Developed by Playmore and published by Capcom in 2003
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Game 01 (Ryu/Red Arremer Secret): 00:00
Game 02 (Sagat/Athena Secret Stage): 17:48
Capcom and SNK were developers and producers of some the biggest and best arcade tournament fighters of all time, so it makes perfect sense that these two companies would eventually release a series of cross-over games, featuring a line-up of fighters from their respective pantheons.
Capcom had previously produced two cross-over titles featuring SNK characters for the Sega Dreamcast (and NAOMI arcade hardware), but this was the first arcade collaboration with Playmore as the developer.
Tournament fighting games have never placed much emphasis on story, but I really like the way each fight begins with an exchange of words between the combatants. These exchanges typically have more relevance between fighters from the same franchise, but at least the game always tries to provide some context for the battle.
Anyone who has played a 2D fighting game will find themselves right at home with SVC Chaos. Each fighter has a series of regular punches and kicks that can be chained together to form powerful combos, and each possesses their own set of special moves.
As the fight progresses, each combatant can fill up their 'Special' gauge by landing blows, performing specials or even when taking damage. Once a gauge level is filled, a super-special can be unleashed by performing a combination of stick and button presses. Raising the gauge to level 3 will cause it enter 'Maximum' mode, whereupon the player can unleash multiple super-specials without draining the bar beyond level 2. Even if it looks as though your opponent is beaten, this mechanic allows a losing player to turn the tide and make a comeback.
Seeing as this is a Neo Geo game, the controller features only four buttons, which means that the roster of Capcom's fighter's have had to have their move-list condensed to match the number of buttons. To me, the game played more closely to a Neo Geo fighter than a Capcom title, especially since punch and kick buttons are next to each other. This isn't really a problem as such, just not something that I'm used to.
I was surprised to find that the game features quite a number of secret characters and hidden stages to unlock (two of which I feature in this video). Hidden stages can be accessed by winning fights with certain conditions (e.g. never losing the first round), whilst hidden fighters can be unlocked with a combination of button presses at the title screen. All of this adds longevity to a game that already features an impressive roster of characters and should keep you entertained for some time.
If there's one thing that the Neo Geo is famous for (other than the cost the games...) is excellent 2D graphics capabilities, something that SVC Chaos demonstrates with aplomb. Capcom was certainly no slouch in the artistry department when it came to arcade games, but SNK/Playmore go even further by including beautifully drawn sprites with even more frames of animation.
More importantly, the increased level of animation doesn't detract from the fighting experience. The whole combat experience is exceptionally fluid and equally as good as Capcom's own titles; this is hardly surprising considering Playmore's pedigree with games such as the King of Fighters under it's belt.
Perhaps even more impressive is the quality of the audio. The Neo Geo was originally released in 1990, a time when a lot of arcade games still struggled to reproduce digital effects (especially speech) clearly. The fact that a cartridge-based system from the early 90's can turn out audio of this quality is very impressive indeed.
With it's extensive case of characters, top-notch presentation and slick controls, there's no doubt that SVC Chaos is a great fighting game that's easy to recommend to fans of the genre.
#retrogaming
