Capcom Fighting Collection 2 preview — A few ferociously fun fisticuffs

Capcom has made quite the comeback in recent years thanks in no small part to their huge legacy lineup being released on modern platforms. Ace Attorney, Mega Man, one-off arcade games, and even Marvel VS Capcom have all made returns thanks to the huge variety of collections released throughout the years. One strange omission in that time was any of Capcom’s 3D fighting fare or the SNK crossovers.

Enter Capcom Fighting Collection 2, a strong but small smattering of skirmishes. The full list of games is already out there if you’re interested in looking into it and they even come with new options. Capcom sent us a code early so we’ve been able to play the entire collection early, but today we’re just going to be chatting about three of the games on offer. Capcom VS SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro, Power Stone 2, and Plasma Sword. Our full review is coming later so if this preview burns your knuckles (or something like that), then stay tuned! But what are we feeling based on what we have played so far?

First up, we played a few rounds of CVS1. Of the three games in this preview, this was the most standard fighting game of the group with quarter circles, supers, etcetera. You’ll have to forgive my unfamiliarity with most of the roster as most of my exposure to SNK is from Super Smash Bros and internet osmosis. Fellow GT Editor Flynn and I had quite a few back and forths, having fun with the ratio system. Each character on the roster is worth a certain amount of “ratio” with weaker characters costing one and broken characters costing four. You have four ratio slots to fill so you can mix and match to make a diverse team of three, a decent duo, or a solo bruiser.

The balance of the game is clearly off but the ratio system helps in encouraging different combinations, but at the end of the day Evil Ryu destroys all with his extremely high damage output. Despite not being proficient at traditional fighting games, CVS1 was a good time but we definitely spent the least amount of time on it. However, during our preview time there was one game in particular that I was craving to re-experience: Power Stone 2.

The Power Stone duology is something I’m pretty familiar with, being a staple of kid Katelyn’s Dreamcast rental lineup - I even played the PSP version.. For those unfamiliar, the Power Stone games are arena brawlers often compared to a 3D version of Super Smash Bros.. They have funky items, stage hazards, and a fun roster of colorful characters. For this preview, Flynn and I utilized the collection’s online features to play in multiple ways.

You can set up a lobby to just do quick matches with a “best of” option, and play in the traditional arcade format. Along with the option to easily swap between the games and the different regional versions, it made playing the games not just convenient but really helped facilitate an almost “party game” vibe. We played a few standard matches, then switched to the co-op arcade mode, which sees you battling in 2 v. 2 matches as well as boss fights to escape a magical castle. It’s incredibly hectic, with some stages shifting more towards just surviving hazards than trying to fight each other, but that’s what makes the game a blast. Add in some healthy friendly fire, and you’ve got a game that is sure to kill at parties or friendly gatherings, now with some great online.

Finally, we played Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein, a game neither of us had heard of but it quickly became the star of the night. It’s something of a middle ground between Capcom Vs. SNK and Power Stone 2, having traditional fighting game controls while being weird, unorthodox, and a ton of fun. The game has a massive roster of sci-fi characters, each with their own weapons from knock-off lightsabers to futuristic yo-yos. It’s fully 3D too, similar to Tekken, where fighters can move in circles around their opponent with the press of a button. 

Neither of us really understood the nuances probably at play here, but the game was just so fun we kept going long after we stopped recording. The arcade-style of only being able to swap characters after you lose was a bit annoying, but each character we tried felt fun and stylish. Despite our love for Power Stone, Plasma Sword might just be the sleeper hit of the collection.

Every character has standard attacks mapped to (Xbox) X and Y button, a kick on B, and a dodge on A. With triggers serving as a somewhat unreliable counter, a short but strong grab, and one button supers, the fast pace of battles made this surprisingly technical and fun to mash. While there is definitely depth to be found, it was much more fun comboing, poking, and using the moonwalking alien Saturn to force the other player into a dance off.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is shaping up to be a great time so far. While CVS1 definitely didn’t appeal to our more casual fighting game skillset, Power Stone 2 and especially Plasma Sword have a lot to offer. There’s also the extensive galleries with art of all the different games, a music player, while offering a lot of replayability thanks to how quickly you can get in and out of games along with the online modes for every game in the collection. We look forward to fully covering every game in the collection once it launches but for now, we’re pretty positive on Capcom Fighting Collection 2.