Alien vs. Predator

Alien vs. Predator uses a control setup with an eight-directional joystick and three buttons: one to attack, one to jump, and one to shoot. The default cabinet for the game allows as many as three players to play simultaneously, although some smaller cabinets only accommodate two players. Four characters are available for the players' use: two cyborg soldiers, Major Dutch Schaefer and Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa; and two Predators, a Hunter and a Warrior.

Three of the four characters are equipped with a melee weapon: a katana for Linn, a bladed naginata staff for the Hunter, and an extendable-retractable spear/staff for the Warrior. Dutch has no such weapon, but can hit enemies with his cybernetic arm; in addition, he can hold and swing any melee weapon dropped by another character, instead of throwing it as the other playable characters do.

San Drad (Japanized English: San Dorado, サン・ドラド), California, has been overrun by the Xenomorphs, and the cybernetically enhanced Major Dutch Schaefer and Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa of the United States Colonial Marine Corps have been abandoned by their superiors and are cornered by a swarm of the Alien drones. Before they can be killed, a pair of the Predators appear and destroy the Aliens. The Predators offer an alliance with the two cyborgs in order to stop the Alien infestation.

The players take control of up to three of four characters: Dutch, Linn, a Predator hunter, and a Predator warrior, and battle the Aliens through seven stages. After destroying the Aliens' hive, the characters discover that the Alien presence on Earth is the result of a bio-war project headed by the renegade General Bush working for the Weyland-Yutani corporation. They board Bush's military ship as it lifts off, aiming to stop him from carrying out his breeding program any further. While Bush curses the protagonists for foiling his plans, the Alien Queen, having survived the previous encounter, kills him.

The game was based on an early draft of a script for a film adaptation of the Alien vs. Predator comic book series following Machiko Noguchi, and was intended to have been a tie-in to the movie. Although the draft was later rejected in favor of a different script which entered development hell, later releasing in 2004 with a different story, Capcom had already completed the game intending for the film to be released around the time of the game's completion, and so the arcade game was released in 1994 with its own stand-alone storyline, the Machiko Noguchi character renamed Linn Kurosawa due to a lack of licensing from Dark Horse Comics, and Dutch Schaefer from the 1987 Predator film included as another playable character, alongside two Predators.

A 32X version was rumored to be in development, but never released. An unrelated Alien vs. Predator beat 'em up game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was developed by Jorudan and published by Activision. In 2019, Capcom announced that the game would be included on its Capcom Home Arcade dedicated console. A digital port for the Nintendo Switch was planned to be released following the game's inclusion on the Capcom Home Arcade, but the release was ultimately cancelled due to expiring licensing agreements with Disney.

Alien vs. Predator has been very well received by critics. In Japan, Game Machine listed the game on their July 15, 1994 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles like Fantastic Journey and Puyo Puyo. In North America, RePlay reported AVP to be the most-popular arcade game at the time.

Play Meter also listed the game to be the sixth most-popular arcade game at the time. 0 in all four categories (graphics, sound, control, and fun factor). Electronic Gaming Monthly hailed it as "everything you'd expect from the makers of games like Street Fighter 2 and The Punisher." According to a GameSpot retrospective, Alien vs.

Lt. Linn Kurosawa (described by Retro Gamer as "a Taki-resembling [although Taki came after] heroine with ninja reflexes and attacks") has made cameo appearances in some later Capcom games, namely Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, and Namco × Capcom (where Sylphie, the shopkeeper from Forgotten Worlds, transforms into Kurosawa as part of her super attack). Much of her design has been re-used for the Street Fighter series' popular character Ibuki, introduced in 1997 (who, incidentally, has a fellow ninja classmate and friend named Sarai Kurosawa), and she also resembles Simone from Capcom's and Psikyo's 2000 shooter Cannon Spike.

According to former Treasure designer Tetsuhiko "Han" Kikuchi, Mad Stalker: Full Metal Forth and the arcade Alien vs. Predator were the main inspirations for his 1996 beat 'em up Guardian Heroes. It was also one of the inspirations for the makers of River City Ransom: Underground.