But if online gaming is to successfully settle into the hearts and minds of the whole gamut of console gamers, then the games need a differential to what is on offer with PC online gaming. Whilst titles such as Moto GP 2, Mech Assault and Unreal Championship were all created especially for the X-Box console, each have a decidedly PC feel that may alienate those players who solely focus on console gaming and seek different experiences from their titles. Xbox Live needs to embrace the established arcade concepts that console gamers traditionally yearn for, in order to appeal to this section of gamesplayers. The drift-based racing game, the vertical shooter and, the mainstay of arcades of the last the decade, the beat-em up. Enter Capcom, the company responsible for resurgence of arcades in the early nineties. Can they perform similar feats with Xbox Live?

As a conversion of the original NAOMI arcade game, there is little to fault with the Xbox port. All of the characters, fighting grooves and hidden extras are present and correct, and full details of the game system can be found in NTSC-UK’s review of the Dreamcast version. Granted, this means that any problems that can be levelled at the arcade original are also valid in this conversion. However, some concerns about dubious character balance and lacklustre character sprites aside, there is little to fault with Capcom Vs. SNK 2, and everything that made the game a joy to play on the Dreamcast is present here. It is one of the premier examples of the 2D beat-em up in recent years and was probably Capcom’s best option to test the online potential of the genre.

Whilst the success of the conversion may be somewhat expected, considering the Xbox hardware is many times more powerful than the Dreamcast-based NAOMI board, anyone who has had experience with the somewhat disastrous PS2 conversion will attest that more power does not equate a perfect conversion. Yet, whilst the PS2 port was hampered with long loading delays and poorly defined character sprites, the Xbox doesn’t seem to be hindered with such problems. Loading times between fights is non-existent and many of the characters look incredibly sharp and well-defined when placed against the 3D stage backgrounds. Certainly, the muted colouring and fuzziness (as the edge of the sprites clashed with the 3D backgrounds) that plagued the PS2 game are absent here.

Granted, certain sprites are looking a little worse for wear after ten years of use with little or no graphical touch-up, yet these issues were also present in the arcade iteration of the title, so can be forgiven when viewed in the context that Capcom’s aim was to perfectly port, rather than significantly enhance, the game.

Yet despite this ethos, Capcom have seen fit to make one addition to the game, or more accurately, carry over an addition from the GameCube conversion.

The more astute and devoted Street Fighter players may have felt a shiver run down their spine upon reading the title above, due to the inclusion of the dreaded letters ‘EO’. Initially an inclusion for the GameCube port as a means of overcoming the less than fighter friendly controller of that console, EO-ISM was originally an abbreviation of ‘Easy Operation’ and whilst, for this Xbox iteration, it has been altered to ‘Extreme Offence’, the implementation of the system is identical. The mode replaces the standard 6-button Street Fighter control system with a slightly cumbersome and less accurate control scheme involving the use of both analogue sticks and the pressure sensitive trigger buttons.

Instead of different buttons relating to different strengths of punch and kick attacks, L and R are assigned to punch and kick attacks respectively and, perhaps in a nod to the pressure sensitive pads on the original Street Fighter arcade machine, exerting different levels of pressure on the triggers will result in different strength attacks. The execution of special moves has also been simplified, as they are now assigned to the right analogue stick, as opposed to the standard rotation and charge commands that players will be used to.

Whilst the theory is sound on a technical level, in practice the on-screen results lack the necessary accuracy required for successful beat-em up technique. Even the most basic combo attacks become a challenge to perform as you struggle with the triggers in exerting the right amount of pressure to perform that elusive couching forward kick. Considering the Street Fighter and King of Fighters series of games have prided themselves on precision control and perfect execution, the thinking behind the EO system is baffling. Developers like SNK or AM2 have never felt the need to ‘cheapen’ their respective franchises by adding what is essentially a beginner’s mode, so why did Capcom? And who is the system aimed at? The die hard Street Fighter contingent will be loathe to switch from the tried and tested 6-button control scheme, whilst the lack of scope in the EO mode means that even beginners are advised to avoid it if they truly want to play at a competent level and develop as a player.

Whilst the EO system can be chalked-up as a failed experiment, the leap into the online world, whilst not without its problems, can be considered successful.

Unfortunately, initial online impressions are less than favourable, as Capcom have added only the very bare bones of a front end to their online environment. Along with the usual ‘Quick Match’ (pairs you up with another player using default settings), ‘OptiMatch’ (allows you to search for matches under specific Territory, Game Mode and Voice Chat criteria) and ‘Create Match’ options, the only other choice available to you is some rudimentary ranking tables where the criteria for gaining places is so obscure, your positioning can seem almost random.

In fact, finding a match in the first place can prove difficult. Remember the difficulty you first had trying to perform Akuma’s Raging Demon all those years ago? Sometimes it feels harder just finding an opponent in this online world. The game hasn’t got any lobby function, or any other way of seeing how many people online looking for a fight. You could be waiting amongst 200 other players, all eager to mix it up, yet unless someone actually creates a match, you don’t know who is there. What results are periods of frustrated boredom consisting of constant flicking between different servers in the desperate hope of finding any other sign of life.

But once the online play starts, the results can prove to be a positively exhilarating experience. Anyone who witnessed the Street Fighter 2 arcade boom in the early nineties will know of the excitement that comes from facing a constant stream of ever-changing competition. Such times seem to have sadly passed (in the UK at least) yet the online technology has the capacity to recreate something similar. Certainly it’s been said that the only way to truly develop with a fighting game is against human competition, and what better competition than potentially the whole world? Every fight becomes a matter of great importance, and the thrill of emerging victorious from a close bout feels all the more satisfactory against a fellow player than any restrictive AI opponent. Likewise, even losses can prove to be strangely uplifting. Seeing where you went wrong and learning new strategies and techniques from opponents’ play allows you to develop much more than the basic Training Mode will allow.

Unfortunately, the online aspect can be let down when the issue of lag comes into play. Twitch gaming requires constant control over the action, and even a half-second delay can prove disastrous. A defeat due to being outplayed, whilst not ideal, can prove to be character- building, yet to lose a match due to a delay between entering a command the result happening on screen is infuriating and deflating. Whilst always a problem, the impact lag has differs dependent on which groove players use. Certainly P groove players may find the necessary timing required for the Parrying and Super Cancelling techniques that form the basis of their style will be greatly affected. Admittedly, occurrences are rather sporadic. Stick to domestic servers and the experience is likely to remain largely lag free, yet this almost completely destroys the potential that online gaming can offer this genre. The opportunity to challenge the best opponents Japan and the US can provide is rendered obsolete when fights outside the domestic sphere are a laggy, juddering mess.

Yet (strangely) the problems that occasionally occur online are ultimately forgotten in the midst of combat. Once lost in this game’s world, dedication takes on a whole new meaning, as you genuinely see improvements in your performance the more time you devote to playing. Lost amongst the Hadoukens and Spinning Bird Kicks, minutes turn into hours and one more go becomes another 20 game marathon against an unseen, yet equally dedicated, player. This is when you realise exactly why you got into gaming in the first place. It matters not that, graphically, it lacks the polish that some may expect from current generation titles; this is competitive gaming in its purest form.

As a test bed for the potential of online fighters, Capcom Vs. SNK 2 can be considered a success. Maybe to be expected, the online aspects are not without their problems, yet there are no issues evident that further tightening of Capcom’s netcode couldn’t fix and solid foundations have now been laid for any future plans Capcom have in this area.