Welcome to the fourth and quite possibly final instalment of the “Homs Reviews an Entire Collection of Retro Capcom Fighting Games at Great Length” series. The journey began in the fledgling days of my Catholic Game Reviews career when I challenged myself to review all 12 games included in the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection in a single article, and I must admit it did not age well. With the benefit of hindsight I probably should have grouped discussions of the less consequential entries in the series together rather than giving all 12 iterations equal attention. Furthermore I feel like I let my personal preference for Street Fighter Alpha 2 over Alpha 3 caused me to judge the latter a little too harshly.

When the first Capcom Fighting Collection was released I wrote another article attempting the same concept as the Street Fighter collection review, but this time I consciously made things a bit more concise. Looking back I probably could have afforded a bit more page space to the Darkstalkers games, but overall I’d still call it a massive improvement. Two years later the Marvel Vs. Capcom Collection was released and while my review of those games is ultimately closer to the Street Fighter Collection in terms of structure, the differences between each entry in the series were actually significant enough for each one to warrant its own section. As for today’s review, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 brings together darn near every arcade fighting game not included in the other collections into one convenient package. So let’s bandage up our knuckles for one last round against Capcom’s arcade legacy.

Capcom Vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000 Pro & Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

Let’s start off strong with arguably the collection’s heaviest hitters. The Capcom Vs. SNK series is exactly what it sounds like: a crossover where Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Rival Schools characters team up with and face-off against characters from Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters, and Samurai Shodown. The games do have a little bit of story involving Ken Masters and Robert Garcia(the latter of whom is ironically not playable in either game) combining their family fortunes to host an international fighting tournament celebrating the dawn of the 21st century, but it doesn’t explain how fighters from the distant past or other dimensions are able to participate so the story doesn’t actually amount to much in the end.

In the first Capcom Vs. SNK, each character is assigned a value of 1 to 4 and players select a team of characters equal to 4. This character power ratio system is a bit of a mixed bag. Thematically it makes sense that a powerful villain like Akuma would be a level 4 character who can’t team up with other fighters, but for anyone who wants the fun of pairing Akuma with their other favorite characters it’s a big missed opportunity. It’s also a bit insulting to see competent fighters like Benimaru and Cammy reduced to being level 1 alongside joke characters like Dan. Additionally, players also select between a Capcom-style meter system similar to Street Fighter Alpha 3 and an SNK-style system similar to The King of Fighters ‘94. No matter which meter system you choose however, the core gameplay leans towards the SNK side of the equation by virtue of having 4 buttons (2 punches and 2 kicks) which is something I appreciate due to how well it maps onto modern controllers.

Capcom Vs. SNK 2 retains many of the same ideas from the first game and expands upon them greatly. Character power levels are now determined by the player’s preference allowing for any team composition you can imagine, though teams now have a three character limit so no more teams of four level 1 characters. The groove system is an expansion on the meter variations from the first game with 6 meter-styles instead of 2. New grooves include a variant of Street Fighter Alpha 3 that trades traditional super moves for custom combos, a Street Fighter III: Third Strike inspired parry system, a King of Fighters ‘98 inspired meter stocks, and a Samurai Shodown inspired rage gauge. The game also introduces Capcom’s standard 6 buttons (3 punches and 3 kicks) which as I established isn’t my personal preference, but considering how much Capcom Vs. SNK 2 improves upon everything else it would be crazy to call it a bad thing.

I’m honestly shocked the Capcom Vs. SNK series was released as a part of this collection and not sold as it’s own little duology because they’re certainly good enough to stand on their own apart from everything else. The first game has its merits despite being rough around the edges and the second game is a fantastic fighting game front to back. Hardcore fighting game fans do have a tendency to hype up these games like they are the Second Coming of Christ(seriously, if you told me the FGC was a cult I wouldn’t blame you), but having finally played these games for myself I can see why there’s so much enthusiasm surrounding them.

Capcom Fighting Evolution

Now for a game absolutely no one was asking to play again. After a newly formed team of ex-SNK developers under Capcom failed to bring an original project to fruition, a hastily put together Frankenstein’s monster of fighting game assets known as Capcom Fighting Evolution was born. Don’t get me wrong, some of the most celebrated fighting games of all time like the aforementioned Capcom Vs. SNK 2 and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 were largely made from reused assets, but those games had enough new additions and adjustments to become worth playing. Capcom Fighting Evolution has only one new character who doesn’t fit in with any of the represented franchises and the mechanics are so disjointed that characters are quite literally playing entirely different games all at once.

The game’s roster is divided between characters from Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter III, Darkstalkers, and Red Earth with each group able to utilize each game’s special mechanics. This means that characters from games with more robust combat mechanics have a huge advantage against those from games with comparatively less tools at their disposal. Street Fighter II characters like Ryu have basically no special mechanics which is a huge problem when fighting a Darkstalkers character like Dimitri who can dash on the ground, block while airborne, and save up multiple bars of meter among other things. Furthermore, despite the fact that Ryu is in all three versions of Street Fighter present in the game, there is no option to play as Street Fighter Alpha Ryu or Street Fighter III Ryu.

On top of all of this Capcom Fighting Evolution presents itself as a team up game by requiring you to form a pair of characters to play as, but in practice this mechanic has ZERO impact on the game itself. Each match starts between each team’s first character and in between rounds you can choose to swap to the second character, but a defeated character is not eliminated from the match so you can basically play the game as a single character with no repercussions. Capcom Fighting Evolution adds absolutely no value to this collection and you’re better off playing literally anything else.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper

An updated version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 that fixes a few notable glitches, rebalances boss characters to be more in-line with standard characters, and adds in any remaining Street Fighter II characters yet to appear in the Street Fighter Alpha series. Street Fighter 3 Upper retains the core gameplay of its original release which is fine by me. Since I first reviewed the game I’ve definitely come to appreciate Alpha 3 for what it is, even if I still don’t consider it among my favorite Street Fighter games. Whenever I feel the need to revisit Street Fighter Alpha 3, this will almost certainly be the version to play moving forward.

Power Stone & Power Stone 2

Powers Stone is another series hardcore fighting game fans speak very highly of, and by speak highly of I mean they treat it like the Holy Grail, so its inclusion in this collection was something I had my eyes on. Power Stone is set in the 19th century with a cast of colorful characters who fight to claim the titular power stones, said to grant any wish to the one who can collect them all. Power Stone 2 shifts the focus to the mysterious appearance of a giant flying castle which the various characters must fight to escape. Not the most compelling story ever conceived for a fighting game, but the charming artstyle and unique characters really helps it stand out. These games also stand out as being Capcom’s first crack at the “Arena Fighter” subgenre, giving players freedom of movement within a 3-dimensional space.

Power Stone is played with 3 buttons: jump, punch, and kick. Punches and kicks can be strung together to form basic attack combos or perform a grab attack when pushed together. Jumping is useful for jumping attacks and traversing the stage, but since there’s no blocking in Power Stone it’s also a reliable method of avoiding attacks. Attacks can also be avoided using a dodge, but it requires the player to press a directional button in time with an opponent’s attack which comes with pretty precise timing. Stages are also littered with various items that can be equipped for additional attacks or thrown at enemies, but the most important items of all are the titular Power Stones which grants each fighter a unique powered up form with powerful attacks for a limited time. There’s definitely a lot of fun to be had beneath the game’s simplistic controls, but it’s also extremely chaotic which might be a bit off putting if you go in looking for a serious competitive experience.

Power Stone 2 pushes the gameplay even further towards this chaotic side of the experience, so much so that the punch and kick buttons are replaced by an attack button and an action button. The attack button now handles all basic attacks while the action button is used for picking up items, interacting with objects, and grabbing enemies. Battles now include up to 4 fighters at once and the stages have an increased amount of hazards on top of changing in dynamic ways mid-fight. Honestly, the wackier aspects of the first Power Stone already had me questioning if it should truly be considered a proper fighting game, but Power Stone 2 crosses that line into full on party game territory. I guess what I’m trying to say is the Power Stone series is an excellent little duology with its charming aesthetics and fast paced gameplay, but I enjoyed the experience less as a fighting game and more as a party game if that makes sense.

Project Justice

Here’s a game hardcore fighting game fans treat like the Second Coming of Chri… I mean the Holy Gra… belay my last, the Ark of the Covenant. Project Justice is the sequel to Rival Schools, a 3D fighting game about high school martial artists wrapped up in an evil conspiracy for control of Japan. It’s a wacky premise for sure, but the game is surprisingly committed to this overarching plot as there is a story mode where each fight is properly contextualized through cutscenes and the player’s team of fighters changes based on their choices. Personally I didn’t find the story compelling enough to endure its lengthy cutscenes, but at least there’s still a free play mode where the player can use any combination of characters they want with no interruptions from any anime antics.

Project Justice is a fast-paced 3 dimensional team based fighter using 4 buttons. Characters have access to punches, kicks, grabs, jumping, blocking, running, and motion input special moves and super moves. The game’s 3D environments come into play as characters can sidestep on command to avoid attacks; certain special moves also benefit from this evasive property. Another selling feature of the game is the team mechanics. Players choose one main fighter and two support fighters who can be called upon for team up attacks that deal extra damage or provide healing or meter depending on the character. Players can’t switch their main fighter mid-fight like they can in Marvel Vs. Capcom, but they can switch in between rounds if desired. While Project Justice focuses a bit too hard on story for its own good, the fantastic gameplay makes it one of the better additions to the collection overall.

Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein

When Capcom first experimented with 3D fighting games, they ambitiously set their sights on acquiring the rights to the Star Wars franchise to create a truly epic sci-fi showdown. This licensing deal never came to be however, and the project was quickly retooled into a Capcom original title called Star Gladiator. Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein is the sequel to Star Gladiator, probably rebranded to further distinguish the series from the franchise that inspired it and stave off Lucasfilm’s lawyers. The game’s plot revolves around the titular antagonist Bilstein returning from his previous defeat to rebuild his intergalactic empire with the various playable fighters seeking to stop him, or usurp his ambition for themselves. The story gets the job done and remains secondary to the gameplay, but it’s definitely not beating the poor man’s Star Wars allegations any time soon.

The gameplay in Plasma Sword is weapons focused 3D fighter akin to Soul Calibur, but with a few quirks to help it stand out. Characters have motion based special moves and supers, including a power up super called plasma field similar to the dark force supers in Darkstalkers 3. Characters can also sprint forward and quickly dodge attacks by sliding into the foreground and background, giving the game a very fast pace. My biggest criticism of the game is that half the roster consists of characters who share 90% of their moveset with other characters, it’s a really lazy way to pad out the game’s content and I would have preferred a smaller cast of more unique fighters. Plasma Sword is definitely a black sheep among Capcom fighting games, but it still has its merits and definitely deserves its place in the collection as a cult classic.

Conclusion

Beyond the games themselves, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 has a bunch of quality of life features to round out the package. The gallery mode contains artwork, design documents, and music tracks from each game, including a few fully remastered soundtracks which sound absolutely amazing. Each game in the collection is also playable online and works about as well as most of the previous collections. 

I’m not sure which of the 4 Capcom fighting game collections is my personal favorite, but Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is perhaps the strongest contender. Capcom Fighting Evolution is a real stinker, but the amount of quality and variety present in the other games is much more consistent than previous collections. Fighting game addicts like myself will absolutely love it and I think newcomers will get a lot of value discovering these obscure titles that haven’t been playable in decades. I’m fairly confident this will be Capcom’s last dedicated fighting game collection as there just aren’t enough arcade games left to fill a 5th release, but at least it seems they’re going out on a high note.

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