Super Roster Maker - Capcom vs. SNK 3

Since the release of Capcom vs. SNK 2 in 2001, fighting game fans have been awaiting another entry in this highly regarded crossover series. With fighting game characters from both developers, who are well regarded in the genre, a game like this could draw attention towards projects from both developers, especially seeing how SNK is trying to make a comeback in recent years after not releasing many games in years prior. But with SNK having been out of the picture for so long, which of its characters could get the spotlight in this anticipated sequel?

That is what we will discuss in the topic of this Super Roster Maker, Capcom vs. SNK 3

For this roster, we will use the template used to create other SRM rosters, dividing the roster into four sections. Those four sections are The Icons (the most well-known mascot characters for the companies), The Fighters (popular or top-tier characters from the companies’ fighting games), The Stars (characters representing the companies’ current or future projects), and The Wild Cards (developer favorites, fan favorites, or characters with an experimental factor).

PART 1: THE ICONS

First up are the Icons. These are characters that represent the most well-known games from each studio. These characters have an iconic status to them that allows them to stand not just for their series, but for the company as a whole.

Capcom’s picks are:

Ryu (Street Fighter)

Mega Man (Mega Man)

Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)

SNK’s picks are:

Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury)

Nakoruru (Samurai Shodown)

Marco Rossi (Metal Slug)

PART 2: THE FIGHTERS

For this section, we return to fighting game site, Eventhubs (and the Shoryuken Wiki) to determine the currently post popular characters and the highest tiered characters to add to our roster. With four games per side and two characters per game, that will add another sixteen characters to the roster, with one of the games in question being Capcom vs SNK 2, the most previous game in the series we’re covering here.

Capcom’s picks are:

From Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Dante (Devil Mary Cry) and Zero (Mega Man X)

From Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite: Jedah Dohma (Darkstalkers) and Sigma (Mega Man X)

From Street Fighter V: Cammy White and Rashid

From Capcom vs. SNK 2: Ken Masters and Blanka (Street Fighter)

SNK’s picks are:

From The King of Fighters 13: King (Art of Fighting) and Kim Kaphwan (Fatal Fury)

From The King of Fighters 14: Iori Yagami and Benimaru Nikaido

From Samurai Shodown: Charlotte and Genjuro

From Capcom vs. SNK 2: Rock Howard (Garou: Mark of the Wolves) and Rugal Bernstein (The King of Fighters)

The sixteen characters listed here were at or around the top of their games’ popularity or tier lists. While Eventhubs didn’t have a tier list for Capcom vs SNK 2, the Shoryuken wiki did have a tier list that allowed us to pick our top tier pick, Rugal. With several crossover games on the list, that let us pick characters from many different series.

PART 3: THE STARS

Here, we are picking one character each from Capcom and SNK’s most recently released games (“recently” meaning within the last five years), not counting re-releases or compilations of older titles. However, since SNK has not released many games over the past few years, that means there were only four SNK series that qualified for this section. So to match, only the four Capcom games to receive the most recent entries will count here, making for a short Stars section this time.

Capcom’s picks are:

Nero (Devil May Cry)

Leon Kennedy (Resident Evil)

Bass (Mega Man)

Monster Hunter (Monster Hunter)

SNK’s picks are:

Haohmaru (Samurai Shodown)

Mai Shiranui (Fatal Fury)

Geese Howard (Fatal Fury)

Fio Germi (Metal Slug)

Most of the characters here are self-explanatory as reps for their series. Though two of them, Mai and Geese, are originally from SNK’s Fatal Fury, here they represent two of the studio’s most recent releases, The King of Fighters 14 and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy.

PART 4: THE WILD CARDS

Dev Favs: Vergil (Devil May Cry) and Kyo Kusanagi (Fatal Fury)

The Dev Favs are characters who are referred to or implied as being a relevant game developer’s favorite characters or from a developer’s favorite series. Our developer for Capcom is Hideaki Itsuno, developer of Devil May Cry V and former developer of Capcom vs. SNK 2, who states that Vergil is his favorite character from DMCV, adding him to the list. Our developer for SNK is Takashi Nishiyama, who spent a lot of time working on the Fatal Fury series, allowing for another of its important characters, Kyo Kusanagi, to enter the roster.

Fan Favs: Chun-Li (Street Fighter) and Ryuji Yamazaki (Fatal Fury)

In this self-explanatory section, the fan favs for Capcom and SNK are Street Fighter’s Chun-Li, who is listed as a top character on different fan polls for best Capcom characters, and Fatal Fury’s Ryuji, who made number one on an article ranking the best SNK characters (not counting ones that already made the roster earlier).

Experimental: Yellow Iris (Battle Circuit) and Athena (Athena)

For this segment, we’re taking a couple of lesser known characters that could have a new and interesting move-set created for them. This time around, we have player characters from classic beat-em-ups included in recent compilations of older games from both companies. Both of these characters could have moves inspired by their moves or items within their games and super moves could even reference or call in other characters from the games.

FINAL RESULTS

Capcom Characters: Ryu, Cammy, Rashid, Ken, Blanka, Chun-Li, Dante, Nero, Vergil, Mega Man, Bass, Zero, Sigma, Jill, Leon, Jedah, Monster Hunter, Yellow Iris

SNK Characters: Terry, Kim, Mai, Geese, Kyo, Ryuji, Nakoruru, Charlotte, Genjuro, Haohmaru, Iori, Benimaru, Rugal, Marco, Fio, King, Rock, Athena

Our roster has 18 characters per side, giving us a total of 36 characters; a bit small compared to previous games but consider this a re-entry into the series. Street Fighter and Fatal Fury have the most characters in the roster with six each, Samurai Shodown comes in second with four, and the rest have 1 to 3 characters. While previous games in the Capcom vs. SNK series limited their rosters to only fighting game characters, I decided to make this hypothetical game a celebration of both companies by including non-fighting game characters as well, like Capcom’s other Vs. titles.

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What did you think of this Super Roster Maker? What characters would you want to see in Capcom vs. SNK 3? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Small Framed

This is Assemble, where we look at several different characters across multiple series to form a perfect team-up. Whatever the case may be, whether it’s a fighting game roster or an RPG adventuring party, we’ll find the best team for the job. In a change of style from the more long-form articles featured here, these articles will be shorter entries, focusing on one or two characters each, and spread out over time until the complete roster is formed. 

What would a fighting game be without a roster of several different, powerful, and engaging characters? In this batch of articles for Assemble, we will be assembling a fighting game roster using characters from several different fighting games based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on where the characters fit in terms of game mechanics and their place in the story and world of the game. Only characters that originated in fighting games will be observed here. That means no guest characters, no licensed fighting games (unless their roster includes original characters), and no crossover titles. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games or characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss all the fighting games out there, there should be at least some variety from just the major titles.

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THE SMALL FRAMED

Size isn’t always everything.

The Small Framed is a fighter who is noticeably smaller than the rest of the cast, whether they’re a kid, an animal, or just a height-challenged adult, but can still effectively fight unassisted. They’re not piloting a robot or having someone taller doing the fighting for them, they are the ones out there dealing the damage. While they are more often found in crossover games, like with Servbot or Viewtiful Joe in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, some of these characters can be found in original fighting games as well.

Our choice for the Small Framed is…

Choi Bounge from The King of Fighters.

Choi is not the most popular character from the King of Fighters series, but in terms of fitting the role of a small, original fighting series character, he fits very well. This criminal and prison escapee is notably smaller than the rest of the KOF cast, but he is still able to bring the power with his Tae Kwon Do fighting style and a pair of Freddy Krueger-style knife-fingered gloves. He even has a palette swap outfit that gives him a striped shirt, which, combined with his hat and gloves, makes him look more like the titan of terror.

Are you ready for Fre… Oh, wrong series.

For not letting his lack of verticality get in the way of his physicality, we now add Choi Bounge to the roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. Thanks for coming.