Capcom Fighting Collection 2 review: Return of the King

When the “old-heads” of the fighting game community talk about the best fighters of all time, Capcom vs. SNK 2 is somewhere in the conversation. In ‘90s arcades, the fighting game fandom was split between SNK and Capcom, Fatal Fury and Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom and The King of Fighters. These are two distinct branches of what seem to be, on the surface, very similar games, and over time, players adjusted to either the Capcom style of gameplay, or the SNK style. Through numerous sequels those styles have been innovated upon, and now we can look back at distinct generations of unique fighting formulas. The beauty of a compilation like Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is that the way these games play is timeless, but none of them embody all of the titles that came before quite like Capcom vs. SNK 2.

CVS2 celebrates the history of both Capcom and SNK with its Groove system. You can choose between C, A, P, S, N, and K Grooves, and each of those offer different subsystems, such as running, dashing, rolling, and more. These subsystems are what defined previous Capcom and SNK games, and with them, CVS2 feels like a victory lap for both developers, their characters, and the fans of both. This game on modern platforms with online play alone would be worth buying, but CFC2 comes with another seven games to play with.

While CVS2 is an all-time classic – and the original CVS is a nice inclusion – some players were more excited by the return of the Power Stone series, which last saw the light of day with a PSP port almost 20 years ago. Both the original game and the sequel, Power Stone 2, are included in CFC2, complete with online multiplayer in addition to the original game’s Adventure and Arcade modes. Power Stone feels like one of the only true Super Smash Bros. competitors; a four-player fighting game brawl, complete with items and projectiles to enhance the chaos. It might not have seen a new entry in nearly 25 years, but Power Stone 2 is still worth playing during local multiplayer parties.

Capcom didn’t bother trying to compete with Namco in the 3D fighting game space for long – Tekken and Soulcalibur were just too dominant – but its attempts are often seen as cult classics. That’s true for Power Stone, and that’s true for Project Justice — also known as Rival Schools 2. This is a team fighter where you can juggle opponents across a stage in 3v3 battles. The characters are all inspired by various schoolyard factions and archetypes, from boxers to football players, and the Japanese Bancho subculture which was popular at the time — think Jotaro from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. 

If you prefer a 1v1 take on Capcom’s short-lived 3D fighting formula, Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein (called Star Gladiator 2 in Japan) is for you. The characters in this game take heavy inspiration from Star Wars, but have just enough goofy flair to feel like their own thing — save for the one that looks exactly like a short Chewbacca. This feels like one of the least “important” games in the collection, but it’s still decent fun and an appreciated inclusion. Unfortunately, CFC2 is missing the original Star Gladiator and Rival Schools games, as CFC2 seems to be a showcase of Capcom’s Dreamcast and Sega Naomi arcade games, and those titles were not available on either of those platforms.

But one thing that’s true of all of Capcom’s retro collections is that it needs a Street Fighter game. Capcom is running out of unique versions of Street Fighter to include in these arcade compilations, but CFC2 gets Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper. This is a unique arcade version of the game that was previously only available in Japan on Sega’s Naomi arcade hardware, and primarily fixes some bugs and glitches that were present in previous versions of the game — you won’t find the additional characters that were added to the PSP’s Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX here. It’s nice to have, but feels like a bit of a token inclusion to ensure Street Fighter die-hards will buy the collection, as if CVS2 wasn’t enough.

If you are a fighting game fan, have friends who are fighting game fans, or just want a deep dive into one of the best parts of fighting game history, then Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is a clear winner. It’s worth buying even if you ignore the underwhelming curio that is Capcom Fighting Evolution, which I completely neglected to mention here. There are at least three distinct games here that different audiences will return to time after time for multiplayer sessions, and everything else is just a bonus. Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is a firm reminder that Capcom and SNK have developed some of the best fighting games of all time, and with this compilation, you don’t even need to be an old-head to know it’s true.