Capcom vs. SNK 2 : Millionaire Fighting 2001

Capcom vs. SNK 2 : Millionaire Fighting 2001 for Dreamcast is Capcom's 2001 2D crossover fighting game, released in Japan on September 13, 2001. It follows Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 and brings fighters from the Street Fighter, The King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, Final Fight, Darkstalkers, and other Capcom and SNK series into one tournament. The Dreamcast edition retains the Japanese subtitle Millionaire Fighting 2001; the game is known outside Japan as Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001.

Matches are fought one-on-one, but each side can assemble a team of up to three characters. Victory goes to the player who defeats the opposing team. The sequel reworks the earlier game's character-strength system with Free Ratio selection: a player has four Ratio points to distribute across the team. That permits a single powerful Ratio 4 fighter, a balanced pair, or a three-person lineup with differing strengths, health, and damage potential. Console modes also include options that change the team format, including straight one-on-one bouts.

The central strategic choice is the Groove selected before a match. Six Grooves, labeled C, A, P, S, N, and K, draw on ideas associated with several Capcom and SNK fighting games. A Groove determines the super gauge and grants access to particular movement and defensive systems, such as dashes or runs, guard cancels, parries, air blocking, and other techniques depending on the choice. Rather than changing a character's move list, this lets the same fighter be approached through different system rules, giving team construction an extra layer beyond the character select screen.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 uses the six-button layout of three punch strengths and three kick strengths familiar from Street Fighter. Its cast numbers 48 playable characters in the home versions, expanding the arcade selection with four additional fighters. Returning stars such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Kyo Kusanagi, Terry Bogard, and Mai Shiranui share the screen with representatives from series that had not been so prominent in the first game, including Final Fight's Maki and Garou: Mark of the Wolves' Rock Howard. Character-specific introductions and rival encounters add small touches to many matchups.

The premise frames the contest as a new million-dollar tournament after the prior Millennium Fight 2000 event. The Masters Foundation and the Garcia Financial Clique again stand behind the occasion, providing a setting for the two companies' fighting-game worlds to collide. Arcade Mode moves a chosen team through successive battles, with performance and conditions affecting the concluding sequence. Its climactic encounters involve Capcom's Akuma and SNK's Rugal, whose rivalry connects the tournament to the Satsui no Hado and Orochi power storylines.

This Dreamcast release arrived after the NAOMI arcade original and alongside the first Japanese PlayStation 2 edition. It includes home-oriented additions such as training features, color editing, unlockable material, and custom Groove options. Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 players in Japan could also compete through KDDI's Multi-Matching service. Later GameCube and Xbox versions appeared under the Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO name and introduced an Easy Operation control option, so the original Dreamcast game remains the Japanese Millionaire Fighting 2001 version rather than the EO revision.

For fans of Dreamcast fighting games, Capcom vs. SNK 2 : Millionaire Fighting 2001 captures a major meeting point between two influential 2D fighting traditions. Its large crossover cast, flexible Ratio allocation, and six-Groove system make each team selection a meaningful decision before the first round begins. The game was later included in Capcom Fighting Collection 2, preserving the arcade version for a newer generation while the Dreamcast release stands as an important Japanese home-console edition of the 2001 crossover.