Video Game / Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium

"2001 is the year we make contact!"

"This battle is about to explode!"

"This is gonna be a match to remember!"

"Live and let die!"

"Go for broke! FIGHT!"

— The announcer

Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 (a.k.a. Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting 2001 in Japan) is the third installment (fourth, if you count Capcom vs. SNK Pro) in the SNK vs. Capcom series. As the name suggests, it's developed by Capcom. It was released for the arcades, Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and the PlayStation Network.

The game extended the roster to (almost) all the fighting line of both companies, along with the full Capcom vs. SNK Pro cast returning:

Capcom side

• Returning: Ryu, Ken Masters, Sagat, Chun-Li, Guile, Zangief, E. Honda, Blanka, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, M. Bison, Cammy White, Akuma, Sakura Kasugano, Evil Ryu, and Morrigan Aensland, plus Dan Hibiki from Pro.
• Newcomers: Eagle, Yun Lee, Kyosuke Kagami, Maki Genryusai and Rolento F. Schugerg.

SNK side

• Returning: Benimaru Nikaido, Kyo Kusanagi, Vice, Rugal Bernstein, Iori Yagami (and his Orochi Superpowered Evil Side), Mai Shiranui, Terry Bogard, Raiden, Kim Kaphwan, Ryuji Yamazaki, Geese Howard, Ryo Sakazaki, King, Yuri Sakazaki and Nakoruru, plus Joe Higashi from Pro.
• Newcomers: Chang Koehan & Choi Bounge, Athena Asamiya, Rock Howard, Haohmaru, Ryuhaku Todoh and Hibiki Takane.

The two bosses were created for this sole game: God/Ultimate Rugal and a special version of Shin Akuma^note The shin here is 神 "god" rather than 真 "true", who were the result of one absorbing the other's power.

This time, the Ratio system was modified to allow the player to give ratios to the characters as they wished, and six Grooves to choose from, plus a customized system which can be created by the player themselves. Like the first game, an Updated Re-release of this game is available, titled Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO. Depending on the version, EO stands for Extreme Offence or Easy Operations. Unlike CvS Pro, however, it doesn't add any characters, instead providing an alternative, beginner-friendly control scheme.

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This page is about to explode! FIGHT!

• Adaptational Personality Change: In this game, Hibiki is now a more confident warrior, and shows no sign of her shy, reluctant personality from her original appearance. Notably, she has a special intro with Rolento where he flings a knife at her and she bats it away without even looking. This has the terrifying implication that her Bad Ending in The Last Blade 2 (in which she continues her search for Setsuna alone, rather than Walking the Earth with Amano) is canon.
• Ambidextrous Sprite: As usual, Sagat's eyepatch/scar and Vega's claw/tattoo. Chang's ball and Maki's tonfa also swap hands but at least that isn't as unreasonable. Yamazaki also switches which hand he has pocketed when he changes sides (in-canon he always keeps his right hand pocketed).
• Arrange Mode: In addition to the game's signature Free Ratio fights, the game can also be configured to have more traditional 1v1 "best x out of 2x-1" and The King of Fighters-style 3v3 fights that don't use the ratio system.
• Art Shift: Reuse of Street Fighter Alpha sprites, and the ensuing clash in art style and animation quality, was one of the strongest complaints. Morrigan's constant reuse of her very first sprite is still a vivid running joke in many circles. It's worse considering that Chun-Li got a new sprite based off her appearance in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Ditto with Eagle, Maki, Yun and Kyosuke getting new sprites as well. Granted, Yun would have only been the only one of the bunch for whom recycled sprites would have made sense (although the Street Fighter III sprites had a different art style than what CvS2 employs, hence him being redrawn as well); Eagle only had his Street Fighter sprites from 1987, Maki's from Final Fight 2 for the SNES, and Kyosuke's from the 3D-only Rival Schools — all of them would clash horribly with the in-game graphics.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Ryuhaku Todoh, Maki, and Eagle, characters who had formerly appeared in the first Art of Fighting, Final Fight 2 and the original Street Fighter, respectively, made their unexpected returns as playable characters. Indeed, it has been said that Capcom deliberately chose more obscure newcomers for this game.
  • Yun, Eagle, and Maki appearing in this title allowed them to join the roster of the GBA and PSP ports of Alpha 3.
• Ascended Glitch: Most (in)famously, roll cancelling ^note performing a roll (LP+LK in C, A, or N Grooves) then immediately performing a special move will execute the special move but pass the roll's invincibility frames to the attack has been accepted by the CvS community and widely factors into high-level Tournament Play. While retained in the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 ports of the arcade game, the EO-branded versions (GameCube and Xbox) do not have it.
• Assist Character: Most of them only appear in the main characters' Super Combos:
  • Yun is assisted by Yang (he performs the Raishin Mahhaken Super alone, and both of them perform the Hiten Soryujin Super together).
  • In what is a likely nod to the Team-Up Attacks found in Rival Schools, Kyosuke is assisted by Batsu and Hinata in his Level 3, Final Symphony Remix.
  • Chang shares his moveset with Choi, who hangs out behind Chang but can be called in from the midground to use certain special attacks.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: The Osaka stage where you fight God/Ultimate Rugal or Shin Akuma is set against a backdrop of the rest of Osaka burning down.
• Battle in the Rain: The Osaka stage where you fight the regular/unpowered version of Rugal or Akuma is set on the roof of a temple in the middle of a thunderstorm.
• Battle Intro: Loads of them, probably the most out of Capcom's 2D stable, though a majority are reused from the original Capcom vs. SNK. Many of these play homage to iconic scenes in previous games (Kyo and Iori recreate their KOF '98 match intro, for instance), play up the similarities between certain fighters (Ken and Terry's intro, as American heroes of their respective games, became iconic among fans), or are simply there for cool factor (like Geese blowing away Bison's cape with a Reppuken).
• Bowdlerise: The North American version is notable for its level of censorship not found in any other Capcom fighting game:
  • Moves with "Genocide" (Tiger Genocide and Genocide Cutter) in them were replaced with "Destroyer." Yamazaki's S&M move had its name changed as well. Rugal calling out his Genocide Cutter was replaced with a generic grunt, and Sagat cuts off the "Genocide" part from his Tiger Genocide, which, again, was replaced with a generic grunt. God Rugal was changed to Ultimate Rugal. Shin Akuma was untouched and became a Bilingual Bonus, the "shin" here meaning "god" rather than "true" as in other appearances, as Capcom likely assumed American players didn't understand Japanese.
  • Some storyline-related words are not spared. Satsui no Hado was translated to Evil Energy while Orochi Power to Dark Power. While it's partially understandable to rename the Satsui no Hado as Evil Energy, there's no reason why Orochi Power was renamed.
• The Cameo: Quite a number of them, in both the battle intros and in the background. ^{For example...} Goro Daimon, the third member of KOF's Japan Team, appears during a Kyo vs. Benimaru match, observing the fight from the background much like teammates would do from KOF '94 to '98. Would probably require its own page to go into specifics.
• Comeback Mechanic: The most obvious examples are S-Groove (where an opponent gains infinite meter while close to death and gains access to MAX moves and Level 3 moves should they charge up the meter in this state) and K-Groove (attacks do more damage and characters receive access to a Super Move once it's full but the MAX state only lasts a limited amount of time and ends the moment the Super Move is used).
• Composite Character: In the sense of gameplay, most of the CvS1 vets play like a fusion of their Normal and Extra versions, incorporating specials and Supers from both move lists. As a result, this makes CvS2 the only KOF-related game to date where Kyo has access to his 101 Shiki Oboro Guruma and his R.E.D. Kick/707 Shiki Komahofuri at the same time; the latter replaced the former as part of Kyo's moveset overhaul in The King of Fighters '96 and — aside of EX Kyo in CvS1 and Kyo Kusanagi Classic in Maximum Impact 2 — Kyo would only regain the Oboro Guruma when briefly reverted back to his original moves in XII and XIII.
• Do Well, But Not Perfect: If you want to unlock Groove Edit and the Osaka temple stage you need to defeat Rugal or Akuma, not their final forms. So you need to complete the game within the constraints to fight a boss but not the True Final Bosses.
• Dramatic Wind: God Rugal's Idle Animation causes his tailcoat to begin billowing on its own.
• Dub-Induced Plotline Change: The western release threw away all the unique win quotes (numbering in the hundreds) and replaced them with completely different lines in English.
• Excuse Plot
• Fusion Dance: If you get to God Rugal and win, Akuma's influence starts forcing itself onto Rugal's body by way of the Satsui no Hado Rugal stole from him, essentially turning Rugal into Akuma (but retaining Rugal's fashion sense).
• A God Am I: Both Shin Akuma and God Rugal have this in their names. And it's not for show...
• Gratuitous English:
  • Finest K.O., though it was changed to Dramatic K.O. for the North American and European versions.
  • More than a few characters get this (even if it's simply name-calling their attacks), with standout cases being Guile, Cammy, Terry, King, and Geese.
• Jiggle Physics: Mai (obviously).
• Land of Tulips and Windmills: The Kinderdjik stage has a few windmills. Truth in Television, as Kinderdijk indeed has the largest windmill network in the Low Countries.
• Large Ham: First and foremost, the announcer.
  "THIS BATTLE ISABOUTTOEXPLODE... FIGHT!"
• Lazy Artist: Characters ported from the Street Fighter Alpha series and Morrigan look like they're copied directly from their origin game.
• Market-Based Subtitle: Millionaire Fighting 2001 became Mark of the Millennium 2001 when it was ported overseas, though the announcer still says "Millionaire Fighting 2001!" at certain points on the character select screen.
• Mini-Boss: If the player has met certain conditions, the game will be interrupted by a x4-ratio M. Bison or Geese before they can continue to the final stage.
• Mook Promotion: Well, calling him a "mook" is quite a stretch, but in the previous game Rugal was just one of the common opponents you could face in Arcade Mode, while here he's one of the Final Bosses.
• Multiple Endings: Occurs depending on the player's performance. Three possible endings can occur while the player character(s) celebrate(s) winning the tournament in Osaka:
  • The celebration is uninterrupted, as the camera zooms out of the stadium to a shot of Akuma or Rugal's foot.
  • Akuma or Rugal interrupts the celebration, demanding a match against the winners on top of Osaka Castle. If the player wins, they comment on their strength before challenging their true rival (the other boss), as a large explosion occurs. The fates of everyone are left unknown.
  • The celebration is interrupted by the fight between Akuma and Rugal. Depending on the player's Groove, one of two scenes play. In one, Akuma mortally wounds Rugal, only for the latter to infuse his Orochi force into Akuma, who is driven insane by the power and turns into Shin Akuma. In the other, Rugal kills Akuma and absorbs the Satsui no Hadou from his body (his special intro has him throwing away Akuma's corpse), transforming into God/Ultimate Rugal. The winning team goes on to fight the bosses in the Osaka Ruins. Defeating Shin Akuma has him being swept into the sky by the Orochi force while God/Ultimate Rugal's defeat results in Akuma possessing Rugal's body, turning it into his own, before walking away. The following news coverage depicts Osaka being rebuilt, the critical reception to the tournament, and the (text-only) fates of the champions.
• Multi-Slot Character: The game has both Rugal Bernstein and God/Ultimate Rugal (also known as "Satsui No Hadou Rugal"), as well as Akuma and Shin Akuma (also known as "Orochi Akuma"). Unlike their source series, both superpowered incarnations are the result of one absorbing the other's power, leading to them having moves of their rival (such as Rugal being able to inflict a Shun Goku Satsu).
• Mythology Gag: Among many examples...
  • Guile and Rugal have a special intro referencing The King of Fighters '94, where a statue of Guile could be seen amidst the various other statues in Rugal's collection. It can also double as a visual gag based on the infamous "Handcuffs" glitch from Street Fighter II, where it was also known as "Guile's Statue."
  • During his intro sequence, sometimes Haohmaru will say the Japanese phrase "Iza, jinjou ni shoubu!" ("Now, let's fight fair and square!") This is the exact phrase used by the announcer to signal the beginning of the match in his home series, Samurai Shodown.
  • One of Ryu's winning quotes says "What strength! I won't forget there are many like you all over the world!", which is a reference to what defeated opponents would say in the original Street Fighter. Another carryover from that game is his very simple winning quote of "All right!", which was said when the player wins a round.
• Non-Dubbed Grunts: Like other fighting games of the time. Some special introductions are full of dialogue (and sometimes even Mythology Gags) that are completely incomprehensible if you don't understand Japanese. Special post-battle victory banter text were dropped in the overseas versions similar to what happened in the Street Fighter Alpha games.
• Optional Boss: Bison and Geese. Originally the final bosses of the previous installment, they are now mid-bosses who interrupt you without a cutscene. ^note Players instead get a "Here comes a new challenger!"-style screen where the announcer states that someone has interrupted the tournament. Looks like they want payback from the last encounter. Fortunately, they aren't modified-for-CPU unlike before as they play by the same technical rules.
• Original Generation: God Rugal and the Orochi-powered Shin Akuma.
• Pet the Dog: Balrog's ending has him donating his reward money to a charity. By accident.
• Please Put Some Clothes On: Maki. Surprisingly, Mai, the one character who is notorious about this, and whom Maki is frequently accused of being modeled after in terms of appearance, gets away without so much as a peep.
• Practical Taunt: Taunting gives the opponent meter. While that's usually not a good thing, K-Groove's super bar won't carry over to the next round if it's active, so taunting to fill your opponent's K-Groove bar before you lose a character is extremely helpful.
• Pressure-Sensitive Interface: In the EO versions. The strength of punches and kicks is determined by the pressure exerted on the L and R buttons in an attempt to simplify the controls for the GameCube and the XBox.
• Punch Parry: Available on both ends of the spectrum: Street Fighter III's Parries are available for P-Groove users while Garou: Mark of the Wolves's Just Defend system is exclusive to K-Groove.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Some of the character endings turn into this (with some of them Played for Laughs). Maki never finds Guy, Mai never finds Andy (nor does she trick him into marrying her), Rolento doesn't find anyone to join his army, Balrog wins the prize money, but accidentally gives it to charity, etc.
• Shout-Out: Check the page.
• SNK Boss: Predictably, both of the True Final Bosses: Shin Akuma and God/Ultimate Rugal. The first is Akuma being given Rugal's Orochi power while the latter is Rugal taking the Satsui no Hado. Getting to them is one challenge. Fighting them, on the other hand, well... good luck. As much as they follow the same rules of regular play (a.k.a. unmodified-for-CPU and the same exact high damage yet very low health values as when used by the player), their A.I. is lethal even on the easiest setting (console only). The A.I. will instantly get out of dizzy due to A.I. mashing input commands. Due to how difficult some of the special moves are (mostly from God Rugal), the A.I. executes them without problem. The A.I. will also do high-damaging combos and input-canceling (i.e. asura warp into a special move) whenever necessary. The lower the health, the tougher the A.I. You literally have to understand the game's exploits to even stand a chance.
• Spectacular Spinning: Zangief. Eagle less so. They even have a special intro solely on the basis that Double Lariat and Manchester Black are essentially the same move.
• Sprite/Polygon Mix: The game has sprite-based characters and 3D backgrounds, similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 from the previous year and a technique later adopted by the BlazBlue series.
• Stock Audio Clip: Most characters were re-recorded, but others reuse voice samples from older games (e.g. King from The King of Fighters '96, Yun and Akuma from 3rd Strike).
• Stripperiffic: Mai and Morrigan, who's technically not even wearing clothes. Maki is also this, but slightly less so.
• Took a Level in Badass: Ryuhaku Todoh was basically a Joke Character in Art of Fighting with only one special attack. It took the efforts of daughter Kasumi in sequels (and The King of Fighters) and then his big return in this game to show just how badass the Todoh Style can be.
• True Final Boss: If certain conditions are met, the player team will be challenged by Akuma or Rugal after the final round of the single-player campaign. If certain additonal conditions are met, they will be fought by Shin Akuma or God/Ultimate Rugal.
• Updated Re-release: Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO, with many tweaks, and two new Groove choices. The GameCube version dropped online multiplayer, though.
• X Meets Y: Like Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 before it, CvS2 blends the gameplay principles of the two companies' flagship franchises. This game takes the three-person team mechanic that The King of Fighters is best known for and combines it with the Groove System, which is an evolution of the "-ism" mechanic from Street Fighter Alpha 3. ^note Like isms, the Groove System is a fighting style that emulates the gameplay mechanics of specific games from both companies' libraries. However, the fighters' movesets remain consistent regardless of the Groove selected, unlike Alpha 3 and the Normal/Extra system of CvS1.

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Hey, who allowed them to write this page? It's way too strong to compete; I mean, what's up with that? Someone's gonna have to take that Troper down!

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