See also:
- Anti-Climax Boss: Though not easy, both Athena and Red Arremer are considered easier than Serious Mr. Karate and Shin Akuma. This is mainly because they are easier to approach in close combat and are more gimmicky fighters (Athena's specials are almost all supers, and Red Arremer is a Bullet Hell style zoner). They do not have good reversal options for close combat. Both Serious Mr. Karate and Shin Akuma have a Shoryuken to punish close combat mistakes. Both have access to supers that don't cost meter like Athena, and have pretty good zoning like Red Arremer with Shin Akuma having his double aerial Hadouken and a cost-free super version of his standing Hadouken and Serious Mr. Karate having free Haou Shikou Kens (and triple versions of it). This difficulty drop can likely be explained by the fact that you only get one chance to defeat Athena and Red Arremer.
- Awesome Art: Amidst all the complaints about the game looking so-so, many can agree that the Capcom characters look very nice in this game. A particular standout is Demitri Maximoff, who sports a sinister redesign that some fans even prefer to his original one.
- Broken Base: While this game does not have the legacy or acclaim of Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium or SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium, there is a group of players who will argue that it does have merits, even compared to its contemporaries. For starters, SVC Chaos features unique pre fight dialogue for every single combination of playable characters, including the alternates (Serious Mr. Karate, Orochi Iori, Violent Ken and Shin Akuma). The playable cast also draws from more sources than other games in the series, with characters from Metal Slug, Athena, Mega Man Zero and Ghosts 'n Goblins making their versus series debut. Where the Broken Base comes in, is whether the game executes these concepts well, or if they make up for the rather divisive gameplay mechanics and visuals.
- Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game: The gameplay itself is seen as nothing special, but the game having dialogue for every possible matchup, including Mirror Matches, makes for a very entertaining playthrough, at the least.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Goenitz's Midnight Bliss design, who became known as Goeniko
among fans. The design was so popular that SNK would officially make her an independent character by sticking her in a KOF pachislot and the 98 UM Online mobile game. A similar feat would happen with the Midnight Bliss version of Terry, who was so popular with artists and cosplayers that she was added to SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. - Violent Ken first appeared in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, when Bison takes control of Ken's mind and makes him fight Ryu. In this game, he's a fully playable character for the first time. Many years later, he would appear in Ultra Street Fighter II.
- Goenitz's Midnight Bliss design, who became known as Goeniko
- Epileptic Trees: Some of Violent Ken's attacks spawn the signature skull pillar effect used by characters with Orochi power in the KOF series. This is never elaborated on.
- It's Hard, So It Sucks!: The game's arcade mode is infamous for it's difficulty. The AI (even for non-boss characters) tends to read commands, often perfectly timing supers and Anti-Air attacks. To get an ending requires beating the first seven stages with at least 5 super or exceed finishes and without losing a round (though you are allowed to use continues), and fighting 3 SNK Boss characters in a row at the end. The first one is on stage 7, so losing a round is not allowed, and the last one you only get one try to defeat them.
- Game-Breaker: Zero and Geese. Getting cornered against either of them is very hazardous to your health. Geese in particular is notorious for an extremely strong moveset with several easy and viable infinites.
- Harsher in Hindsight: Sagat's intro against Orochi Iori has him wonder if he's bound for a similar grim fate as Iori is. An already harsh and introspective (For this game at least) bit of dialogue becomes much worse when taking Sagat's Street Fighter V story into account, which reveals he's very susceptible to the Satsui no Hadou.
- Heartwarming Moments:
- Guile, Dhalsim and Ken's endings have them reuniting with their families after all of their fights.
- Shiki's ending has her finding and adopting a baby, who may or may not be her kid Mikoto.
- Guile
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Demitri's Midnight Bliss on Terry was the first appearance of his female form.
- Jerkass Woobie: Yeah, Kasumi, we know you miss your dad and you're looking for him, but does that license you to be rude to most everyone that crosses your path?
- Just Here for Godzilla: One of the game's most appealing aspects is getting to see Capcom's characters in the KOF visual style. Another is the fighting game debut of Violent Ken, the Brain Washed And Crazy version of Ken Masters.
- Nightmare Fuel: The fight against Red Arremer takes the player to hell, and it's not a pretty sight.◊ Or sound, for that matter.
- Older Than They Think: This game marks the first appearance of Terry and Goenitz's popular gender flipped incarnations, as detailed above, as well as the versus series debut of Red Arremer/Firebrand, years before he would appear in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
- Signature Scene:
- The Final Boss against Shin Akuma or Serious Mr. Karate at the Guardian-Dogs Temple. It is especially striking since it changes the color of both fighters sprite art to reflect the burning pyre in the middle of the stage.
- Athena and Red Arremer turning their defeated opponents into animals and demons respectively.
- So Okay, It's Average: The game's system is pretty bare-bones compared to the other Capcom/SNK crossover fighters with their Groove System, and the graphics go the Real Is Brown route, making the game look pretty dull. It's not a bad game, it just needed more polish.
- Special Effects Failure: Keen eyed viewers will note that many of Balrog's sprites are repurposed from Heavy D's appearance in The King of Fighters '98.
- Suspiciously Similar Song:
- The song for the Power Generation Room stage sounds kinda like Foregone Destruction.
- The train stage theme is a rather odd re-arrangement of Geese's theme.
- Tough Act to Follow:
- The game was criticized for lacking the depth and complexity of Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium or even SNK's own game SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium, especially among more hardcore fighting game fans.
- The graphics and backgrounds couldn't compete with Capcom vs. SNK 2's, which were released on Sega's more advanced NAOMI arcade system, as SVC Chaos was bound by the Neo Geo's hardware limitations.
- Unexpected Character:
- Zero, particularly his incarnation from the Mega Man Zero series as opposed to his better-known design from the Mega Man X series, considering that this game marked his very first appearance in a fighting game. This is perhaps justified as this game was released when the Zero series was in full swing.
- Samurai Shodown characters are staples of every SNK crossover, but to see Earthquake of all characters chosen to represent the series is quite the surprise, to say the least. Even moreso given that Haohmaru and Nakoruru are nowhere to be found.
- Any character from Metal Slug making an appearance was a shock, but more so the Mars People (a generic enemy) over Marco Rossi or Fio Germi was the biggest surprise.
- Vindicated by History: While the game received lukewarm reviews in its time, nowadays many see it in a more positive light. For example, many consider the graphics to have aged like a fine wine.
- Visual Effects of Awesome:
- Demitri's sprite set is considered by many fans to be the best in the game. He's taller and a bit leaner than in his home series, has a darker color palette, and the details on his demonic form are more emphasized. These things all give him a much more sinister and menacing appearance, fitting for a vampire lord.
- Mars People is seamlessly animated in much higher detail than the ones in Metal Slug. There are multiple animations and attacks that have every one of it's dozen tentacles moving, including it's standing animation.
- The Hell stage for Red Arremer is a truly eerie sight, with a massive dark red vortex swirling in the sky above the fighters and nightmarish imagery on the ground beneath them.
