3D Vs 2D, Capcom Vs SNK, Street Fighter IV Vs The King of Fighters XII

February 23rd, 2008

capcom vs snk

A Brief History Lesson

Back in the 90s Capcom’s legendary Street Fighter series and SNK’s also legendary King of Fighters series were two of the best 2D fighters on the console and arcade scene. Street Fighter 2 set the standard for 2D fighters to come and for a long time was the copy and paste formula used for all developers when making 2D fighters. One of these developers which were known for this was SNK whom borrowed heavily from Capcom’s winning formula on several occasions. SNK managed to crave its own niche into the genre with it’s 3 on 3 fighter, best of the rest, The King of Fighters for the Arcade and NeoGeo CD.

For many years in the 90s these two franchises stood toe to toe with each other, dividing the fighting community with each game’s own unique style. The two developers noticed the divide and agreed on working together to build the Capcom Vs SNK fighting series. Which eventually resulted in 3 titles; Capcom Vs SNK, Capcom Vs SNK 2 and SVC Chaos.

Since the mark of the millennium (did you catch that one) this long rivalry slowly began to fade away. The dying down of the arcade scene and the lack of a new Street Fighter title in recent years has almost killed this fascinating rivalry. That was until now.

Recent Developments

fatal furyBack in December I posted about the first Street Fighter 4 screenshot. One which finally revealed the real direction that the series was indeed taking. Abandoning Street Fighter’s faithful 2D sprite heritage Capcom decided to make Street Fighter 4 a three dimensional fighter.

I’d like to say something like “this divided long time series fans” but to be fair I don’t really follow the fighting community so I’m not really sure if it did. But I think that it would be safe enough to assume that a few people were upset. As much as some may deny it the 3D character models do totally change the gameplay completely. Thats not to say that Street Fighter 4 won’t feel like the previous games of the series (judging by impressions of the game so far it does actually feel like a tribute to SF2).

I’m getting of track here. With the prior announcement of a high definition remake of the original Street Fighter 2 the gaming community were expecting Street Fighter 4 to go down the same route. But it didn’t and for a lot of people this would have hurt pretty badly (I know it did for me). It would have been incredible to see how Capcom’s sprite work would have translated into gorgeous, detailed, smooth scrolling and animating HD sprites. True high definition sprite work for many traditional/old school/purist gamers is something of a dream, a dream which we may have considered never coming true.

I say may because this is where SNK and their King of Fighters come in. Just recently at the AOU convention in Japan, off screen media was leaked of gameplay video of the new game (KOF XII) for Taito’s Type X2 arcade platform. You can watch the video below or read a fantastic breakdown from Arcade Renaissance here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjScFUY1uL

Although this is off screen video it already paints a picture of exactly what to expect. That is the dream has come true; high definition, ultra smooth 2D sprites. I must say it simply looks fantastic, doesn’t it? I mean imagine what it would look like on screen.

I’m excited and so I should be. SNK have made a very bold move here and have thrown down the gauntlet. They have done something usually reserved for long time rivals; Capcom. The pure quality of sprite work and animation seen in the video are simply firsts in it’s field. Look at the crowd scene in the fight between Kyo and Ash. The subtle effects look fantastic too.

In reality SNK aren’t really taking much of a risk as they are just upgrading the same fighting game that they have been upgrading for the last 14 years. What they are doing though is saying: “Hey all of you Street Fighter fans whom wanted a HD 2D Street Fighter 4. Why don’t you come here and take a look?”. SNK are doing a Capcom and it is putting themselves in an advantageous situation.

Read the rest of this entry »

  • Comment RSS
  • Link Me
Posted in Analysis | Comments (5)
Tags: , , , ,

The Best Upcoming Fan-Service Games of 2008

January 31st, 2008

death spank header

Many gamers would agree that 2007 was a landmark year for video games largely due to a momentous barrage of quality software releases throughout the second half of the year. But this momentous line up of games would have been nothing without a set of strong ‘fan service’ games.

‘Fan service’ games are games designed with the intention of one thing; to feed the loyal fan base of a particular franchise or brand. Now sure, 2007 had some great games of this nature such as Halo 3, Contra 4 and Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles but 2008 looks to blow the lid of the all previous expectations of fan service games. So let me present to you ten of the best, hitting your favourite systems in 2008:

Help support this site by digging this article or adding it to your favourite social networking site:

digg button

Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix

Capcom knows their fans and understands exactly how to please them which is why this game is arguably the most important game on this list. SSF2THDR HD Remix is as it sounds a reworked, high definition version of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Don’t be fooled by previous fake HD games though HD Remix isn’t an upscaled version of the original game rather all of the sprites are being redone by the legendary Udon Comics.

street fighter hd remix

The high definition aspect is only one part of the deal though HD Remix’s also contains a slew of new content and modes several of which have been included by fan requests. I’m talking wide screen support, a remixed soundtrack and a training mode. But all of these pale in comparison to the online features that Capcom is planning to dish out.

Voice chat, spectator matches and indepth statistics are a few of the key features of this new oline mode. An example used by Capcom’s Christian Svensson on the game’s online statistics is that you will be able to find the best Cammy player in Canada or the person who has thrown the most projectiles in the world. So its not hard to see why Capcom are leading the way for fan service games of 08.

Super Smash Bros Brawl

Nintendo fans are arguably the most loyal and dedicated bunch of gamers around so when Nintendo announces a new installment of its franchise heavy fighting game message boards everywhere light up and fans clench their Wii-motes with new found pride.

smash bros brawl pit
The inclusion of Kid Icarus’ Pit pleased fans of the NES classic

Knowing this, Nintendo has added to the almost out of control anticipation by dishing out the fanboy love in droves. Cameo characters such as Solid Snake and Sonic now join the extended character roster, a new level editor is included and content is filled to the brim. But much like Street Fighter the most anticipated new feature for the new Smash Bros is online play. Every since the broadband (and dial up) adapters were released along side Phantasy Star Online on the Gamecube Nintendo has been dodging the prospect of true online play. So Super Smash Bros isn’t just an important game for the fanboys, its also a time for the industry to see if Nintendo will finally step up to the plate and deliver on a true online experience.

Sega Superstars Tennis

Much in the vein of Mario Tennis, Sega have decided to develop a tennis game set around the expansive Sega universe. With a release date set for early March, Sega have already shared plenty of interesting details including a list of playable characters. The list of characters is what particularly has sparked a sudden stronger interest among fans as characters include Alex Kidd, Beat (Jet Grind Radio), Ulala (Space Channel 5), Amigo, NiGHTS as well as your typical set of Sonic characters.

sega tennis

This stage is from Jet Grind Radio

Sega Superstars Tennis is set to come out on all major consoles excluding the PSP. Each game will feature its own console specific strengths. For example; the Wii version will take advantage of the motion controls while the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will have online play.

DP’s Random Note: Notice how the first three games all have the word ‘Super’ in the title?
Read the rest of this entry »

  • Comment RSS
  • Link Me
Posted in General Gaming | Comments (9)
Tags: , , , , ,

DP’s Retro Gaming Compilation Wishlist

January 17th, 2008

retro gaming compilation

If you own a farily new video game console and love retro gaming then chances are you’ve indulged in at least one of the many old school gaming compilations that have hit the consoles in recent years. There really has been an impressive slew of titles. Some of the best include:

As well as a never ending slew of arcade compilations by Midway, Capcom, Namco and other developers from the 80s. The compilations just never seem to stop.

Why Retro Compilations?

Retro game compilations took off a few years back and became hugely popular in a short matter of time. Its no surprise really as they:

What Could Stop the Greatness Retro Compilations?

There is only one thing getting in the way of retro compilations becoming even more popular, that is digital distribution games. Every next generation current generation home console has a service where individual retro games can be downloaded from an online store. Because gamers buy each game individually game publishers can ramp up the price and get away with it. So far developers seem to support both options which is the best outcome for the consumers as it gives us more choice.

DP’s Retro Compilation Wishlist

There is no denying that there are plenty of great Retro Compilation games that I could (and after this) will dream up. But more importantly, I want to see some already existing compilations be released in PAL regions. Now I know that this isn’t going to happen as many of these games came out years ago. But thats why its a wishlist right?

PAL Wishlist

Its absolutely ridiculous that Capcom won’t bring these games out into PAL territories. We ‘ve got Street Fighter Alpha Anthology so it makes no sense for them not to release Street Fighter Anniversary Collection . What this means is that the only legal means that anyone canryu street fighter play a PAL version of Street Fighter III in PAL territories (the UK, Australia and New Zealand) is to either play it on a Dreamcast or in the Arcades. So lets see, the Dreamcast is extinct and the price of playing in the arcades is 10x the price that it was fifteen years ago (and then you need to find the actual machine). This is just ridiculous.

As for DarkStalkers and Megaman well they also should make the jump, its just common sense.

I’d also like to know what happened to Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. I’m not sure if this had a PAL release or not but I can’t find a PAL version of the game so I assume that it didn’t.

General Wishlist

Sega Saturn/Dreamcast Collection

Sega Megadrive Collection was an absolutely awesome compilation of Sega’s brightest titles for the Megadrive. With 27 top titles and only a few duds, this was essential gaming. So, if Sega can make a compilation for the Megadrive then why not the Saturn and Dreamcast as well? Sega have already proven to us that they like to re-release their old games. For example the re-release of Nights for the PS2 in Japan, Crazy Taxi 1 + 2 on the PSP, Sonic Adventure 1 + 2 on the Gamecube and now House of the Dead for the Wii. So you get my drift. With the massive size of a Blu-ray disc and Sega’s obsession of re-releasing old content it all makes sense.

Any Sort of Nintendo Compilation

Something which doesn’t make any sense is Nintendo making any sort of game compilation. The last decent compilation that they made was Super Mario All Stars on the SNES (Game and Watch Galleries don’t count). Remember how awesome this game was? Such value for money. Its a pity that the Virtual Console and the stacks of dough they can make from the GBA/DS re-releases practically ensure that we will never see a Nintendo game compilation ever again.

Just for the sake of it a Mario/Metroid/Zelda compilation would obviously be fantastic. But what I think would even better is a compilation of all of the Japanese Nintendo Wars and Fire Emblem games that never saw a release out side of Japan. This would be an absolute dream for the fans of both game series.

TMNT Collection
tmnt group
TMNT are awesome and furthermore their video games were some of the best licensed games ever made. Some sort of compilation of all the great TMNT games like Turtles in Time, The Arcade and Tournament Fighters would be absolutely sweet. Most of these games go for ridiculous prices on eBay or are just too hard to find.

Theres only one problem with this dream. It would take multiple game publishers to team up in order to get this compilation out on the shelves. There are far too many implications for this to be worth the effort for publishers.

Others

Theres a few more ideas that I have for the wishlist but I can’t write much about them so heres a list:

Conclusion

So after reading this you probably have a few ideas of your own compilations that you’d like to see be released (well, you must because I could go on for days ^_^). So go ahead and let me know by posting in the comment box.

  • Comment RSS
  • Link Me
Posted in Retro Gaming | Comments (8)
Tags: , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries