Shoryuken!!! Or Capcom vs SNK 2

It was Christmas 2001, I would receive a game that would eventually turn into an ongoing infatuation, and would cause my love of 2D Fighting games to return to me. Oh and return it did, because with the exception of two 3D fighters I've pretty much exclusively played 2D fighters, some of the series I enjoy are Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Art of Fight, Fatal Fury, Capcom vs Marvel, Guilty Gear, and many, many more. I could list so many games I've developed a love for hours, but one game has held my interest for longer than any other, Capcom vs SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting 2001(aka Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001).

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Capcom vs SNK 2 is the sequel to Capcom vs SNK 1 (derp), it's a team based fighter, much like King of Fighters, in the home port of the game however there are a few options for play. Options include 3 vs 3, and 1 vs 1 with the Ratio System removed. The Ratio mode is still included in the home port, in Ratio Mode you select your team of 1 to 3 members and assign them a Ratio between 1 and 4, with the total team Ratio equaling no more than 4. So you could make a 3 person team with two 1's and a 2, a one person team with a Ratio of 4, so on and so on. The Ratio determines how though your character is, Ratio 4 Ken is stronger than Ratio 1 to 3 Ken, so if you just wanted to play Ratio 4 Ken vs a team of three characters it would still end up being a pretty even fight number wise, but more than likely that Ratio 4 is gonna run roughshod over the team of 3 since it will be so much more powerful than the others.  I personally like the 3 vs 3 team battles as they offer the most even fights and the most entertaining in my opinion. You also select a "groove" from various Capcom or SNK games.

 The cast of characters offered in this title is amazing, so amazing in fact I'm going to list the entire roster!

On the Capcom side of things we have:

• Akuma (Gouki in Japan) - Super Street Fighter II Turbo
• Balrog (M.Bison in Japan) - Street Fighter II
• Blanka - Street Fighter II
• Cammy - Super Street Fighter II
• Chun-Li - Street Fighter II
• Dan Hibiki - Street Fighter Alpha
• Dhalsim - Street Fighter II
• Eagle - Street Fighter
• Edmond Honda - Street Fighter II
• Guile - Street Fighter II
• Ken Masters - Street Fighter
• Kyosuke - Rival Schools (Batsu Ichimonji and Hinata Wakaba also appear as summonable characters in one of his super combos)
• M. Bison (Vega in Japan) - Street Fighter II
• Maki - Final Fight 2
• Morrigan Aensland - Darkstalkers
• Rolento Schugerg - Final Fight
• Evil Ryu (console only) - Street Fighter Alpha 2
• Ryu - Street Fighter
• Sagat - Street Fighter
• Sakura - Street Fighter Alpha 2
• Vega (Balrog in Japan) - Street Fighter II
• Yun - Street Fighter III (Yang also appears as a summonable character in certain special moves and super combos)
• Zangief - Street Fighter II
• Shin Akuma (Shin Gouki in Japan) - Street Fighter Alpha 2 

And on the SNK side of things:

• Athena Asamiya - Psycho Soldier
• Benimaru Nikaido - The King of Fighters '94
• Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge - The King of Fighters '94
• Geese Howard - Fatal Fury
• Haohmaru - Samurai Shodown
• Iori Yagami - The King of Fighters '95
• Orochi Iori (console only) - The King of Fighters '97
• Joe Higashi - Fatal Fury,Fatal Fury 2
• Kim Kaphwan - Fatal Fury 2
• King - Art of Fighting
• Kyo Kusanagi - The King of Fighters '94
• Hibiki Takane - The Last Blade 2
• Mai Shiranui - Fatal Fury 2
• Nakoruru - Samurai Shodown
• Raiden - Fatal Fury
• Rock Howard - Garou: Mark of the Wolves
• Rugal Bernstein - The King of Fighters '94
• Ryo Sakazaki - Art of Fighting
• Ryuhaku Todoh - Art of Fighting
• Ryuji Yamazaki - Fatal Fury 3
• Terry Bogard - Fatal Fury
• Vice - The King of Fighters '96
• Yuri Sakazaki - Art of Fighting 2
• Ultimate Rugal (God Rugal in Japan) - The King of Fighters '94

And thank you Wikipedia for the awesome links and list :3

Now, with that impressive roster of combatants you can put together some pretty amazing teams, this is one of the main reasons why I love the 3 vs 3 mode, one of my favorite teams is Evil Ryu, Haomaru, and Sagat, although I am also partial to Ryu, M. Bison, and Terry. The roster however allows for many many awesome combinations. It is those many many combinations of fighters and groove styles that make for tons of exciting potential fights. 

I have played many fighting games throughout the years, but I always find myself coming back to CvsS2. An HD re-release would absolutely make my year, so here's to hoping for that. Well folks, this concludes today's article, I'm hoping to have another article for you all to read soon, till then.