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Review: Marvel vs. Capcom |
There are multiple ways of looking at everything in life. It’s these multiple perspectives that make Marvel vs. Capcom such a bear to review. On one hand, the great art, fairly original character designs, and Capcom-brand humor make this game a visual treat. On the other, it’s the same nauseating, chain-heavy, glitch-riddled Marvel engine gameplay, though ever so slightly modified. Well…
Aesthetically speaking, MvC is one of the greatest things out of Capcom in quite some time. After the previous two vs. games and the two SF3s, I was expecting more recycled animation, more awful character portraits and artwork, and more uninspired backgrounds. Amazingly enough, Capcom really did their homework. 6 brand-spankin’ new playable characters (Capt. Commando, Strider, Megaman, Venom, Jin, and Roll), plus a brand new boss character (Onslaught), and some wonderful omissions (No Ken, no Akuma, and NO Cyclops!). Not only that, but of the 20 Helpers (I’ll get into that later), about half of ‘em are completely re-drawn.
The backgrounds are also all new, and feature some familiar faces (Dr. Wily screaming bloody murder in the background of “MegaMan’s stage”) and some fairly good art. Once again, the backgrounds aren’t really character specific, although some could certainly be argued.
The sound fx and music are also top-notch in this newest addition. Megaman has his typical “little girl” voice, Jin is just down-right hilarious, Onslaught is menacing, and Venom is, well, Venom. “We are Venom!” The music is also changed to accomodate the new look. For example, Ryu’s music is now the original theme from SF2.
Well, I could go on all day about how funny it is to watch Jin, or how soul-sappingly cute Megaman is, but, unfortunately, I’d eventually have to move to the gameplay side of things. The simple fact of the matter is… this is a vs. game. You love it or you hate it. Infinites, pixies, and glitches, oh my! I’ll do a character by character breakdown instead of just whining about the Marvel engine.
Chun Li: Relatively unchanged. Her new super, Shichisei Senkuu Kyaku, is a pseudo Shun Goku Satsu. She connects, screen goes black, and several symbols (most likely Chinese) appear, opponent loses around 40-50% life. Yay.
Ryu: Oi. With a QCB + 2 or 3 turns Ryu into Ken or Akuma (respectively). It’s still Ryu, his gi just changes colors and his Ken’s or Gouki’s moves from MSF. Ken has the short fireball, the arcing standing HK, the flaming Shoryuken, the Shinryuken, the Shippu Jinrai Kyaku, etc. while Gouki has the Shun Goku Satsu, the Tenma Gou Zankuu, etc. This sounds all fine + dandy, but Ryu’s been slowed down considerably, plus the transformation process sucks up a level of your super meter.
Zangief: Not much difference. With a 360 + 2K at Level 3, big Daddy does the Ultra Final Atomic Buster. 75% damage, very painful, VERY hard to get. It has the range of a regular SPD, which mind you, does about 15% damage now. GRRRRRR. What makes up for it? Z can SPD/FAB people while they’re in block stun! Hooray!!!
Morrigan: She seems a little out of place, but overall a decent addition to the collection. Her Level 3 unblockable kiss super can be surprisingly effective, but doesn’t do enough damage to justify using it. Her Fireball super is a beam super where her bats come out and surround her, firing white blasts of energy along with a huge gun she’s holding. Her uppercut super is actually her summoning Lilith to do multiple uppercuts.
Capt. Commando: One of the most innovative designs out of Capcom’s office in ages. He has a healthy combination of defense (QCT, 4 or QCB, P) and offense (QCT, P or QCT, 2K), with some funny moves (the group pose after a successful Captain Storm).
MegaMan: People have been begging for this tyke in a fighting game for a while. His fireball is just a fierce, which easily gives him the best projectile in the game, along with the fact that you can charge it up, just like in the side-scrolling MM games. His supers are all VERY Megaman, and his ability to change specials by summoning Fliptop is very creative.
Strider Hiryu: The newest pixie, with a full ground-chain and super-jump chain, Strider had potential to be an interesting character, but instead becomes another dialer’s delight. Such a shame. He does have a wide variety of moves and supers, though.
Spiderman: Same. One new super, the Ultimate Web Throw, is difficult to hit, and not well worth it. Still chain-happy, and still high-priority, low-rent. He does have a lot more to say in this one, though.
Jin: God bless you, Capcom. Saotome Jin, one of the mech pilots from Cyberbots, is funny, innovative, and constantly naked for some reason. :) His supers mostly revolve around Blodia, his mech, and his bizarre normals make him one of the most challenging, but rewarding characters. Besides, his taunt is absolutely hilarious.
Capt. America: Almost exactly the same. Final Justice is comboable again, but otherwise, Cap is Cap. “Hold it!”
Venom: Kudos to Capcom again for a fairly original design. From his “crawling” dash motion to his fluidly animated normals to the green spittle constantly foaming from his mouth, this IS Venom. His moves mostly revolve around the symbiote, and his supers are a delight to behold. Capcom could’ve EASILY ruined this one. Thanks for small favors, I guess.
Hulk: Relatively unchanged. His new super, Gamma Quake, is chainable off a launch. Then again, so is the Gamma Crush. He seems a little slower than last time too. (Then again, the whole pace of this game is slower in general)
Gambit: The cajun, one of my personal favs from XSF, returns with a new ace up his sleeve. The Cajun Explosion is a deadly little super with a near full screen range and a knack for catching people off-guard.
War Machine: Iron Man. Yay. “Here comes my Sunday best!” His new super can linked off a launcher (What can’t?) Boring.
Wolverine: The epitome of boredom. Nothing new. Oh wait. He does have one where he charges forward really fast with a standing fierce, but it’s not like he needs it.
In addition to these 15, there are 6 secret characters: Roll (Megaman’s female counterpart), Orange Hulk (faster, no super armor), Red Venom (faster, more chainable, takes ludicrous damage), Lilith (Morrigan pallete-swap with different supers), Shadow Lady (A “Shadow-ized” Chun Li with a beam super… weird), and Gold War Machine (War Machine with Mega Z’s Mega Armor).
In addition to THAT, there’s 22 “helper” characters to choose from. Helper characters come out a certain number of times per match by hitting Strong + Forward (Medium Kick) at the same time. Some of them are incredibly useful (Colossus can be chained into practically anything), while some are near useless (Pure + Fur come to mind). These helpers come from random places in the Marvel + Capcom universes. (Ton Pooh from Strider, Devilot from Cyberbots, Michelle Heart from Legendary Wings, etc. from Capcom. Cyclops, Colossus, Magneto, Juggy, Psylocke, Iceman, Jubilee (!), and Storm from Marvel)
In addition to these helpers, the only real new feature is the Variable Cross, where both characters come out at the same time and do some massive damage… assuming you’re good enough not to get pounded by a well-placed super. Nice try. Far too overboard.
All in all, this game is soooo much more creative and aesthetically pleasing than Capcom’s other most recent works (2nd Impact and MSF) and should be praised for that. However, it’s still vs. trash, and is therefore graded on a seperate scale from more serious fighting games. Besides, isn’t anyone TIRED of this yet?
Bottom Line: New characters. New backgrounds. New boss. Same tired concept. Then again, if you liked XSF, you’ll love this.
- Dark Schneider
