a set number of super moves in some cases players could even face multiple opponents at once similar to The Dramatic battles in earlier games this mode gave Alpha 3 a stronger single player experience compared to other Street Fighter games now with all the changes and additions Alpha 3 introduced there are still some fans who prefer Alpha 2 these fans often cite reasons such as disliking the ism system over the old Auto and manual modes or preferring Alpha 2's music stages or the absence of a guard power gauge I even found some interesting quotes from fans in the Steam Community regarding their preference for Alpha 2 over Alpha 3 the instance's user Tony V tiger States Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 are aike in Sprites and name only Alpha 2 is a completely different refined Beast that gave you the conveniences of all three isms without having to SA rice simple moves or custom combos custom combos themselves are completely different activation has an invincible window and the character Auto drifts forward unable to turn around or block Alpha 2 is a very different pace and it's definitely deserving of its own following another user Percy DJ added different games alpha 2 is more popular in the west with people like Dao saying it's their favorite Street Fighter game it's still played competitively in Japan to this day people who argue which one is better but both are great this illustrates that opinions are split among fans of the Alpha Series with each game having its own unique appeal putting fan opinions aside let's look at how Street Fighter Al 3 was received by critics at the time of was release Gamespot stated Street Fighter Alpha 3's graphical prowess and arcade perfect gameplay combined of its bonus modes make it the latest standard for 2D Excellence on the PlayStation the world tour mode creation system makes the game Rife with game play exploits the PlayStation version of alpha 3 received rave reviews with Metacritic score of 93% showing just how well received it was by journalists it sold over a million copies which was a significant achievement considering the street fighter brand had been somewhat oversaturated at the time besides the PlayStation other ports of Street Fighter Alva 3 were released including one for the Sega Dreamcast in 1999 which featured a fifth world tour mode and an online mode for display in high SC the Sega Saturn also got a port in Japan which with its extra Ram cartridge offered more frames better Sprites and short to load times in the PlayStation version making it the most arcade perfect version there was also ports for the Game Boy Advance in 2002 and PSP in 2006 that I've uploaded a separate retrospective on for those ones in summary Street Fighter Alpha 3 is widely regarded as one of the most refined and complete entries in the street fighter franchise it's huge roster of Fighters varied fighting styles and wealth of content made it the Street Fighter game that gave fans exactly what they wanted while Street Fighter 3 offered a more technologically advanced experience Alpha 3 was accessible to more players thanks to the success of the PlayStation this coupled with its familiarity made it one of the greatest Street Fighter games of this era with seemingly an arcade version of a game making up one of the eight excellent titles included in the second Capcom fighting collection there are so many reasons to want to play this one don't forget you can get a huge discount on the original Capcom fighting collection and thousands of other games simply by using my instant game and affiliate link happy shopping and I'll see you all again soon yeah cheerio [Music] a