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Sometimes, I'm amazed at the trouble developers went through to port certain fighting games to the PS1. For example, the Marvel vs. series practically sacrificed the tag team fighting, which is, you know, the main reason to play those games. The only team fighting you can do on the PS1 is through the "crossover" mode where you play against the same characters you chose for yourself.
This port of Capcom vs SNK came out in August of 2002! By this point, Capcom vs SNK 2 was out, and so were many of its ports. The fact that CvS exists on the PS1 is baffling, but strangely, this was pretty close to nailing what the game is supposed to be.
There's no tag team fighting to sacrifice here, but corners still had to be cut somewhere. This led to some classic loading screens for this port. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the art for this game, but boy, is it annoying to win a match, and then wait...win, then wait...finish a fight, then wait again...I get it, this is how numerous fighting games were on the PS1, but that's not all. The sound effects are plain ugly in this version of the game. Finally, some animations had to be simplified, meaning that sprites had to be cut out.
I'm sure there are other fine details I didn't mention, but what really matters it the core gameplay. How is it? Well...it's fine. The roster itself always felt more like "Street Fighter vs King of Fighters" - but as far as the gameplay goes, it's good, you get to make some dream teams out of the roster.
Before choosing your characters, you have to choose the Groove that you'd like: Capcom or SNK style? Picking Capcom essentially has you playing like you're in Street Fighter Alpha (gradually filling the power meter, dashing, etc.), and SNK will feel more like early King of Fighters games (you can charge the power meter, you can roll, etc.)
There's also the Ratio system. No, you're not dunking on someone for saying something stupid on Twitter here. Ratio refers to the strength characters have. More Ratio means a more powerful character. The total Ratio your team can have is 4, and that's part of my problem with the system. If the game let you choose the Ratio number for your characters, I'd be fine with it, but the game itself sets what characters are strong, mid, or weak. Luckily, the sequel does give you more freedom in that regard. There's also the Pair Match mode where everyone's Ratio is set to 2.
The stages are mostly just there in this game, there's no real fancy intro to them since we're talking about the PS1 version now. I just wish the stages felt a bit more alive. The soundtrack's good, it features some classic songs along with some cool original tracks.
As for the big bosses, you have M. Bison and Geese representing their sides. There are hidden characters like Akuma and Evil Ryu, as well as hidden opponents like Nakoruru and Morrigan. There also two characters added to this port: Joe and Dan! Well, Joe is cool, at least. Dan is just a geek.
I know it's old news, but I am somewhat disappointed with the amount of Capcom characters that have recycled sprites from the Street Fighter Alpha series. Morrigan, in particular, is an impressive case of lazyness. She looks the same in this game, in Darkstalkers, Marvel vs. games, and even in Capcom Fighting Evolution.
All of that said, this port seems like an honest effort, but it was too late, and too inferior to the Dreamcast port.
