Review: SNK VS. CAPCOM SVC CHAOS (Nintendo Switch)

SNK VS. CAPCOM SVC CHAOS is a retro fighting game. If you know Street Fighter, King of Fighters, or any of the many and varied 2D offerings, you’ll know exactly what to expect here; two fighters duke it out over three rounds before moving on to the next opponent.

Before we get into whether this particular outing is worth your time, here’s a quick history lesson. SNK VS. CAPCOM SVC CHAOS marks the third installment in this particular crossover series, debuting at the arcade way back in 2003. Although both companies developed games for the series, this outing was developed by SNK, confirmed by the appearance of SNK first in the game’s title.

Let’s talk characters. The roster is robust, bringing together 36 characters in total. Team Capcom uses classic Street Fighter personalities such as Chun Li, Dhalsim, Vega, Ryu and Ken. The SNK side brings the likes of Shiki, Mr. Karate, Earthquake, and Kasumi Todoh into the fray. These tough guys hail from such SNK outings as Art of Fighting and Samurai Shodown. Despite this seemingly vast collection of fighters, there are still plenty missing. You won’t find the likes of E. Honda, Zangief, or Cammy here, for example.

The single-player mode disguises the simple premise of brawling with a story involving the end of the world. It seems a group of fighters is drawn into an afterlife tournament in purgatory. The winner will be granted a wish, and the fate of all life hangs in the balance, etc. 

But, in reality, we’re here to fight. One of this port’s best features is that it doesn’t change a thing about the combat. It takes the original outing and…puts it on the Switch. This means the classic early 2000s graphics and fighting style remain intact. For fans of the original, this perfectly recaptures the essence of the game, providing a sweet dose of nostalgia along the way.

Unfortunately, the original game was average to begin with. The fighting, though solid, is unbalanced in one-player mode. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, some foes stand dumbly waiting to be hit, while the next combatant takes you out easily. This leads to a frustrating experience, especially since you can’t continue. In real life, you could add another quarter; here, it’s back to the beginning, despite a countdown asking if you’d like to continue. How do I do that, exactly?

The graphics are nice, if a little bland. We’re stuck in a post-apocalyptic version of the afterlife, so many of the backdrops are a little foreboding. You can fiddle with the settings to change the screen size, which I appreciate. You can keep it at the original size, make it larger, or stretch it to fit the entire screen. The latter is a zoomed-in experience that, while it’s a nice option, doesn’t look great on a big screen. When playing at a more reasonable size, you can also choose the backdrop, from plain black borders to artwork using some of the characters.

Speaking of artwork, there’s a gallery in the menu for those wanting to see the characters portrayed in unique ways. I imagine fans in the early 2000s would have appreciated this crossover event, even if it was the third in the series, and the gallery presents some neat artwork depicting characters from different worlds colliding. 

In fact, there are a few such additions that provide an extra incentive to play. For starters, there’s an online mode, allowing you to compete with another player from around the world. This is easy to use, with the ability to create a room or find a random player to challenge. I was also pleased with the smooth network experience.

There’s also an option to turn on hit boxes. I’m not sure how valuable this is, but it places a couple of colored boxes around each fighter during combat, presumably to see exactly where your hits will make the most impact. It would be nice to get an in-game explanation on this. It also can’t be toggled on and off while playing; to do that, you have to quit and return to the main menu. If it becomes an eyesore while playing, that’s just bad luck I guess.

Overall, SNK VS. CAPCOM SVC CHAOS is a faithful port of the 2003 original, with a few extras thrown in for good measure. It’s not the best 2D fighting game around, but fans of the original will appreciate the extra details.