When including SNK and Code Mystics’ First wave belong to Color selection for NeoGeo bag release, we note that the real gem of the system library could not be found. A game that really justifies the existence of the handheld, aside from a fun way to play fighter on the go. SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters ‘Clash.
Now the wait is over.
Card Fighters ‘Clash was a 1999 release for NGPC, the result of SNK’s attempt to join the trading card game craze with a card RPG of its own. If you have played Pokemon Trading Card Game for Game Boy Color, you will probably find the structure here similar! You choose locations from the map menu, then walk around and challenge opponents for better cards and collect location coins.
Where Card Fighters ‘Clash distinguish itself? In the balance part of the card game. Since both SNK and Capcom are known for fighting games, the battles here are made to feel like a duel. It’s about getting hits and intelligently blocking others. It’s about gaining SP until you’re ready to use it in a Unite attack that tramples the opponent. And it’s also about backing up your active warriors with their companions to boost their power.
The game has two sequels: only for Japan Card Fighters 2 Extended Edition and the famous bug Card Fighters DS. Extend, via fan translation, can be very interesting! (And we’d love to see it released in the series!) But it cuts out a lot of the RPG parts of the original games. And even without the game-breaking bug, DS change the basic balance of the card game and don’t have the same magic.
The Color selection for NeoGeo bag version of Card Fighters ‘Clash there are a lot of elements you would expect from other releases in the line. Presentation? It’s the same, down to the filter, scaling and background selection. But there are a few things below that really make this release special.
The first is how Code Mystics builds the link functionality between your saves. You can trade and fight between SNK and Capcom versions of the game, though only saves on your own system. (We’d love to be online! Or even local wireless! But that’s a big step forward, we know.) This allows you to actually collect all the cards in a game. And hey, play against each player holding one side of the Switch? It’s also kind of interesting.
Monday? You can even use the “CFC Link” function with Battle of the Millennium, fight SNK and Capcom companion on the system. It’s a small thing! It only unlocks a few extra features. But that’s a great thing when it works.
That doesn’t mean it’s perfect! Notably, NGPC’s limited screen space means that useful information about card effects is just a button or two farther away than you’d like. It’s something we’d love to see addressed in a modern remake, but even with a simulation like this, we’d love to see it use the letterboxed screen area to display information as in Sega Ages titles. Second – and this is small but it pushes us up the wall a bit – the pixel effect filter doesn’t align as it should. This? This can easily be patched. But if Card Fighters ‘Clash filter like in other filter Option releases, Code Mystics and SNK certainly had a chance to fix it.
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters ‘Clash now available on Nintendo Switch eShop for $7.99. Than Color selection for NeoGeo bag releases, including Episode 1 compile, also available.
