Summary
ThePlayStation 2wasn’t the most powerful hardware around, but it was the most popular, offering the widest range of games. Many of them would even become bona-fide classics likeGod of War,Metal Gear Solid 3,and thePrince of Persiatrilogy. On top of its DVD playback, the machine offered more value for money, so it’s little wonder that it’s since become the best-selling console in the world.
Its heyday also coincided with a dip in the popularity of fighting games.Tekken, SoulCalibur,andMortal Kombatwere still big, but the genre and its biggest developers largely went quiet. The ones that did come out often catered to its keenest, most experienced fans. The ones who knewtheir footsies from their Pringles. If they weren’t in the know, they’d have trouble with the PS2’s hardest fighting games.
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolutionis low on the list because it tried to be accessible to newer players. Its character select screen listed which characters were beginner-friendly. The Quest Mode put them in the virtual shoes of an arcade player, where they gradually rose to the top. Then it had a dry but helpful tutorial that showed players how to do its techniques in a clear, concise manner.
But just because a hiker is well-prepared doesn’t mean the mountains stop being steep. The simple stuff is fine, but more advanced opponents require more advanced tactics. The easier characters were often lower-tier than their harder counterparts, who could be very hard to use. Players had to earn Akira’s top-tier strength by getting the hang of his tightly-timed commands, like his kneelift that required pressing Kick+Guard, then letting go of Guard after 1 frame.
With the arcades effectively dead at the turn of the millennium, Capcom gradually left the fighting genre behind. After 2001, they’d only release collections of their classic fighters, and a failed attempt to do a “Capcom Vs Capcom” withCapcom Fighting Evolution. For a while, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and co were as dead as theDarkstalkersuntil they took a chance onStreet Fighter 4in 2008.
But they’d still celebrate the series’ 15th anniversary in 2003 withHyper Street Fighter 2. It was essentially another re-release ofSuper Street Fighter 2 Turbo, except players could switch out their characters with their earlier iterations. It didn’t have the difficulty bug the originalSSF2Thad, but that didn’t stop its AI from cheating, nor did its stricter input requirements help players against the cheesy likes ofSagat, Bison, or Akuma.
Yuki Enterprise’sArcana Heartlooks as if CLAMP got to remakeMortal Kombatin their own image, as 11 cute anime “maidens” have to stop Mildred Avallone from merging Earth with the Elemental realm. Its AI isn’t as merciless as klassicMK, though the special moves still requireStreet Fighter/King of Fighters-like directional inputs, which can be tricky for some. That’s putting aside the game’s aerial combat and each character’s Arcana powers.
They each do different things, from messing with time to controlling plants, and getting the most out of them requires plenty of practice. Then, there’s the final boss Mildred. She can use the whole roster’s arcana powers, has two projectile-firing drones that surround her, different forms, and a screen-filling super move. If those tactics sound familiar, that’s because Yuki Enterprise consisted of ex-SNK staff, who really liked making hard boss characters.
SNK are infamous for theirreally hard final bosses, from Geese Howard inFatal Furyto Omega Rugal inKing of Fighters 95. Some of them, even on the easiest difficulty settings, would pull off a screen-nuking super move that could do a nasty dose of damage even when blocked. Not every boss had one, and not every boss with one was that hard to beat.
ButKing of Fighters 11’s Magaki had one and was hard to beat. Even if Magaki didn’t attempt to give the player a seizure, he’d still fill the stage’s real estate with projectiles, from the slow, nearly invisible ones to ones that would appear behind the player. The game’s guest sub-bosses, likeBuriki One’s Silver andSavage Reign’s Jazu weren’t pushovers either, so players had to master the tag gameplay to get ahead.
Unlike theirMarvelcrossovers, Capcom’s digital take on their rivalry with SNK got more technical and intricate.Capcom Vs SNK 1made players pick between a Capcom Groove (plays likeStreet Fighter Alpha) or an SNK Groove (plays likeKOF’s Extra mode). Then they had to do some math with its Ratio system, where each character had a number between 1-4, and they could only form a team that equaled a total of 4.
Capcom Vs SNK 2improved on that by making the Ratio system a separate, optional mode where players could set their team’s number total (i.e. Geese could actually partner with people now). However, it increased the Grooves to 6, ranging from replicatingSamurai Shodown’s Rage Gauge toSFA3’s V-Ism. Then players had to get enough points to fight Shin Akuma or God Rugal, the hardest bosses in the game, and then beat them to get the good endings.
Street Fighter 3: Third Strikeis beloved now, but it and its two predecessors were treated like digital leprosy back in the day.New GenerationandSecond Impactwere Dreamcast-only,Third Strikeonly saw a PS2 release in Japan and North America as a tie-in bonus withHyper SF2. One which Europe rejected, where it remained an Xbox exclusive thanks to its online play.
Those in the know fell in love with its EX moves, Super Art selections, and the combo potential of characters like Urien and Makoto. Casual players were more likely to be lost as they got to grips with the inputs, and there wasn’t much extra content beyond Vs mode and Arcade mode. The latter would see both them and veterans get creamed by Gill who, on top of his screen-nuke and input-reading, could resurrect with full health if he died with a full super meter.
SNK arguably made the best Capcom/SNK crossover with the handheld gemSNK Vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium. They also unfortunately made the worst withSVC: SNK Vs Capcom Chaos. Its development troubles made it feel rough and incomplete, with its lifeless locales, janky animations, and functional but awkward gameplay. Converting the Capcom cast to 4 buttons was fine, but reinventingFatal Fury’s proverbial wheel proved troublesome.
SNK Boss Syndrome was in full effect too, as Shin Akuma and Serious Mr. Karate were merciless. They’d read every mistake and exploit every opening. Even worse, they’re not the final bosses. Players have to beat them with a high enough score (which requires beating them first try) to fight the easier but annoying Athena andRed Arremer (aka Firebrand). That’s a lot of effort to see the characters' endings which, while nice, are easier to watch on YouTube.
The subheading here is a bit of a misnomer, as there are 6 versions ofGuilty Gear X2, and the PS2 had 5 of them, ranging from the originalX2toXX Accent Core Plus. So, which one earned the top spot? Simple: All of them! They all have the technicality of anSF/KOFgame withits own tricky techniqueslike Roman Cancels, Fake Roman Cancels, and Dust combos. Later games likeGGXrdandGG Strivewould give players a handy tutorial for them.
GGX2gives them a Mission Mode instead, where they can face off against harder opponents, like the CPU-only EX, Shadow, and Gold characters. The final boss, I-No, has a CPU-only super move that does horrendous damage on hit or block. The only respite from I-No is in Story Mode, where only some characters face her boss form. But they can faceGGXboss Dizzy, orGG1boss Justice instead. It’s like choosing between the frying pan, fire, or Dante’s Inferno.
