This month we got ourselves another entry into the Neo Geo Pocket releases for the Nintendo Switch in SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash. But, unlike the other fighting game fare we’ve got over the past year or so, this one is something very weird and very special. It’s the one Neo Geo Pocket title that I’ve never played in any form, although I remember seeing in it magazines back in the day.
It’s a video game that played off the then current trend of the collectible trading card game format that Pokémon brought to the casual mainstream. It’s weird looking back on it now, but it seems that everyone not only had a card game releasing on the Game Boy Color, but them selling like hotcakes. Pokémon was already massive but even that series released the actual card game in video game form to great success. Yu-Gi-Oh was another popular one and then there are the dozens of others I can barely remember.
SNK sure as heck wasn’t going to miss out on this trend and they had their very own portable console to stick something pretty unique on. At the time the company was no stranger to crossover fighting games, but SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash still surprised a lot of people when announced. SNK joined together with Capcom and took characters from each company and turned them into hundreds of cute cards that you can battle others with. Recognizable characters in a recognizable format made for a winning combination, especially on the go.
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash keeps things pretty simple in terms of the game itself. You pick a deck from SNK or from Capcom and head out on an adventure. This is a nice addition as at the time games like these would usually release in two formats (think Pokémon Red and Blue) and you’d need to buy two games to get a complete experience. In fact, SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash actually did that back in the day because if you can make one game and sell it twice you better believe corporate will okay that.
Thankfully, this release of SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash gives you everything you need right in one cartridge saving you a bundle. Oh, and because everything here is in one place the team built in trade functionality between your saves which is damn cool for those looking to complete their card sets. Even cooler is the ability to link with Match of the Millennium like you could with the original game for some added bonus. In fact, there are a lot of cool extras added in this super affordable $8 release.
As for the game itself, you get around 300 cards to work with and each depicts a characters from one of the two companies, and not just from their fighting game brands. Gameplay has you exploring and traveling a world much like you do in Pokémon and getting into battles and earning new cards. Battles are super simple as you get three cards on the play-area at one given time. It might seem weird to have so few, especially when compared to other card games, but it still manages to be pretty deep as you get a lot of options to supplement these cards and are working with a small screen.
You gain SP when you place a card down and use those points up when you use Action Cards and attack your opponent. The bigger the attack the more points used. You can do something simple or save up and do a much stronger tag-team attack. After your turn you draw a new card to add to your hand and then keep playing cards working the opponents HP meter. You can think of it like a very lite version of Magic the Gathering. During your opponents turn you can take the hit or choose to counter an attack giving some added depth and a little control where you’d most likely have a dead turn. Once your or you opponents HP runs out the match is over.
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash is very simple to learn and quite addictive because of this. You want to explore new cards and what they can do. Seeing characters that you’ve known and played as for years is always a delight. And there’s just enough depth here to come up with all sorts of little strategies as you fight against new cards and collect new cards. And exploring is also a blast as locations in the world are all based on famous locations from SNK and Capcom. There’s a reason SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash is one of the most memorable titles released on the Neo Geo Pocket.
Even all these years later SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash hits all the right marks. Fans of SNK and Capcom are going to have a blast collecting cards of their favorites characters while card game fans are going to find something really easy to get into for some fun battles. A lot of time with releases like this you try to ignore that it came from a different era. You sometimes ignore issues in terms of gameplay and design because it was from another time. But you don’t have to do that with SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash. SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash was great yesterday, it’s great today, and it’ll be great years from now.
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash is a can’t miss title and if you are going to only pick up one of these Neo Geo Pocket releases, this is the one I’d recommend adding to your collection as it has the most longevity in terms of gameplay.
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash is as good today on the Switch as it was decades ago on the Neo Geo Pocket.
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