ARTICLE

Electronic Eulogy: Capcom Fighting All-Stars

By Levi . August 28, 2007 . 1:30pm

Remember Capcom Fighting Evolution? Yeah, unfortunately, I do too. For those who don't know, Capcom Fighting Evolution is a 2D fighter by Capcom that features characters from various Capcom franchises. And it's…well, it's pretty awful. But it wasn't always that way. Originally, Capcom Fighting Evolution was 3D, and called Capcom Fighting All-Stars. Planned for the PS2 and arcades, Capcom Fighting Evolution featured characters from Street Fighter (Ryu), Street Fighter II (Chun Li), Street Fighter III (Alex), Street Fighter Alpha (Charlie), Final Fight (Haggar, Posion), Rival Schools (Batsu, Akira), and Strider (Strider Hiryu), as well as a few original characters, one of whom (Ingrid) eventually ended up in Capcom Fighting Evolution.

Capcom Fighting All-Stars was a 3D fighter, but retained the 2D gameplay mechanics of traditional Street Fighter games, with a few exceptions. There were only two punches and two kicks (as in Marvel vs Capcom 2), and there was a "wraparound" button. Wraparound worked kinda like rolls in KOF, but you could also do attacks in mid-wraparound. Capcom Fighting All-Stars sadly never saw the light of day, aside from a limited beta test. The game got almost universally negative feedback from playtesters, and was eventually canned in August of 2003. Sad, really. With some more work, Capcom Fighting All-Stars could have been a decent game. Really…how could any game with Haggar be bad?

The question that has to be asked, however, is "would Capcom Fighting All-Stars have been successful?". History shows us that Capcom's 3D offerings in the world of fighters haven't gotten stellar reviews, with a few exceptions (Project Justice being the most notable). In all likelihood, CFA would have been relegated to the status of "niche fighter". Probably would have ended up with a cult following simply due to it's cast of characters, which, admittedly, was it's strongest point. 3D fighters with 2D mechanics have never sold extremely well (look at KoF Maximum Impact and the Street Fighter EX series for proof of that), and CFA would have most likely been no exception. Still, it's a shame the game was never released. After all, the world needs as many games with Mike Haggar as humanly possible. Just like the world needs a new Bionic Commando game. But that's a story for a different post.

TAGS: Capcom, Electronic Eulogy, Playstation 2

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Savory

What a tease. When I saw the headline I thought Capcom was bringing CFA back. >:-(

Kolbe

Same here. It wouldn't be that good, that's true, but definitiely it would be much, MUCH better than Capcom Fighting Evolution.

So... is the fighting genre dead or is it just me? I mean, there are a few good fighters around, but some of then are walking questionable paths (Soul Calibur + ultra big boobs = no good). Some years back there were tons of fighters, speacially from Capcom. Not all were excelent, but they had at least one respectable feature that no other title had.

Ryu Kazama

D'oh! I got excited and thought the same thing!! I was eating ice-cream too and started scoffing it in excitement. Damn you!

Anyway, I actually thought it looked pretty decent in the footage that was shown. Obviously players didn't think so.

Kolbe: I would hardley say they're dead but, more they're not appealing to casual gamers anymore. Many are fixated on GTA-esque games or countles FPS titles. There's also the simple fact that beat 'em ups are getting more and more competative and too deep for most gamers to want to really play. Some just have a really high learning curve (VF) that puts people off, others get boring over time without playing it deeply (Tekken etc). I'd say there's just "too much" for the average gamer to want to bother with. And when it doesn't have a good, deep system, it gets played briefly. Oh, and license is a huge thing too. Street Fighter? Who cares (I for one freaking do, but just saying). King of Fighters? You mean Smash Bros? Gamers (the younger gamers especially) associate with licensed characters/brands. Smash Bros. already does well because we all know Mario and Pikachu. Naruto does well and gains attention because it's a big thing. DBZ, same thing. Simpsons Wrestling, same thing. They're big properties that appeal to people. Few recognise SF anymore. Some are still oblivious to the fact there is an SFIII (three versions even!).

devil king

Damn, I fell for it too!! Guess I'll wait for KOF XII.

thaKingRocka

too bad it never came out. no big deal though. we've been playing as haggar since sf2. he was reskinned and renamed. i remember the first time i played sf2 as zangief. i was happy to see my favorite final fighter made it in the game even if it wasn't really him.

btw, it's is a contraction of "it is". "its" is the possessive.

Spencer

@everyone - Sorry about the tease. :( The title was my idea on starting a series of articles about canceled video games. I should have went for Electronic Eulogy huh?

jeffx

Electronic Eulogy, yeah... cause I thought somehow this title was back on track. Either way, great idea for an article series, and I hope you will unearth some of the most obscure cancellations we've (never) heard about.

Hayama

2D fighting scene is saved by the Doujin scene in Japan... Melty Blood Act-Cadenza Version B, Akatsuki Blitzkampf, BigBang Beat, Eternal Fighter Zero and others game are really very good.

thaKingRocka

much better title, i initially thought the game was being resurrected as well.

Ryu Kazama

Would have been good for April Fools...

matty

I know Capcom can make a solid fighter, but they just got lazy with CFE.
All-Stars looked like it had potential.

Anyone heard or play that Project Justice-esque game Capcom released not to long ago?

Kolbe

Can you be a little more specific?

Nachomon

I think it had a better look than SF EX series. Maybe with some more initial characters, a best gameplay, Justice Gakuen-style, and a good bunch of secrets, it would have been a realy nice arcade fighting game.

Capcom has a few 3D fighting games, but the only real 3-D game was Power Stone series, and very funny! I have all them on my dear Dreamcast, with Star Gladiator, Kikaioh or Justice. No doubt, Justice was their best "3D" game.

IÂ´d have included Dante Sparda , Jill valentine, Nemesis, Megaman, Vanessa Z.Schneider, or Hayato as aditional characters. (dreaminÂ´is free, isnÂ´t?)