Capcom at the TGS      - 3.30.01

Capcom's booth was loaded with a number of games- Heavy Metal, Tomb Raider 5 Chronicles, One Piece... Jojo's Bizzare Adventure 5 and Devil may Cry were not playable, but that was expected of.

The two games which caught my eye were "Taisen Net Gimmic -Capcom Psikyo All stars" and "Capcom vs SNK Pro". "Net Gimmic" is a mahjong game which utilizes the system from it's arcade version -I doubt that there'd be any stripping, though. The game wasn't on display, but the promo was running on the screens.

"Capcom vs SNK Pro" seemed complete as a product and was freely playable, but from what I've seen during my time at their booth, there were no real changes from the older version (other than Dan and Joe). The stages are the same, the character select and sprites are the same...and I didn't see any new moves either.

However, players at the Capcom vs SNK Pro tournament thought differently. Minor changes in character balance can make the game totally different, from what they implied. The winner of the finals complained that Bison(the iron Mike, not the ugly Mario) was weakened. From what I saw, the guy was constantly failing to connect his dash punch from his weak punch, meaning it probably can't combo any more in Pro. The opponent who lost in the finals also complained, saying that the abbreviated commands from the previous version no longer works in Pro.

FYI, The finals of the tournament was battled out by a guy (1P) using Blanka, Dhalsim, Bison(the boxer), and a guy (2P) with Yamazaki and Blanka. The 2P Yamazaki slaughtered 1P's Blanka and Dhalsim, and I thought it was over. But the 1P made a dramatic comeback with his Bison and shredded 2P's Yamazaki and Blanka, with nearly a perfect life bar remaining. I had a feeling that the 1P would win; his gameplay was quite outstanding from the rest of players. During the Semi-finals, he timed his Dhalsim's crouching feirce against the opponent's projectile, punching the opponent as the projectile flew over Dhalsim. For 3 times in one round. Good going, Mr.Takashi.

Right after the finals, came the presentation that everyone was waiting for- Capcom vs SNK 2.

The presentation was short; no info was released on game system details, but vital information on four of the new characters to be in the game were announced. I managed to take shots of 3 of them. Damn me for missing out my photo shoot of the first Kyosuke sprites by Capcom!!! He still has that same Preying Mantis (Tourouken) style fighting pose though, rest assured. Anyways, so the four characters are...

I doubt that this (and Dan & Joe) is the full roster of new characters to be in Capcom vs SNK 2 (personally I'm hoping for Blue Mary), but we'll have to wait and see. Unlike Capcom vs SNK Pro, the backgrounds in Capcom vs SNK 2 are completely new. And unlike Capcom vs SNK (1), the background doesn't look mismatched from the character sprites.

While the game's system wasn't explained, it was still the "on the ground" Street Fighter style, and not the crazy "all around the screen" style like X-men and Marvels Vs Capcom. In fact, I couldn't see much a difference from Capcom vs SNK(1). Unless Capcom decides to go crazy and suddenly set some development time to change the game system to the Marvels vs Capcom style, I'm sure that it'll stay as it is.

Judging from how the victory screens weren't shown yet, the game must still be in midst of development.

I went to check Capcom's shopping booth too.. they had the usual items on sale- Calling cards, mascot items, model guns, and more. Amazingly, Capcom vs SNK Pro's Calling card was already on sale.

There were three particular items ath their shop which caught my eye. I saw something really laughable on sale- Kobun bookshelves. Then, I saw something really startling- SNK's Nakoruru shelf was sold at Capcom's booth, right next to it.

I went back to check and see if there was anything elese by SNK in Capcom's booth, and.. surely enough, SNK calling card sets were being sold, kind of hidden underneath the cash register. I knew SNK would be a no-show when it came to displaying fighter related games at the Aruze booth, but I had hoped that they at least opened up their own shopping booth for character goods, to support their own characters.

-H.Moriarty

Copyright Capcom, 2001