When Capcom hit upon the idea of creating crossover fighters with 1996's X-Men vs. Street Fighter, it kicked into motion a series of games which would include some of the best brawlers in the business – including Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.
The Japanese giant hasn't produced another crossover fighter since the divisive Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, and fans have taken it upon themselves to fill the void.
Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you Sega vs. Capcom: The Next Level (thanks, Event Hubs). This fan project has been in development for quite some time, and Madxruler has just released its first playable demo.
Like the games which inspired it, Sega vs. Capcom: The Next Level is a 2v2 fighter which allows you to select two characters who can be tagged in at any point.
It uses a four-button setup, and will include the likes of Ryu (Street Fighter), Morrigan (Darkstalkers), Batsu (Rival Schools), Akira (Virtua Fighter), Axel (Streets of Rage), Linn Kurosawa (Alien vs. Predator), Vyse (Skies Of Arcadia) and Sakura (Street Fighter). At present, though, the only two playable fighters are Mega Man (from the X games) and Sonic the Hedgehog.
The demo has Arcade, Practice, Versus, Arcade Co-op and 4-player Cross Fever modes, and there's space on the game's main menu for more content, too.
The question is, will the developers get the chance to flesh this one out? Sega and Capcom may take a dim view of such a project – even if it's totally non-profit and done purely out of love – and step in to close it down.
Fingers crossed the talented team behind Sega vs. Capcom: The Next Level get the chance to keep working on this title, as it's looking incredibly promising indeed.