SVC Chaos has been cleaned up all the way around on Xbox. The intro is cleaner with less artifacts on the big Ryu, Ken, Akuma, and Mr. Karate sprites. The announcer has also been changed to a more coherant man. He's redone all the announcements, including the previously not understandable, "Battle till you drop!" before each round. Purists might not like the change, but it definitely sounds less strange.

The backgrounds and sprites are also a little cleaner. Backgrounds have a little less pixelation, while sprites themselves are a tad sharper. The colors are more vibrant than the arcade counterpart, with reds, greens, and oranges popping off the screen. All fireball special effects have been redone to take advantage of transparencies. Mr. Karate, Terry, Iori, and other fireball wielders all benefit from the better blasts of power. Sound effects are also more clear and distinguished.

The only thing strange about the graphics is that there is letter boxing on the right and left sides of the screen; about a half inch of black on each side. The graphics don't seem to be squished to accomodate the letterbox, but it is a little off-putting.

SVC Chaos has plenty of modes to play in - Arcade, Vs., Practice, Survival, and Xbox Live. Other extras include Gallery, Color Edit, and Replay. In Gallery you'll find unlockable artwork, Color Edit let players custom edit many colors on their sprite, and Replay lets you save a match to boast to your friends.

The most important thing to preserve in a 2D fighter translation is the gameplay. The Xbox controller has it down pact. The controls are tight, the four face buttons accomodate the four button layout nicely, and all moves can be performed on the D-pad without a hitch. Though it'd be best for fans to pull off more accurate combos with an actual arcade stick, the pad is a good alternative.

SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos is just about good to go. Besides the letterboxing, everything has been improved in the game. The beta version still did not have Xbox Live compatibility in the game - there wouldnt be many people to fight anyway - but the final version will have players duking it out nationwide next month.