I'm an avid fighting game fan. Since the moment I stepped into a 7 Eleven for Street Fighter II to the day I waited till midnight only to lose a free copy of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 at Wal-Mart (more about that later). First I want to go back about my experiences of Capcom's Marvel fighting franchises and it's "Marvel Versus" series of fighters.
First game that started it all was X-Men: Children of the Atom. This game was using Capcom's CPS-2 board and was the first Capcom fighter to introduce many techniques that exist in fighters today. Of these the recovery roll after being knocked down and the ability to super jump by tapping down, then up. The game made it to home consoles in the US and ported by Probe Entertainment and published by Acclaim. I spent many a quarters on this after school at my local 7 Eleven (yes, some of you may recall they did have arcade cabinets before).
A year after Children of the Atom, Capcom followed up with Marvel Super Heroes. Not to be mistaken for the Super Nintendo side scroller beat 'em up. Marvel Super Heroes kept with the main formula that made CotA a hit, with the inclusion of the Infinity Gems/Gauntlet. The Gem would bestow a special power once activated with one meter on your power bar. The character design and artwork was also a tribute to Jack Kirby, and for the most part was retained till Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. This game saw release in the US by Capcom for both the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. The PlayStation version was part of Capcom's "Fighters Edge" banner.
In 1996 Capcom raised the bar when they released X-Men Vs. Street Fighter. The first in the series to introduce Tag Team fighting and assist type moves. Replacing the "Infinity Counter" from Marvel Super Heroes was the "Variable Counter." Also, any damage taken would drop your yellow meter, and the red shadow meter behind it was recoverable once that fighter was tagged out. This game also introduced the massive Hadoukens that are now a staple in the Versus series. Also, the final boss fight introduced the first larger than life boss battles with a giant Apocalypse. This game was released only in the US for the Sony PlayStation, but the ability to tag out left it lacking. Also, it led this blogger to importing the Sega Saturn version and a Pro Action Replay with the 4 MB expansion pack. Best deal ever. The PlayStation version remained under the "Fighters Edge" banner.A year later Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter was released. The game dropped most of the X-Men roster in favor of those left behind in Marvel Super Heroes. Nothing else really changed except a few engine tweaks to help balance the game. You still Apocalypse, but after defeating him you had to deal with Cyber Akuma. The game also got a washed down port for the US PlayStation. So if you wanted a true to arcade experience, you had to scour eBay for this puppy.
Next up is Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. The game isn't a huge leap from its predecessors. The one major game changing change was the inclusion of limited assist characters. Which at the outset seems random, but can be chosen with a unique button hold command. Thus, we only saw Psylocke, Lou, and Colossus Assists. Another notable change was the ability to use three meters and summon in and fight with your second character for a short period of time with unlimited super meter. The game was ported to PlayStation in yet another watered down version. The Dreamcast port however was faithful to the arcade experience and was touted as a launch title only to be delayed till September 30th. The game was now under the "Capcom Edge" banner, which was formerly the "Fighters Edge."
Finally one of the biggest fighting games and still played to this day around the world in various arcade circuits. We have Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. One of the most outrageous and ambitious fighters out there. The gameplay mechanics saw the most major change with the switch to four attack buttons and the inclusion of dedicated assist buttons. The game itself saw many changes during it's life cycle with many drastic ways the game was played. From a more methodical approach, to a spacing approach, and now to a frantic rush down. The game has passed the test of time and has been ported to more recent systems such as the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade and on the PlayStation 3's PSN. Last's year's EVO Tournament series saw it's final display of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 action. Not too shabby for being a ten year old game and to garner that much respect and still be in the spot light.
An honorable mention, and somewhat spiritual sucessor to Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. Which in my honest opinion would have been a smash hit if it was ported to Xbox 360 and/or PlayStation 3. Instead it was left to die in the wasteland known as Wii Exclusives. Many of the mechanics that were brought into this game carried over to Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and now is also making me want to give TvC another crack. Maybe once I get a Tatsu-stick for my Wii.Finally, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. A game MvC2 Champion Justin Wong, stated is "easiest and cheapest fighting game that was ever made..." Which, whole heartedly I can agree with. Chip damage was a big part of MvC2, and is an even larger part in MvC3. I've yet to come across anything bad and abuse-able of the assist system. Just spamming projectiles and assists can be rather annoying. The X-Factor mode has yet to show anything negative. There are infinite combos already out there, but some are situational and shouldn't merit any alarm just yet. I've been trying to play Ranked Matches on Xbox Live and keep getting the "connection to host lost" message. Player Matches on the other hand are fun and easy to get into. As for the lack of spectator mode makes 8-player lobbies a bore.
As for a quick run down, will this game stand the test of time like Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. Yes, and no. As long as players keep supporting it, it'll go far. If Capcom keeps supplementing the title with more DLC characters (Mega Man, Frank West, please?), the legs should be long on this one. Well, thank you for reading this, hopefully I can make a more routinely return to blogging.
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