It's a fighting fans dream to have their favorite characters from one series duke it out with another. Capcom vs. SNK 2 does what the first one did and ups the ante with more characters and grooves, but doesn't do too much new from the first.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 has enough modes for any fighting fan - Arcade Mode, Survival Mode, Training Mode, Color Edit Mode, and Replay Mode. The Arcade Mode lets you choose to play in Ratio Mode, 3 on 3 Match, or Single Match. In Ratio Mode players get to choose which fighter they want to be most powerful, instead of having the game assign power ratios like the first. 3 on 3 Match lets you fight King of Fighters style, and Single Match is 1-on-1 fighting.

There are 6 grooves to choose from - C, A, P, S, N, K. All contain their own specific advantages. For example A groove lets you perform a safe fall and the K groove lets you defend right before an opponent attacks to not take guard damage or be pushed back. The game also gives you options to speed up the fighting or tone damage down. The load times between rounds are very good - a mere 1 or 2 seconds.

There are 44 characters to choose from the get-go and more that can be unlocked. Evil Ryu and Posessed Iori make the cut, Haomaru and Nakoruru from Samurai Shodown get to slice their way into the mix, and Kyosuke from Rival Schools busts his way in as well.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 plays exactly like if you threw the Capcom combat system and SNK combat system together and balanced it so no one company dominated. The result is an engine that doesn't particularly excel in any one sector. Some characters have had their moves modified for balance which can upset the fighting flow of some players. For example, Chun Li's lightning kick range has been lessened and doesn't hit as many times. Also, her Tenshokyaku (kicking dragon punch) has been replaced with a less useful spinning bird kick. Sakura's fire ball has no reach no matter what strength you use to fire it out of her hands. Haohmaru's long reach has also been lessened and sports different animation for certain strikes. In other words, if you're expecting your favorite fighter to play like they do in their respected series, you might be disappointed.

The combo system is pretty basic in Capcom vs. SNK 2. The SNK fighters don't seem to flow as well as they would in their own series (Garou, King of Fighters, etc.), and traditional Capcom characters play just as they have years ago. There isn't anything wrong with the system, there's just nothing new with it.

There's a ton of character in each of the beloved Capcom and SNK characters. Some characters have intense rivalry like Kyo and Iori, and Terry and Geese. It's fun to watch each personality play off each other. Mai even sports a Chun Li costume in her intro to mock Chun Li when they bout each other.

The animation is good for each character, some better than others. But in order to get a decent amount of frames in for each character, Capcom had to shrink the data, then expand it to make for some pixilated sprites. The newer sprites look a bit cleaner than the old. But not one character has an overabundance of animation. The sound is good with plenty of yelps from each character, with updated intro and win phrases from the same voice actors.

The backgrounds have a new 3D look similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The effect is nice but most aren't all that eye-catching, and there aren't that many backgrounds to choose from.

It's great to have a ton of Capcom and SNK characters fight together. But the need to balance everybody and the been-there-done-that combo system takes the title a notch below the pinnacle of each company.