Starting their development on two high-profile fighting games hasn’t aided their image so far. One of the largest gripes that gamers who aren’t 2D fighting fans have of the genre is sterility. This is reasonable enough criticism, but obscures the reason why progress is so slow – because creating a tight, exciting engine is a hard task. In the case of SVC Chaos, SNK Playmore have failed to build such an engine.

Modelled mainly around the KoF fighting system, the game responds in many similar ways: four buttons control light and hard punches and kicks, a press of hard punch and light kick activates a counter whilst blocking. Rolls are lost, but dashes and super jumps remain. Specials are activated in the same manner as previous SNK and Capcom titles, although for characters with long histories, certain moves have been removed and the remaining attacks tweaked slightly. Added to this, each character can use an Exceed move once per match when their energy is low. This attack is a last-ditch (but highly damaging) move that can turn the tide if it connects properly. One of the better new features.

The biggest draw is the character roster, particularly the hidden characters (easily accessible from the select screen using R1) such as Capcom’s Zero (from the Megaman series), fan-favourite Demitri (from Dark Stalkers), Mars People from the Metal Slug games and a 2D incarnation of Shiki (from SNK’s obscure Samurai Shodown 64). The standard set of characters has a number of stalwarts such as Iori, Kyo, Ryu, Ken etc. a smattering of Samurai Spirits, and a splash of Warzard. You can’t complain when some of the most distant memories in fighting game history are dusted off and given new life. The animation for these characters is often great, and it quickly hits you that the visual style is also close to the King of Fighters series; its dark palette contrasting sharply with Capcom's versions of the encounter. Instead of the typical primary gaudiness, we get the grittier and more aggressive palette associated with SNK's creation. A neat touch and a real distinguishing feature.

What you can complain about are the timing and the priorities. For starters, hit boxes are slippery things; one minute a simple punch to the face will connect at the end of its extension, the next it will miss completely, simply because your opponent has started a few frames of his or her next animation. Specials suffer in particular, with priorities being cancelled-out by the weediest of punches or the meekest of light kicks.

This headache-inducing error is compounded by the warped priorities certain characters have over others. Shin Gouki, for example, is as powerful and awesome in the right hands as ever, but retains his double air fireballs – fine in a game like Street Fighter Zero 3 - which features aerial blocking - but ridiculous in one where the feature isn’t present. Some of the other hidden characters are similarly well-endowed, with Demitri and Zero in particular becoming machines of apocalyptic destruction. Not only are these characters’ moves stronger, faster and connect over larger distances than most others’, they also have higher priorities. Although less common, the standard lineup has its share of uber-men on the bench, with Iori a notable culprit.

Where the game does get it right is in range, selection and general fan service. Not only does it have a wide range of disparate and interesting characters to choose from, they retain their personalities, even when redrawn. The backgrounds are generally average, but have a tendency to grow on you due to their subtle minimalism, and the tunes are insidious, as well. After a while, you’ll find a few of them on a loop in your head.

On the whole, though, the game is completely average. As it retains none of the high standard of precision on show in Capcom and SNK titles of old, it is useless for tournament play, losing the so-called ‘hardcore’ vote immediately. Visually, the game loses a lot in transition to the PS2: as with Metal Slug 3 before it (a much more successful conversion, it must be said), the move to a higher resolution merely highlights the pixels instead of adding a much needed next-gen gloss. Even though you can select to run at the Neo's native resolution, this is hardly a solution to the problem - that could only be achieved by re-drawing the sprites. What looked so progressive on ageing, yet valiant, hardware merely looks decrepit on Sony’s Millennial kit. The addition of a 'Gallery' mode is hardly compensation.

With the platform already host to some fine examples of Capcom and SNK fighting games, SVC Chaos is one for the fans and the nostalgic. What can be considered an extravagance on the Neo Geo can be seen merely as an odd – if mildly diverting – title on a modern console.