YMMV / Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium

See also:

• Awesome Music - Capcom vs. Whatever

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"Go for broke! FIGHT!!"

• Character Tiers: In a case which can be likened to that of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (if not reversed), the top tiers consist almost exclusively of Capcom characters, with SNK characters such as Hibiki, Geese, and Rock edging their way into upper/high-mid while the middle and lower/low-mid tiers mostly feature SNK characters. Unlike MvC2, the high and mid tiers are still quite good in the right hands, many of them even seeing their fair share of Tournament Play. The viability of several characters is actually independent of picks/counterpicks. On top of that, the Groove System adds another layer of depth (the strategies and nuisances of characters are bound to change due to the wide range of gameplay mechanics offered between each Groove), and while certain Grooves are better than others, "weaker" Grooves such as P-Groove and S-Groove can still be deadly up against users of the other four Grooves if utilized properly. It's not quite as unbalanced as some would have you believe.
• Complacent Gaming Syndrome: Have you ever seen a team of less than three characters?
• Cult Classic: While Marvel vs. Capcom 2 might very well be the most well-known of all the Vs. games, there are members of the FGC who argue that MvC2 is more than a bit overrated, if not outright undeserving of the magnanimous praise it gets, causing CvS2 to get overlooked as a result. This article sums it all up quite nicely.
• Even Better Sequel: While Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 has its fans, CvS2 is unanimously considered better due to a larger Groove selection, retaining all the playable fighters from the first game while adding several more, and allowing characters and Ratios to be mixed together freely.
• Fan Nickname: EO stands for "Easy Option," referencing the added option to have all punches and kicks mapped to the shoulder buttons and special moves mapped to the C-Stick/right analog stick.
• Fandom-Enraging Misconception: For SNK fans, claiming that the SNK side of the roster is "all King of Fighters characters" is a very bad idea. While the majority of them do appear in the series (even if this game predates Rock, Raiden, and Haohmaru's KOF debuts^*KOF XIV, XII, and XV respectively), the characters in question hail from the Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Psycho Soldier and Samurai Shodown series respectively, and their incarnations here take more influence from their original appearances rather than their appearances in The King of Fighters. The only KOF-original characters to appear are Kyo, Benimaru, Iori, Chang, Vice, and Rugal. Given that KOF was originally conceived as an all-star crossover for SNK, it's a bit like saying the Capcom side is full of Marvel vs. Capcom characters.
• Fandom Rivalry: Over the years, one has developed between this and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 over which should be considered the best Capcom vs. game. The fact that the two games have completely opposing gameplay styles helped foster this.
• Fountain of Memes: The announcer has so many quotable lines, he almost steals the show. Keep rockin', baby! Live and let die! Go for broke! This battle is about to explode! Fight!
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Both games have a similar pace and are seen as the last hurrah of classic 2D Capcom fighters, and there are a lot of competitive gamers who main both titles.
  • With Street Fighter Alpha 2. Like with Third Strike, many competitive players who are fans of one game also enjoy the other given the overlap of characters and mechanics.
• Game-Breaker:
  • Roll cancelling. ^note Quickly cancelling the first three frames of any ground roll into a special or Super; on top of this, the inputted move gains the properties of the roll, meaning that the RC'd move is invincible. However, it can be thrown out of if the move isn't airborne or a move that already has invincible properties such as a DP. In fact, during EVO 2002, in which 20 Japanese players attended, most of the American players didn't learn how to employ this; most of the Japanese players did, which led to Japan dominating the standings (the only top U.S. finishers were 3rd and a two-man tie for 7th), with Tokido blowing up not only the other Japanese finalist (Nuki), but America's top placer (Ken, who did know how to roll cancel). What mitigates RCing's claim as a Game-Breaker (even if slightly) is that, aside of the practice necessary to perfect its execution, the skill is available to every character, some of whom can benefit from its effects when faced with a bad match-up. Roll cancelling has widely been accepted as a legitimate factor in high-level play since. In fact, their removal in the GameCube and Xbox versions (EO) is one of the reasons those ports weren't received as well as the Dreamcast and PS2 versions.
  • It goes without saying that the "boss-tier" characters (Evil Ryu, Orochi Iori, Shin Akuma, and God Rugal) are banned from tournaments.
  • The GameCube version of EO's GC-ism, combined with A-Groove's Custom Combo Supers, can shred healthbars just by repeated use of specials.
• Gameplay Derailment: Again, roll cancels. Given that they were removed in the later home ports of the game, it's safe to say that the developers did not intend for them to exist.
• Gateway Series: Given its Cult Classic status, Capcom vs. SNK 2 was also something of a launchpad that introduced a number of fans to the world of SNK fighters. Because the SNK games were previously exclusive to Neo Geo hardware (with a few ports on 16-bit consoles), they were less widely known compared to their Capcom counterparts. For many, this series was the entry point into the world of SNK.
• Low-Tier Letdown: Many have come to hate the CvS2 versions of some their favorite characters thanks to them being much weaker than their native game counterparts. The character hit hardest with this is King, who's been demoted to the same tier as Dan.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Seeing someone get knocked out in a swift and damning fashion will warrant a FINEST K.O.!!! ^note Changed to just "K.O." with the "Dramatic Finish" bonus outside of Japan; regardless, it happens typically when countering a special move with a Super Combo, among other ways.
  • Likewise, any particularly damaging attack will often elicit but a single phrase from members of the FGC: "That's what we like to call BIG damage!"
• Nightmare Fuel: After beating Shin Akuma, you get to see his heartbeat turning into a flatline as he dies.
• Porting Disaster:
  • Zig-zagged with the GameCube version of EO. While the Xbox version is also guilty of removing roll cancelling, the GC version has it worse by not supporting online multiplayer and having a controller that's not conducive for most fighting games. ^note Due to the button layout, it's nearly impossible to intuitively press the LP, LK, MP, and/or MK buttons. The developers tried to mitigate this by adding the option to map special moves to the C-Stick, but that just made the problem somewhat worse by completely removing the intensities of punches and kicks and making it hard to remember which direction on the C-Stick corresponds to which special, especially since the directions don't flip depending on which way your character is facing. In spite of all this, it was for a long time the easiest version to play online following the shutdown of Xbox Live for the original Xbox (due to the Gamecube version being the easiest version to emulate and play netplay with), but now faces stiff competition there as high-quality online play for the emulated arcade and Dreamcast versions became viable, and players overall consider it (and the Xbox version) a good version of the game if you just want to start playing it and aren't prioritizing getting into serious play immediately as it is otherwise a good representation of the game.
  • The PlayStation Network port as a PS2 Classic for the PlayStation 3 is, however, nearly universally condemned, as it has far worse input lag than any other version.
• Scrappy Mechanic: S-Groove is hated by many since it's the weakest Groove for a lot (over 2/3) of the cast. Good S-Groove users are rare to come across, but those who do favor it are incredibly solid when it comes to defensive play. (One of the standout cases is Dr. B, who made Daigo work for his win in their EVO 2003 match.) P-Groove is a close second, but there are still plenty of high-level players who can make it work in their favor.
• That One Attack:
  • This incarnation of Shin Akuma, fueled by the Orochi power, possesses what is perhaps the deadliest and most instantaneous death move ever: Misogi.
  • God Rugal's move known as "END." If he hits you with it, you may as well say goodbye to your character, because it's the most damaging Super in the game.
  • Sagat's crouching fierce is one of the most infamous normal attacks in fighting game history. It's fast, it has gigantic range, and it's active for a very long time. It also does significant damage on its own, but add in the fact that it super cancels, and it allows an already strong character to net tons of damage from a single neutral-dominating attack.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Fans of the game tend to prefer the original version of the game over the EO port as the removal of roll canceling removes a massive chunk of strategy from competitive play, with the side effect of weakening a lot of characters who are otherwise underwhelming without access to roll canceled special moves. For this reason, it is exceedingly rare to see that version of the game in any kind of play.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Despite being developed during the middle of KOF's second arc, The NESTS Chronicles, none of the new characters from this era were actually included in this crossover. This is particularly baffling since at the time, K' was the current poster child of SNK's flagship series. Capcom seems to have realized this while Capcom Fighting All-Stars was in development, as a 2017 interview reveals the game may have used 3D assets originally intended for a third Capcom vs. SNK and the plan was to include K' as a Guest Fighter, but this ended up as a case of What Could Have Been and the project was retooled into Capcom Fighting Evolution.
  • Ralf and Clark make no appearance whatsoever. Not only are they the poster boys for one of SNK's most classic franchises, but they're staples within the company's own crossovers. However, Leona does make a cameo on the Nairobi stage.
• Unexpected Character:
  • While a few character choices are no-brainers (Rock, Haohmaru, Athena), others are more of the "Wait, what?!" variety (Chang, Eagle, Hibiki, Kyosuke, Maki). Notably for Eagle, this is the first time he's ever been playable in any official capacity.
  • Ryuhaku Todoh, a character whose mostly been a background cameo as a Running Gag after his first playable appearance, way back in the original Art of Fighting. Capcom vs. SNK 2 marks the second game in which he's playable.
• Vindicated by History: As with most competitive games, the strengths of characters have been reevaluated over the years thanks to increasing research and optimization for high-level players. Notably, many characters who had previously been disregarded have been discovered to be quite strong with the right Groove and strategy. For example, while Yamazaki was never considered a weak character, the late 2010s and 2020s saw him skyrocketing up tier lists thanks to his insane damage and guard break potential in A-Groove. He's become a staple character for Bas, considered by the community to be the single most skilled and knowledgeable CvS2 player in the world.