Capcom vs. SNK 2

A year has passed since the original tournament known as Millennium Fight 2000. This time, the political conflicts of the Garcia Financial Clique and the Masters Foundation have a rematch once again by releasing a million dollar fighting tournament called Mark of the Millennium 2001, all of the original fighters from both powers clash once again, but with more fighters both legends and newcomers.

• The celebration is uninterrupted, as the camera zooms out of the stadium to a shot of Akuma or Rugal's foot.
• Akuma or Rugal interrupts the celebration, demanding a match against the winners on top of Osaka Castle. If the player wins, they comment on their strength before challenging their true rival (the other boss), as a large explosion occurs. The fates of everyone are left unknown.
• The celebration is interrupted by the fight between Akuma and Rugal. Depending on the player's Groove, one of two scenes play. In one, Akuma mortally wounds Rugal, only for the latter to infuse his Orochi force into Akuma, who is driven insane by the power and turns into Shin Akuma. In the other, Rugal kills Akuma and absorbs the Satsui no Hadou from his body (his special intro has him throwing away Akuma's corpse), transforming into God/Ultimate Rugal. The winning team goes on to fight the bosses in the Osaka Ruins. Defeating Shin Akuma has him being swept into the sky by the Orochi force while God/Ultimate Rugal's defeat results in Akuma possessing Rugal's body, turning it into his own, before walking away. The following news coverage depicts Osaka being rebuilt, the critical reception to the tournament, and the (text-only) fates of the champions.

Bold denotes newcomer

Because Capcom vs. SNK 2 features a roster composed of characters from numerous games and hardware eras, the appearances of several of Capcom's characters have been considered substandard in comparison to the newly drawn SNK characters. Instead of choosing to redraw its characters, Capcom took the approach of reusing old character sprites from previous games and inserting them in among the other characters. The result created a significant disparity, particularly in the case of characters like Morrigan Aensland, whose sprite from the Darkstalkers games appears retro and lacking in detail when compared to Capcom's newly drawn characters, such as Maki, Eagle, Ryu, Ken, and M. Bison. This has led to criticism of Capcom's art department.[2] Just like the first game, the Dreamcast release of Capcom Vs. SNK 2 also links up to the Neo Geo Pocket Color and SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash using the Neo Geo Pocket Color link cable. Doing so will enable the player to unlock all the secrets on the Dreamcast game.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 combines characters and gameplay elements from various Capcom and SNK fighting games, mainly the Street Fighter and The King of Fighters series. Other elements, most noticeably different fighting styles, incorporated elements from other games as well, such as Street Fighter III, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and the Samurai Shodown series.

In contrast to the original Capcom vs. SNK, characters no longer have a specific "Ratio." Instead the player can select up to three characters in a team and give an amount or ratio (up to four) to each as desired. Strength are altered accordingly based on the number of players. For example, a team of three fighters will be weaker and have less individual health than a one-man team. Rounds are fought one against one, with the winner being the first to defeat his opponent's team. In console versions of the game, players in Arcade Mode can also choose a 3-on-3 game or a 1-on-1 game with the Ratio System removed.

Unlike the first game, which was based on a King of Fighters-style two-strength, four-button system of punches and kicks, Capcom vs. SNK 2 is based on the three-strength, six-button system of punches and kicks native to the Street Fighter series, and the SNK characters have been tweaked to fit the six-button style. The overall system is derivative of Street Fighter Alpha. However, a number of different fighting styles called 'Grooves', which mimic other Capcom and SNK games, are included in the engine. These dictate both the character's Super Gauge system, and special techniques, such as dashes, running, and guard cancels, called "Subsystems." There are six in total, each designated with a letter, along with custom grooves that can be programmed in home versions of the game. Each player designates prior to the match which groove his or her team will use.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO is the same game but with minor changes in gameplay and the inclusion of an EO ("Easy Operation") system that allows the player to perform specific attacks by simply moving the right analog stick in a certain direction. Like all other home versions of the game, CvS2: EO also contains four bonus characters: Evil Ryu, Orochi Iori, Shin Akuma (Shin Gouki in Japan), and Ultimate Rugal (God Rugal in Japan), powered-up versions of four regular characters.

Before selecting a team, the game offers a selection of "Grooves", which change the way the game is played, as well as "AC-ism" or "GC-ism" Grooves; GC-ism simplifies the control scheme, originally designed for the GameCube gamepad. In the Xbox version it is called EO-ism. Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO also removed the Roll Cancel glitch that was in the original versions. In addition, the Xbox version of CvS2: EO also included online play for up to two players on Xbox Live as well as progressive-scan (480p) support, which was noticeably absent in the PlayStation 2 version.