Capcom Fighting Evolution


Capcom Fighting Jam, released in the US as Capcom Fighting Evolution, is a 2004 head-to-head fighting game from Capcom. It was originally released as a coin-operated arcade game for the Namco System 246 hardware and ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game features characters from three different incarnations of the Street Fighter series, as well as characters from the Darkstalkers series and the CPS III arcade game Red Earth, with each character employing the fighting system from the game which they represent.

Gameplay

Capcom Fighting Jam features characters from the Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter III and Darkstalkers series, as well as the single game Red Earth. There are four selectable characters representing each series, excluding original character Ingrid and the boss characters Pyron and Shin Akuma. Each character uses a fighting system from the game which determines the techniques they can use and their super move gauge. Ingrid uses her unique fighting style with her own techniques, for a total of six fighting styles.
The game consists of two-on-two endurance-style matches similar to that of . The player selects a pair of character and then begins a match with one character. In the Japanese version of the game, if their current character is defeated for one round, then the next round will begin with the other character. In the North American version, the character can remain the same whether he or she wins or loses.

Characters

''Street Fighter II''

The Street Fighter II characters follow the playing style of Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Each Street Fighter II character only has a single-level Super Combo gauge that allows them to perform a Super Combo at MAX level. They cannot air block nor dash like other characters, but can stand up quickly when they fall to the ground. Unlike Super Turbo, each character has two Super Combo moves. Despite representing Street Fighter II, the graphics for Ryu and Bison are actually from their incarnation, while Guile is from Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Zangief received a new sprite just for this game.
The Darkstalkers characters have a three-level "Special Stock" gauge like in Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge, allowing them to perform ES Moves or EX Specials. They can also perform Guard Cancels and Chain Combos. Darkstalkers characters can air block and dash, as well as do standing-up attacks and move while they're down.
The Street Fighter Alpha characters have single-level Custom Combo gauge and can perform a specific Super Combo or a Custom Combo at MAX level. They can also air block and perform Alpha Counters or recovering rolls.
The characters from Red Earth have a Gem gauge which allows the player to stock up to two gems after the gauge fills up. When the player has a gem in stock, they can level-up their character and make them stronger or perform a Mystic Break. The Red Earth characters have a blocking technique called the "Ultimate Guard", which allows them to block all attacks without consuming energy. They can also follow an Ultimate Guard with an "Ultimate Counter".
The characters from Street Fighter III have a two-level Super Art gauge. Unlike in Street Fighter III, the characters in this game cannot select a Super Art before battle, but they have access to more than one Super Art as well as EX Moves, powered-up versions of their regular Special Moves. Players can also "parry" an opponent's attacks, which allows them to nullify one hit of an attack and usually slow down the attacker enough to allow the defender to make a quick counterattack.
Ingrid makes a return appearance in Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX for the PlayStation Portable; in that game, she is a time traveller who came to the time of this game in order to retrieve her power from M. Bison, who stole it and named it Psycho Power.

Bosses

Capcom Fighting Jam: Original Soundtrack, an officially licensed soundtrack of the game, was released on December 12, 2004 in Japan only. This album features the original music found in the game composed by Noriyuki Asakura. The first pressing of this album came with an exclusive mini disc that featured both the vocal and instrumental versions of Ingrid's Theme; 'Heat Haze' by Maiko Kubo. The cover artwork was done by Shinkiro.
  1. PLAYER SELECT
  2. VS SCREEN
  3. Severe Way
  4. GOES A SYOTEN-GAI!
  5. At ease!?
  6. To kill time
  7. Prospered fatherland
  8. The jungle of a jungle
  9. Night of Hong Kong
  10. WINNING DISPLAY
  11. CONTINUE
  12. NAME ENTRY
  13. RANKING DISPLAY
  14. GAME OVER 1
  15. HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER
  16. HERE COMES INGRID!
  17. Infinity Chamber
  18. Desperate struggle
  19. TRAINING STAGE
  20. GAME MENU
  21. ENDING
  22. STAFF ROLL
  23. GAME OVER 2

    Bonus Disc

  24. Heat Haze
  25. Heat Haze

    Reception

The game generally wasn't well received because all of the characters, except Ingrid, were copy-and-pasted from their respective games, where the Street Fighter II characters were taken from Capcom vs. SNK 2, but had drastically cut-down animation frames. Comparisons were instantly drawn to the similar Vs. Marvel and SNK series of games, and the gameplay of this newest fighter seemed to lack the finesse of previous games. Many series favorites such as Ken, Sagat and Morrigan were also relegated to background appearances or cameos in the endings, which did little to aid the game's popularity. The game also received criticism that certain moves that the characters originally had were not available to the player, which led to some backlash from fans of the games. The game enjoyed a brief period of competitive play in Japan, but was soon dropped from most major tournaments.
Producer Yoshinori Ono has admitted that the game was essentially a salvaged version of Capcom Fighting All-Stars, and has also stated how the crossover, mechanics, and inclusion of the various gameplay systems inherent to each series lead to balancing problems. Ono also said that he replaced another producer who had been in charge of the game's creation before leaving during the middle of its production.