Title: SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
Platform: Nintendo Switch eShop
Developer: SNK/Code Mystics (Switch version)
Publisher: SNK
Release Date: February 17th, 2021 (NA)
File Size: 164MB

Review copy provided by SNK

Yes! One of the most requested games for the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection series on Switch has arrived! This was part of a series of crossover titles between SNK and Capcom and in the larger “Capcom vs.” series. Uniquely since this is a crossover between two game companies, both companies did their own games in the series. SNK handled the ones on Neo Geo Pocket Color and the main Neo Geo systems, while Capcom did their Capcom vs. SNK games, the sequel of which made it to GameCube. So how did this game turn out? Let’s find out!

A familiar match-up. Maybe they’ll smash each other up in the ultimate showdown in a couple of decades.

This game is now the 6th in the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection series on Switch and frankly isn’t that different in the grand scheme of things. All are 2D fighting games with a lot of similarities. I already reviewed two of them; The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny and Fatal Fury First Contact, so check those out for a good idea of what to expect, but obviously there’s more here.

You have a pretty wide selection of SNK and Capcom characters to choose from. SNK’s line-up includes Terry Bogard, Kyo Kusanagi, Mai Shiranui, etc., where as Capcom’s got the usual Street Fighter folks like Ryu, Chun-Li, Guile, etc. Plus Darkstalkers‘ Morrigan, among others.

One of the cutscenes when playing as Ryu in the Tourney mode.

There are a number of modes to check out, most notably of course is the Tourney mode which is your usual arcade mode. You can either go as a singular character (if you go as an SNK character, you only go up against Capcom folks, and vice-versa), but can also do a tag battle where you can swap on the fly between two characters (you can use both SNK and Capcom characters together), but you have to KO both opponents to win. There’s also the option for a team battle which instead has you pick three characters (also allowing any combination) but each opponent is three matches, one round per team member. After you KO each member of the opposing team, you regain a bit of health until the match ends. Once all three are KO’d, you win. The mode goes for quite a few fights. I was pretty tired by the end of it honestly.

The other main mode is the Olympic mode. These are 5 mini-games, some with unique gameplay. One has you playing a shooting gallery against alien-like robots in a gird-like fashion. One has you cutting straw poles on each corner of the screen. The others are general fighting modes where one has you surviving against 100 opponents, another has you beating 5 opponents as quickly as possible, and finally the last has you beating each opponent by hitting them first before they hit you. You can unlock hidden moves through these, so there’s reason to keep playing them besides high scores.

One of the mini-games in the Olympic mode.

And of course you have your usual practice and multiplayer modes. Same as the other games, you can play via single joy-cons in single and multiplayer. You can either play with two screens on the TV, or in portable mode where each screen is facing away from each other so you’re on each side of the physical screen. Practice has a “No Hurt” option where you don’t suffer more than one hit at a time (in other words you basically heal right away). It’s good for gauging how much damage each hit does.

Visually it’s the usual. All of these SNK fighters look the same as usual in my opinion here. The Capcom characters all look the part with the same style SNK have used in here and in the other games. The same filter options and everything are present. Same with the full-color manual and the rewind feature. It’s the same package as before, which is very nice. Sound-wise, again, it’s fine! Nothing stuck out to me, for better or worse.

The multiplayer mode in docked mode. There are lots of characters to choose from… even a blue Ryu!

Overall it’s a good game with definite challenge (you’ll love the rewind feature, just saying). Lots of fan-fav characters to choose from. Mini-games to keep you busy outside of the usual fighting which is a very nice bonus. Very recommended.

You’ll Love:
+ The same good sprite work and good music. SNK do good stuff on their own hardware, I think you’ve noticed!
+ The same great special features are here.
+ Lots of SNK and Capcom characters to pick from.
+ The mini-games are very welcome, particularly the ones where you’re not fighting and do something fresh and different.
+ Has screenshot and video capture support.

You’ll Hate:
– You’re in for a good challenge so be ready. Also the arcade mode can get a bit long so take breaks if you can.
– The localization is pretty spotty at times. I’m guessing this was possibly done by folks that aren’t natively English, since there are quite a few typos in here. Would be nice if SNK/Code Mystics could polish it up when they do these re-releases. Maybe they just can’t and have to work with the raw ROMs without any edits (so that they’re true to the original releases, which is fair).

Score: 9/10