Capcom veteran Itsuno says he wants to make Capcom vs SNK 3, even though he now works for neither
The Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma lead was also the director of Capcom vs SNK 2
Veteran Capcom director Hideaki Itsuno says he’d love to make another Capcom vs SNK game, even though he currently works for neither company.
Itsuno left Capcom last year after a 30-year stint at the company, during which time he was director on such games as Devil May Cry 2-5, Dragon’s Dogma 1 and 2, Rival Schools, Project Justice and Power Stone 1 and 2.
Itsuno was also the designer of the first Capcom vs SNK, and went on to direct the crossover fighting game’s sequel Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001.
In a new interview with VGC, Itsuno said that although he’s now in charge of a new Tencent-owned studio called Lightspeed Japan, he’d still love to work on a new Capcom vs SNK game given the chance.
“I do want to make a fighting game like Capcom vs SNK, but now I’m neither Capcom nor SNK,” he said. “If they license it to me, though, I want to make Capcom vs SNK 3. I want to make a fighting game, and it’s at the top of my list of games I want to make.”
Referring to last year’s Dragon’s Dogma 2, he added: “I do want to make an RPG too, but I just made one, so it’s not like I want to make one right now. Maybe after some time.”
Street Fighter developer Capcom and King of Fighters developer SNK joined forces at the turn of the millennium to release four crossover games featuring characters from each others’ fighting series.
The first was SNK vs Capcom, an SNK-developed fighting game for its Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld released in 1999. This was followed in 2000 by Capcom vs SNK, a Capcom-developed arcade fighter which featured 16 fighters from each side.
The Itusno-directed Capcom vs SNK 2 came the next year, boasting a roster of 44 fighters and using the traditional six-button fighting system seen in the Street Fighter games (as opposed to the first game’s SNK-friendly four-button system).
The last game in the series, SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos, allowed SNK to release an arcade fighter of its own, meaning it played more like its King of Fighters and Fatal Fury games than Capcom’s Street Fighter series.
Both Capcom vs SNK games were re-released in Capcom Fighting Collection 2 last year, alongside other Itsuno-directed games like Power Stone 1 and 2, and Project Justice.
Although there hasn’t been a new Capcom vs SNK game in the 24 years since, there have been some one-off character crossovers. Most recently, Terry and Mai from SNK’s Fatal Fury series were added to Street Fighter 6 as DLC fighters, while Ken from Capcom’s Street Fighter was added to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves in return, with Chun-Li following this Winter.
