SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom

SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom is a fighting game that was developed by SNK Playmore and released in 2003. It features characters from various Capcom and SNK franchises, most notably Street Fighter II and The King of Fighters. It is the last installment of a loose series of fighting games based on the concept of Capcom fighter competing against SNK fighters. It is ironic that SNK produced the very first game in the series, SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, as well as the last. The rest, Capcom vs. SNK, Capcom vs. SNK Pro, and Capcom vs. SNK 2, were produced by Capcom.

SVC Chaos is SNK's opportunity to put a Neo Geo spin on the series. Gone are the complicated team selection mechanics or Groove selections. Every player selects just one fighter who plays within a common rule system, very similar in essence to rules contained by The King of Fighters series. In essense, SNK has boiled the game play down to just the essentials, and brought each fighter back to their roots in a one-on-one competition. SNK also focused in on what SNK does best: character development. Unique dialogs between each and every fighter introduce the battles, providing players with insight about the interpersonal relationships that exist between each fighter; how well they know one another, what their feelings are about fighting against them, etc.

The sprites for many of the SNK characters were slightly altered, but mostly reused, while the sprites for the Capcom characters were entirely redrawn. The low resolution of the Neo Geo (320 × 240) made the game's visuals considerably rough considering the game's 2003 release, which lead to a lot of criticism. Players also sighted the lack of groove selection or team play as other limitations that made the game feel like a step backwards. Other players applauded and embraced the game's return to simplicity and purity. Ultimately the people who favored evolution outnumbered the purists, and the game sold very poorly. It was converted for play on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was only released in the United States on the Xbox due to SCEA's restricted policy on two dimensional games. The Xbox version received an exclusive and provocative cover in Japan, perhaps in an effort to assist the game's sales among flagging Japanese Xbox interest.