Goku was playable in an early Capcom vs. SNK but only in an internal version that was made just for fun

Posted by Justin ‘AdaptiveTrigger’ Gordon • 9 minutes ago • Comments: 1

There’s something truly special about crossover fighting games. Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 marked an interesting time for fighting game fans back in the 2000s era.

However, it seems that there once existed a version of Capcom vs. SNK that allowed players to use Street Fighter’s Ryu or King of Fighter’s Kyo against Dragon Ball Z’s Goku. Funnily enough, this crossover actually existed about two years before the original Capcom vs. SNK was released.

“I have a secret to tell you, and I don’t know if this is something I really should be saying, but: […] Two years before Capcom vs. SNK came out, we made King of Fighters ’98, and we actually had a little bit of time after we finished development,” said Capcom vs. SNK pixel art supervisor Toyohisa Tanabe. “So the team ended up making a build of the game with Ryu and Ken in it.”

Of course, this was a unique version of Capcom vs. SNK that was never meant for the public. The developers apparently made this build of the game just for fun.

“This isn’t something that a lot of people know — I think only the developers know about it, and I’ve never told anyone myself — but yeah, just for fun, before Capcom vs. SNK was a thing, I was playing as Ryu and Ken in King of Fighters ’98,” continued Tanabe.

“Also, I’m just remembering this now, but it wasn’t only Ryu and Ken that we ended up playing around with. We put in Dragon Ball characters, like Goku, as well.” – Toyohisa Tanabe

But Street Fighter’s Ryu and Ken weren’t the only “guest characters” to be featured in this version of King of Fighters ’98. Apparently, Dragon Ball Z characters were also playable in this build.

“We did this on the development hardware, so of course it was never on a physical cartridge,” stated Tanabe. “Also, I’m just remembering this now, but it wasn’t only Ryu and Ken that we ended up playing around with. We put in Dragon Ball characters, like Goku, as well.”

Tanabe reiterated that this was a game that came about due to the developers just playing around. At this point, Tanabe doubts that this version of the game that features Goku even exists at this point.

It’s actually somewhat strange to imagine a crossover fighting game that allows players to pit Goku up against Ryu like this since it hasn’t happened yet. Even a game like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a platform brawler featuring over 80 video game icons including Street Fighter’s classic Shotos and Fatal Fury’s Terry Bogard, is unlikely to ever feature Goku.

Source: Polygon. Sent in by: HelenaBeat and Kodiak.