SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter’s Clash brings back one of the classic games of the Neo Geo Pocket Color to Switch, a title that combines two of the biggest fighting video game companies… in a card duel? And, contrary to what you might expect, this is one of the best games on the portable console.
The Neo Geo Pocket Color was a video game console that was released by SNK in the year 1999 in Japan, the United States and Europe, however, it did not have the same impact on the market as the GameBoy Advance (his main competition). Despite this, he had amazing games like metal-slug from Nazca Corporation and SNK, sonic the hedgehog from SEGA or even Pac Man from namco.
SNK knows the quality of his console, that’s why he brings SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter’s Clash, a role-playing title with card fights that surprises for its high quality, mechanics that make it accessible and deep at the same time.
If you are a fan of franchises like Magic: The Gathering or Legends of Runeterra, you will feel at home. But, if you wonder: ‘How well do you play a title from more than 20 years ago?’ In this review we tell you.
How about playing SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter’s Clash?
SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash It originally came out in 1999 for the handheld console. SNK with a couple of simple but effective mechanics that have stood the test of time. At the beginning, you will have to choose two types of card decks inspired by one of the two franchises, each with 50 elements chosen at random.
After that, you jump directly to the ‘main story’ in which you have to win the regional card tournament. But how to do it? are you going to have the ‘heart of the cards’ from your side? Or will your grandfather give you a special set with all five parts of Akuma? No. You will have to win games in the different locations to earn new cards, improve your deck and win the regional leaders.
Jumping right into the tutorial, each person starts with a five-card hand and three slots in which to place a fighter per turn. When the time comes, they put their cards to battle and the one with the most BP (Battle Points) will win the battle. The goal in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash for Switch is to empty the enemy field to attack the life points and reduce them to zero. Simple, right?
Well, if these were the only game mechanics I would have finished it in a couple of hours. Fortunately, the title is much more complex than ‘place your fighter with more BP and trust the heart of the cards, Yugi´.
SPs and their importance in combat
Each fighter card adds ‘sp’ to your counter, this will allow you to place more powerful fighters or special cards. The latter allow your deck to move faster or you can create more elaborate strategies.
Also, they may or may not synergize with your fighters, so you’ll have to select them carefully.
As we mentioned before, you will be able to use your SP to bring better fighters to the battlefield in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash for Switch. These powerful cards will not only help you fight, but can also be useful for creating more elaborate strategies.
To begin with, each fighter has the chance to ‘support’ to another card and create a more powerful character. Some of them even have special support skills, direct attack on the enemy or allow you to streamline your deck of cards.
The SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash
Now, that’s the build side of your deck of cards on SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash, combat-wise it’s a longer story. At the beginning we said that you have to defeat the enemy fighters and reduce the opponent’s life points to zero, but that’s where the other part of the gameplay begins.
Each fight allows you to make a series of decisions based on your strategy, the first one is: ‘Should I attack or not?’. Our fighters may not be strong enough to win a fight (even if we set up another card to support them), so defending may be an option.
If we attack and win, we run another risk: that we cannot defend ourselves against an enemy attack, because our cards ‘they get tired’ (Not all, but most of them). Here comes the second important question in combat: ‘Should I fight back or not?’. If we receive an attack, we can choose a fighter to block an attack and thus protect our life points (even if he may lose the battle) or take the damage to prepare a stronger offensive.
Whatever our decision, it could define our victory or defeat in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash.
It’s worth it?
Now, the question we can ask ourselves as an audience is: ‘Is it worth buying SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash for Nintendo Switch?’. This classic title Neo Geo Pocket Color continues to be a relevant game for both SNK as for fans of card games.
However, there are some details in the version for Switch that could have improved the experience, the first of which is the language. The video game is only available in English or Japanese, so if you don’t master one of the two languages… it will be impossible for you to enjoy this title.
Another important detail is that it does not have save points, the only way to save your video game in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash It’s through the main menu. But, the most important (or the one that I couldn’t fully engage with) was the screen resolution. From the outset, the title has a filter and a box that simulates being a Neo Geo Pocket Color, making it hard to enjoy in handheld mode (this can be tweaked but it doesn’t quite fix the problem).
Lastly, it does not have fast-forward, which makes it a slower game than it should be. However, the quality of its mechanics and its little more than 300 collectible cards of SNK Y Capcom, they make it a quite enjoyable video game.
Let’s play Snk vs. Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash with a code for Switch provided by a SNK representative in our region.
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