Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Features

Get ready for Marvel vs. Capcom’s return with this retro hidden gem

By
They key art for SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos' re-release.
SNK

Crossovers reigned at Evo 2024. Some of the best reveals of the entire event included seeing Terry Bogard in Street Fighter 6 for the first time and learning that Lucy from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is coming to Guilty Gear Strive next year. It’s a sign of a healthy genre that video game developers of all kinds want in on. The marquee moment from Evo 2024 that demonstrated this was when SNK, the developer behind series like The King of Fighters and Fatal Fury, shadow-dropped SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos.

Released on PC last Saturday and on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on Monday, SVC Chaos is the latest fighting game re-release from Code Mystics that takes an arcade classic and revitalizes it for modern platforms with features like online play and rollback netcode. It’s a well-done double-dip of a somewhat obscure and unloved fighting game, and an amazing primer for another crossover fighter I’m looking forward to later this year: Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics.

Recommended Videos

Titans spar

During the arcade golden age of the 1990s, genre rivals SNK and Capcom collaborated to finally make crossover fighting games that featured characters from their respective franchises. Capcom developed two Capcom vs. SNK games in 2000 and 2001, while SNK followed up in 2003 with its arcade take on the concept after only producing Neo Geo Pocket games for it prior. That game is SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos.

Terry Bogard and Ken face off in SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos.
SNK

SVC Chaos is a weird game, and not just because it’s a franchise mishmash. It has a darker tone and color palette than almost all of the SNK and Capcom series included in the collection, as characters like Ryu and Terry are duking it out in heaven across desolate, postapocalyptic stages. This gives the game a distinct look that neither SNK nor Capcom has returned to since. On the gameplay front, it’s a 1v1 fighter in which each character has two health bars; you must deplete your opponent’s to win the fight.

Related

It’s an SNK-style four-button fighter rather than a Capcom-style six-button one, which makes playing some of the Street Fighter characters feel odd but intuitive on modern controllers. Competitively, SVC Chaos isn’t that highly regarded because of some broken gameplay mechanics. Casually, it’s not as inherently flashy as other SNK and Capcom fighting games of this era. It’s certainly a bit rough around the edges, but there’s also no other fighting game from SNK or Capcom that feels quite like it.

This isn’t a re-release of one of the best fighting games of all time, but I’m still glad there’s now an easy way to smoothly play this fascinating piece of fighting game history on modern platforms. SVC Chaos is emulated beautifully on modern hardware — I played it on Nintendo Switch — and it features quite a few gameplay customization tweaks to make it more approachable for competitive play. There’s also a gallery where players can look at the game’s gorgeous concept art.

It has a practice mode and hitbox overlays now, so those who want to get good on SVC Chaos will have an easier time doing so, as they don’t have to track down an arcade cabinet or old console port. The online play feels smooth with rollback netcode, and while the available servers were sparse when I played, this kind of support is appreciated. If you’re a fan of the fighting game genre and haven’t picked up SVC Chaos’ re-release, I recommend you do.

Gameplay from SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos' re-release.
SNK

Despite all its quirks, SVC Chaos feels like the right game to have shadow-dropped at Evo 2024. Crossovers were a focal point of the show, as all of these fighting game developers seemed content with crossing over with each and other companies like CD Projekt Red and Nike wanted in on the fun. While this happened at the start of the new millennium because the fighting game genre was no longer in its golden age, it’s happening now because we’re in the middle of a fighting game renaissance.

Companies like SNK and Capcom once again recognize that all boats rise together and are now working together from a point of success rather than a point of worry. Until Capcom or SNK decide to revisit this idea (which seems like a real possibility), I’ll take Code Mystics’ excellent re-release of SVC Chaos as the symbol of all that until Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics comes along.

SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos is available now for PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
A former Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese now reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
The best hideout upgrades in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Yasuke trains outside in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

There have been various forms of upgradable bases in Assassin's Creed games before, but none as deep as in Assassin's Creed Shadows. Besides being a relaxing location where Naoe and Yasuke can hang out with their various allies, you will also be building entire structures that add new functions to the game. You're tutorialized on them only to get access to Scouts, but the rest of the buildings and upgrades are up to you. Since resources are so precious, investing in the wrong structures can set you back hours. Instead, we best hideout upgrades you should get in Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Best hideout upgrades

The most obvious tip to start with should go without saying, but don't bother purchasing any of the decorative buildings until you have built and upgraded all the ones that provide benefits. Unless you're mainly interested in playing Assassin's Creed Shadows as a mini Animal Crossing game, leave that until the end.
Stables
Your first order of business should be to upgrade your stables. This building is a little misleading since it has nothing to do with your mount but actually relates to those stockpiles you will come across in various camps and castles. These are packed with resources, but you are required to mark them for Scouts to collect and bring back to your hideout. The Stables first allow you to even use this feature, and upgrading it increases how many supplies you get from each pile. This will help fund all future upgrades so should be done as early as possible.
Study
Speaking of Scouts, you will need them quite often throughout the game for revealing quest locations and gathering supplies. Unless you pay, you can only use a scout once per season, and you only start with three. Building and upgrading your Study not only gives you more scouts to work with but also increases their scouting range on the map.
Tera
Don't overlook this smaller building in the lower sections if you're trying to earn XP. This building can't be upgraded so all you need to do is get it once and you're done, but it increases all your XP gain, no matter what source it comes from, by 10%. That is massive if you're trying to power level your characters.
Forge
Finally, the Forge can be left for last in our opinion. You will have a quest to build one, but that's all you should do with it until late into the game, if at all. Each upgrade increases the maximum level you can upgrade your gear in, which is great, but completely unnecessary for most of the game. You are always finding new gear at your current level while completing quests and looting chests so spending your resources to buff a weapon or piece of armor tends to be a waste when you find something better right away. The later upgrades do allow for better engraving, but again, this is best saved for the end game when you know what gear you want to stick with.

Read more
Steam players just got a terrifying new surprise thanks to Devolver
A man looks out a window while surrounded by monsters in Look Outside.

If you’re looking for a new horror game, you’re in luck. Devolver Digital just announced and released a brand new game, Look Outside. The terrifying game is a genre hybrid that mashes survival horror and turn-based RPG systems into one retro adventure that’s loaded with good scares and tons of pixelated gore. Ahead of its announcement, Digital Trends went hands on with Look Outside to get a feel for the surprisingly terrifying new release.

The project comes from indie developer Francis Coulombe, who previously released a smaller version of the game on itch.io. The new release is an expansion of that project, blowing it out into a full length RPG that you can grab for $10 starting today.

Read more
The best Naoe gear in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
One of the protagonists in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Assassin's Creed Shadowsintroduces a few interesting twists on the series' established formula. There are new features like Scouts and a fully upgradable hideout, but the big change is the addition of two distinct protagonists Naoe and Yasuke. Unlike Syndicate, these two characters serve vastly different roles, with Naoe being suited more towards stealth and Yasuke a better fighter. Each one has their own skills to unlock, but just as important is equipping them with the best gear. You will be drowning in loot over your playtime so knowing which is worth keeping and upgrading can be tricky. If Naoe is your preferred character, these are the items you should be using to maximize her potential.
Best Naoe gear

Naoe can hold two weapons, plus armor, headgear, and a trinket. These are the ones we found to be the most powerful for her.
Weapons
For Naoe's katana, the Bloodshade legendary katana has the most powerful bleed abilities in the game. It obviously inflicts bleed, but its special perk is that bleed buildup doesn't drain over time so you don't have to be overly aggressive to get it to proc. You can find this katana on a ship to the west of Osaka on the coast of Amagasaki in Izumi Settsu.

Read more