SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos review: top-tier kusoge

SVC Chaos isn't the best crossover fighter, but it has the potential to be a lot of fun.

SVC Chaos / SNK

SNK vs. Capcom is back, with rollback netcode, all of your favorite characters, and a brand new training mode to work on those combos. On paper, it’s everything every retro fighting game fan wants in 2024. In practice, this is SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, one of the most maligned crossover fighters to ever include Ryu. Someone at SNK was clearly hoping that, with all the demand for Marvel vs. Capcom, the fans would settle for Choi Bounge instead of Wolverine.

SVC Chaos is a bit of a mess, honestly. There’s a thankfully large cast – though a fair few are “hidden characters” that you have to hold a button to reveal – but there’s no cohesion at all, in almost any regard. It’s unbalanced, the sprites all look like they’re from different generations of games, and even though an online mode is present, it’s pretty tough to find people to play with.

Let’s go one by one. Fatal Fury’s Kim Kaphwan has a beautiful idle animation where his baggy trousers flow as he bounces about. It’s the kind of detailed sprite work that SNK became iconic for in the ‘90s. That same detail and style is basically absent from the rest of the cast. Some of the sprite work is good, but it’s too uneven. Many characters appear ripped out of previous games with minor adjustments, including the same slower animation style. It can feel more like a fan-made Mugen game than a professionally-made fighter.

SVC Chaos character select. / SNK

It almost feels thrown together with little thought, and that extends to the fighting, too. I do love to feel powerful in a game, but after picking up Red Arremer and going online, I realized that boss characters should probably be nerfed, though I am happy that hidden characters are unlocked by default. Red Arremer’s three separate types of projectiles can shut down almost any playstyle, while Violent Ken and Shin Akuma are just better than their less-growly variants. As a result, it’s hard to take the game seriously, and that’s where the fun begins. 

This is a game for the fighting game nuts. It’s not a casual experience, and frankly, most casual players don’t know who Genjuro Kibagami is anyway. It’s not Marvel, basically. It’s a weird, disjointed experience that allows you to do very silly things, and that’s all it should be taken as in 2024. It’s the kind of game that will allow fighter fans to get together with friends and laugh in a Discord chat as they test all the ways in which this game is both totally broken and surprisingly fun.

SVC Chaos artwork. / SNK

We just need more people playing online first. Even in the first few days after launch, online players were fairly sparse, and although we have rollback netcode, some connections were more unpredictable than others. When you do set up and have games with someone though, it’s good, dumb fun. Silly characters, dumb combos, hitboxes that just don’t make sense – it’s all here. 

It’s never going to be on the main stage of Evo, but SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos is fun for fighting game fans who don’t take themselves too seriously. Jump into online lobbies while playing as a boss character and you’ll see exactly what I mean. 

Score: 6/10

Platform: PS4