With Capcom and SNK soon to be joining together in a way they never quite have before, it seems a little history lesson regarding the way these franchise’s first got together is in order.
Enter Rooflemonger with his latest video that examines the very first fighting crossover featuring both development companies. No it’s not Cvs2 predecessor Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000, but instead a game that came out the year before that you very well may never have heard of.
The name of the game is SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium and if you can’t recall seeing it in arcades (or even on consoles until it was ported to the Nintendo Switch back in 2021) that’s because it was a 1999 Neo Geo Pocket Color color title.
Handheld fighting game ventures are rarely brought up amid discussions of the genre’s biggest success stories, and while you might not expect much from a title like Match of the Millennium, it does boast an undeniable sense of heart and spirit.
Characters from across Capcom’s Street Fighter and Darkstalkers as well as SNK’s King of Fighters and Fatal Fury are available on the game’s roster, and depending on whom you choose you’ll be faced with opponents from the opposing development company.
The tension between camps is highlighted as many of these characters have special intros and rivalries when they encounter one another. What’s more, in addition to one on one fights you’ll find yourself taking on multiple foes in 3 on 1 and tag bouts that’re strategically woven into the game’s narrative as you ascend the arcade ladder.
The game’s artwork has to be commended as the somewhat cartoon-like style pops (this is a handheld from the late 90’s, remember) and the additional mini-game modes add to make the experience more worthwhile than you might think.
We’ll let Rooflemonger go into greater detail and share the other parts of the game not addressed here. After you watch, did you know about this game before seeing this and, if not, are you suddenly feeling tempted to nab it on PC or for your Nintendo Switch?