In the last episode from PolygonIn the ongoing deep dive series about creating classic fighting games, veteran developer Toyohisa Tanabe revealed that his team at SNK was already experimenting with crossovers. King of Fighters 98.
“The team eventually made a build of King of Fighters 98 with Ryu and Ken [from Street Fighter] in it, ”Tanabe said. “This is not something that many people know. [B]ut yes, just for fun, for that Capcom against SNK was one thing, I starred as Ryu and Ken in King of Fighters 98.
“We did this on the development hardware, so of course it was never on a physical cartridge. I just remember this now too, but it wasn’t just Ryu and Ken that we played with. We bet Dragon Ball characters, such as Son Goku. “
Fighting game crossovers may be a bit old now, but in the years before that Capcom against SNK brought his two huge studios together, this kind of competition was a matter of the imagination. I really hope Like it Samurai Shodown V Perfect, an internal build of King of Fighters 98 with Ryu, Ken and Goku, dust can still be collected somewhere in an SNK developer’s storage unit.