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Game maker Capcom is known for lots of things, like Mega Man, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, etc.  But probably what they are known best for is their large roster of fighting games, such as Street Fighter.  They did a collection of them a few years ago, plus one last year that had all their Marvel games on it.  And now they’ve got another one with even more fighters!  So let’s take a look at the games on this collection.

Capcom vs SNK

Back in the 90s, Capcom and SNK were kind of considered rivals in the fighting game field.  Capcom had hits like Street Fighter and Darkstalkers, and SNK had titles like Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown, and more.  In fact, some characters were created in response to the rivalry, like Dan.  Well it must’ve been more of a friendly rivalry because by the end of the decade, we got a lot of Capcom vs. SNK games.  It was almost unheard of back then to have crossovers with other game companies, so it was a pretty big deal, especially with these two!  They really played it up, too.  Not only did they have these arcade games, but SNK published some more like SvsC Chaos, Card Fighters Clash, and more.  It’s a shame we didn’t get more of those games on this collection, but I think the others were published by SNK, not Capcom, and some were even on the NEO GEO Pocket Color.  I really don’t remember seeing these games in arcades, but I know my friends had the home console versions of them because they were really into fighting games at the time.

Capcom vs. SNK 2

It’s more of the same, just better graphics and more characters.  They really played up the Capcom vs. SNK stuff for this collection, as it’s also on the box and they even included a comic book in it like they did with Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection. 

Capcom Fighting Evolution

I wonder if this was Capcom’s response to the King of Fighters games from SNK?  It features fighters from Street Fighter, DarkStalkers, Red Earth, and others.  I don’t remember seeing this in arcades, but I know I had the PS2 version.  I got it when it went down in price.  I miss when games used to do that.  Anyway, a lot of people panned on this game, but even though it’s no Marvel vs. Capcom 2, I didn’t think it was THAT bad.  I mean, you can be a dinosaur for crying out loud!

Street Fighter Alpha 3

People consider this the best of the Alpha games, and they’re probably right.  You can also play this on the Capcom Arcade 2^nd Stadium collection.  The Alpha series are like prequels to Street Fighter 2, so the characters look younger.  And this series brought us fighters like Sakura, Rainbow Mika, and Dan!

Power Stone

They made a big deal out of Capcom vs. SNK being on this collection, seeing as though that’s what they decided to put on the box art and comic.  But me personally, I think having the Power Stone games on here is a bigger deal!  I remember seeing this game a couple of times in the arcade, but it’s really best known for being a Dreamcast launch title.  It’s a 3D fighter, but handled a little differently.  You can run around the arena freely, picking up objects to throw and things to shoot at the other player.  And if you pick up three Power Stones, you can transform your character into a super version of themselves and really dish out the damage.  A lot of people don’t like this game because it’s a lot more simplistic than Capcom’s other fighters, but I think it’s great.  It’s just doing its own thing.  Did you know there was a Power Stone anime, too?  I have a few sets of them on DVD back when you had to buy anime on DVD and not use a streaming service.  I didn’t buy them until they became on sale, though.

Power Stone 2

I don’t remember seeing this one in arcades, but I certainly played it a lot with friends at their houses!  As much as I like Power Stone, I didn’t actually own the games until they had a collection of them on the PSP.  You can tell that Smash Bros. was a big influence on this sequel, as now four can play at the same time, items are even more important, and the stages can change as you play.  It’s a heck of a lot of fun, though, and I wish Capcom would revisit this series with a Power Stone 3.  I think it could do really well in today’s online market.

Project Justice

Capcom really didn’t get into the 3D fighting games the way SEGA and Namco did.  But one of their series of 3D fighters featured a bunch of crazy teens and teachers in Japanese high schools.  Project Justice is the sequel to Rival Schools, and I don’t know why we didn’t get that first game on this collection.  I like the fact that one of the fighters is a school nurse.  If I were a high school student or teacher at her school, I’d definitely be seeing her a lot!  Ha ha, just joking!

Plasma Sword

Another 3D fighter, this one has a more science fiction theme and is weapons based like Soul Calibur.  You can tell they took a lot of inspiration from Star Wars, though, since everything is futuristic, everyone uses light saber style swords and other weapons, and there’s even a Chewbacca-like fighter!  This is actually a sequel to a game called Star Gladiator, not sure why they didn’t put that on here as well.  I don’t remember seeing these 3D fighters in arcades, but I know they had Dreamcast versions of them.

And that’s all the games!  Let me know in the comments what you think of the titles on this collection.  Later!  --Cary