There was a lot to enjoy for those who were prepared to leave aside its perceived 'shortcomings' (butchered movelist, simple mechanics, obviously Capcom-biased gameplay) and enjoy it for what it was, rather than feel disappointed for what it wasn't - its beautiful presentation and the sheer thrill of seeing Ryu take on Iori, or Chun Li fighting Mai was enough for a lot of us. After all, the vastly reduced movelist never diluted the enjoyment to be had in the transition from Street Fighter Zero 3 to Street Fighter 3, and the simple mechanics, while being far removed from the sophistication of Super Street Fighter 2 or King of Fighters, seemed like an upgrade to the always-enjoyable Zero series - in any case, it was hardly a Marvel vs. Capcom style no-brainer. The Capcom gameplay bias is more difficult to defend to those who prefer SNK's take on fighting - the game undeniably played like a pure Capcom fighter, with none of the sophisticated running or dodging techniques which SNK had developed.

So, the criticisms from the 2D hardcore stand; regardless of how great a game the original was in its own right, it's obvious that a lot of people were disappointed with how far removed it was from the franchises which spawned it, so what have Capcom done this time around to address those criticisms? In Capcom's own opinion, this game is a high-water mark in terms of their game design. Recent interviews with the firm suggest that, while they aren't planning to stop making 2D fighters altogether, this one might be the last for a long while, and as a result they've thrown everything they have at the project and made it as complete and comprehensive as they possibly can.

The roster of characters from both sides has been extended (new players include Yun from Street Fighter 3, Hibiki from Last Blade and Haohmaru from Samurai Spirits), the number of fighting 'Grooves' has been tripled and extensively overhauled to ensure that this time they are significantly different, gone is the four-button system from the first game to be replaced with Capcom's signature six-button system - this is obviously not a simple rehash of the original game.

The most obvious difference in the games is in the presentation. Capcom vs. SNK 2 reeks of polish; you can't do anything in the front end without some commentary from the announcer, there is always something happening onscreen. The menu screens are easy to navigate - the language barrier is minimal, as although descriptions of items appear in Japanese, the main options are all in English. There are no surprises in the game modes available (arcade / vs / survival / training), but it's nice to see the new options available for arcade play - you can play a 'ratio' match like the first game (more on this below), or settle for a ratio-free King of Fighters-style three-on-three match, or a Street Fighter style one-on-one battle. Sadly there is still no Tag-Team option, but the options available will extend the lifespan of the game significantly, and the one-on-one mode especially is something the first game was crying out for. There are problems with these modes in characters' relative difficulties (particularly in one-on-one mode, in which, given only one attacking character rather than three, the last bosses are all-but unbeatable compared to the other fighters - King of Fighters players will be used to this phenominon), but nevertheless, Capcom are to be applauded for including the option, as sometimes all you want is to take one character to victory, never mind his two team-mates who you never want to use.

The main focus of the game remains the ratio battle, which has been updated nicely for the new release. Previously in Capcom vs. SNK, a player was given four ratio points, and had to select from a cast of characters whose value was predefined, from the Dhalsims and Blankas at one point, to the Evil Ryus and Orochi Ioris at four points. The main problem with this system was that one-pointers like Dhalsim, once mastered, were way overpowered, with the ability to take down four-pointers like Evil Ryu with an absolute minimum of difficulty. This game redresses the balance by allowing you to pick your characters, and then define your own ratios; so, it's possible to pick only one character and make him a ratio four player (whoever it is - from Rugal right down to lowly Hibiki), or three players at lower ratios (again, whoever they are - you can have Rugal, Shin Gouki and Vega all on the same team). While this does even things up somewhat to what has gone before, it still doesn't feel quite right compared to the ratio-free variations of the game, and there will still be moans from many players about the system; a ratio four player can quite easily take down a ratio one player in four or five hits, and given the replenishing energy at the end of a bout for the winner, three weak players stand virtually no chance against one very strong player. In actual fact, it's conceivable that most players will ditch the ratio game in favour of the three-on-three and one-on-one modes as simpler and fairer games.

At the start of the game, like at the start of the last game, you choose your 'groove'. The groove is the fighting style, and defines which features your character will be able to use in the course of the game. In the original, you could choose only Capcom or SNK grooves, and the main difference was how the super-bar was charged. The systems in this game are much, much more far-reaching, and are probably the single biggest improvement in this game over the last one. There are now three Capcom grooves (C, A and P) and three SNK grooves (S, N and, not surprisingly, K).

The features which come with the various grooves include air-blocking, dashing, running, parrying, small jumps, tactical get-ups, safe falls, and basically all the innovations which Capcom and SNK have made in the last four or five years. Similarly to the original game, the Groove also defines how your super-bar behaves. The important thing is, not all features are available to all grooves - for example, C groove is a basic Capcom groove which gives you access to dashing, air-blocking and a basic three-level super bar, while K is a complicated SNK groove which, while lacking the dashing and air-blocking, allows the player to 'just-defend', small-jump and make use of Garou: Mark of the Wolves' super-bar system. All the grooves have a reference point, so none of them will feel too strange to seasoned players - 'C' groove corresponds to Capcom Groove from the first Capcom vs. SNK, 'A' groove is based on V-Ism from Street Fighter Zero 3, 'P' groove comes right up to date, being very clearly based on Street Fighter 3 - similarly with the SNK grooves, 'S' is a basic SNK Groove from the original game which corresponds to Extra Mode from King of Fighters '98, 'N' is Advanced Mode from King of Fighters '98, and 'K' is again up to date, coming from Garou: Mark of the Wolves. The grooves are very, very well implemented and make the game feel much more familiar than the last one - whichever is your favourate 2D fighter, you should be able to pick a groove which corresponds to it and feel instantly at home with the game as a result.

It's difficult to say whether the return of the six-button system is entirely a good thing - the four buttons used in the original Capcom vs. SNK were an acquired taste, but went some way towards making the game feel original, and slightly less Capcom-flavoured, forcing seasoned Capcom players to find new ways to do things. In this edition, the light/medium/fierce attacks are all back, present and correct, and while this makes the game feel more familiar to old hands, it loses some of the unique feel which the first game had. Obviously, it will also require those more used to SNK's characters to, once again, come to terms with a new system - while their cast list and move lists are much improved on those of the first game, the only thing which was familiar to SNK gamers - the four attack buttons - have been scrapped and replaced with Capcom's system. Obviously, the other disadvantage to this system is that it renders the game unsuited to the standard Dreamcast controller - while it's still playable, the game will be at its best with an arcade stick, or controller with six face buttons. This problem is compounded with a team-style game, as with a one-on-one game, you can easily identify which buttons are used less frequently with your single character - with a team game, assigning the light kick to the right shoulder button might be suitable for Ken and Ryu, but will not necessarily be so for Iori or Chun Li.

The game looks beautiful - it's almost a best-of-all-worlds, with a lovely intro and active, kinetic front-end, character graphics on par with the first game (which, while looking better than the vast majority of Capcom's output, are sadly still noticeably lo-res), and, most impressively, fantastic polygonal backgrounds. While these backgrounds don't quite match some of Capcom's other work (most notably, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and particularly the stunning Gigawing 2), this is clearly the way ahead for 2D fighting games; while the latest generation of hand-drawn backdrops as seen in the last Capcom vs. SNK, Garou: Mark of the Wolves and King of Fighters '99 are still good-looking, the polygonal backgrounds in this game (which change from round to round, King of Fighters-style) seem to point to how these games will look from this point forward. SNK have used polygons in some of their Dreamcast ports, and it would be surprising if Capcom didn't choose to make all their games this way from now on.

So far so good. Inevitably, of course, there are problems. The sound is as solid and meaty as ever, but the music is decidedly ropey, having something of a cheesy disco feel to it - this comes as a disappointment after Capcom vs. SNK's bang up to date score. As already mentioned, despite the beautiful new backdrops, the character graphics are still distinctly lo-res and blocky, and a lot of the sprites look like they haven't changed for a long, long time (the Morrigan graphic in particular looks entirely out of place in the company of most of the other fighters). It would have been nice to see character graphics of the quality of the Street Fighter 3 games, although those on offer here are still significantly better than those from Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom, and certainly better than the graphics on SNK's Dreamcast ports (although Garou: Mark of the Wolves is yet to be seen).

As usual, the last bosses are awe-inspiringly difficult in comparison to the rest of the combatants - it can be galling to work your way through most of the game at a comfortable level then be comprehensively taken down inside five seconds by the way-too-difficult Shin Gouki (as mentioned before, this is particularly a problem in one-on-one mode, where there are not three members of your team on hand to dish out individual portions of punishment), and, by the same token, it's irritating to have to play the rest of the game at an easy level in order to stand a chance against the last boss. Of course, there are still going to be concerns regarding the roster as well - nobody will be satisfied at the cross-section chosen to represent Capcom and SNK; of course, some people would have preferred to see Guy and Shingo than Evil Ryu and Chang. Others would say, bollocks to Guy and Shingo, where are Ibuki and Kaede? Given the number of fighters available to the designers, however, it's fair to say that there was not a 'right choice' of fighters, and the selection on offer here is a good deal more comprehensive than that of the first game.

Popular opinion of this title seems to be higher than the opinion of its much-maligned big brother; Capcom gamers are happy at the new grooves and return of the six-button system, SNK gamers are happier at the new characters, new grooves, new moves. Fundamentally, while for the hardcore this game is probably still not quite up there with the ultra-refined likes of Street Fighter Zero 3 or Garou: Mark of the Wolves, it's still a great, great piece of software, and a testament to how far the 2D fighting genre has advanced in the last few years (despite what some might say). It's a fantastic way to complete the Dreamcast's 2D lineup, and a fantastic way to (hopefully) kickstart the PS2's 2D lineup; the sheer style of this game might just be enough to attract a new breed of Playstation gamers to the simple pleasures of 2D fighting. Capcom have obviously given their all to this project, and should be acclaimed for the massive advances they've made on the first game. While current speculation suggests that Capcom will now take a sabbatical from the 2D fighter, the quality of this title suggests that there's life in the old genre yet, and will inspire those who appreciate this kind of thing (and maybe those who never did before, but respect it a bit more now) to look forward more than ever before to the day that Capcom start thinking about their next generation of 2D fighters.