The Final Word game review

Capcom vs. SNK -- Capcom

R.I.P.
While there is no doubt in my mind that the NeoGeo Pocket release of this game is possibly the best fighting game of all time, it's cousin on the Dreamcast just seems to be missing something. For one, the game is way to picky when it comes to pulling off moves that require you to point the stick/pad in a specific direction as part of the move. I had a hard time pulling off perfect lefts or rights on the analog stick. This left me having to attempt play with the plus pad which has edges that are just two darn hard to do sweeps on without trashing your thumb. This one little problem got me off to a poor start with this game.

Graphically the game is pretty, although at times the imagery has more of a PC video game feel to it than a 2-D arcade game feel... you know what I'm talking about, that chincy, plasticy feel you frequently get from PC graphics? Not the rock solid and heavy visual feel of a good arcade game... or even classic 2-D Capcom titles on the Saturn or SNES for that matter.

Music was ok, and sound effects were fine but nothing memorable. Overall this game was good, and I'm glad to have it in the collection, but it wasn't what I had hoped it would be. In fact, I was so underwelmed that my enthusiasm for picking up a NGP to DC link cable so I can transfer points from the portable release of the game to the console version (to unlock characters) has really dropped to the point where if I happen to get a cable fine... if not, it isn't the end of the world.

What happened? Stylistically this title has a lot going for it, and this is the only thing bumping up the graphics score in my opinion. Subject wise it has a lot going for it as well, but truth be told, Soul Calibur is still the best fighting game for the platform. ...And if I'm going to play a 2-D console fighter, I'll sooner dig up a Capcom fighter on the Saturn than play this game. Sigh...

(05/2002)