"Button masher friendly, easy to learn, but over-abusive."

Marvel vs. Capcom 2, probably the only machine still standing in my local arcade that attracts the quarters out of people's pockets. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is basically a compilation of all other Vs. games before it plus Marvel Super Heroes and X:COTA, with maybe about 10 new characters added to it. The game engine has been modified significantly from the last game...but in terms of overall fighting engine, it's true to the super jumping, air combo, flashy super type of engine we've all seen in the previous games.

Graphics
The game looks very fluid, with all the activity going in the background like a hazing sky and moving tumbleweed to the character animations that fills the screen up, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 shows little sign of slowdown...if any for that matter.

The game however is sometimes too ''hectic'' as it can fill up with a series of flashes that can give one migraines. Other than that small tidbit, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is a graphical beauty, with 3-d like backgrounds and 2-d animated characters, MvC2 sets a remarkable standard for fighting game graphics today.

Music and Sound
MvC2 does a great job with sound effects and voice overs, every little detail from ''Web ball'' to grunts when Captain America swings his shield just makes the game even more attractive. New voice overs went for a few characters like Spider-Man and Cammy from the previous games.

In terms of Music, MvC2 can be a bit annoying sometimes. The music is uninspiring with techno and jazz beats that sometimes hurts the game more than it helps. It doesn't seem like ''fighting game music'' until you are use to it, but even then it can hurt the ears more than it helps.

Replay Value
Let's face it...these days the computer just doesn't give you enough competition...and replay value will most likely vary depending if anyone can compete below, at, or above your skill level.

The computer becomes too easy to win over too quickly as the game is very easy to learn and if there isn't anyone to compete against you that is at least good enough, then you'll have a hard time coming back to this game.

Gameplay
MvC2 features a cast of 56 characters from both the Capcom and Marvel side(along with Strider) and each character is allowed an assist type...namely Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.

This assist type will determine what this character does when she or he is called out using the assist button or what he or she will counter attack with. With 56 characters and 3 assists each, it'll take a lot of time getting use to this game and being able to know which attack does which without much thinking.

In MvC, players were allowed to do a Variable Assist which consumed 3 levels of super guage that would allow them to simultaneously control both characters at the same time. However, what if you were able to control 3 characters at the same time? Pretty hectic eh? Well, fortunately and unfortunately, this feature is absent here. What is available is an ''EX cancel'' which allows you to chain 3 consecutive supers from each character together. This can lead to massive hits that surge over the 99 hit barrier and a lot of cheesiness.

MvC2 allows for assist attacks in the game, calling each player on their team to perform his or her assist type. These attacks come out very quickly and can be comboed in(in some cases). Characters also take damage if they get attacked by the opposition, but only red bar damage...meaning all damage can be healed depending how long they can stay out of battle. If they are called in before the red bar is healed, then the life that was healed will remain as their maximum life guage for the remainder of the battle.

Snapback allows for a character to knock back a character out of screen and to bring in another character in the 2nd or 3rd slot, depending on which assist button was used. The snap back is a basic character attack that's a lot quicker than what he or she can normally perform...making it very comboable.

Like in previous games, MvC2 allows you to chain 3 supers from each character(which is also altered depending on which assist type you chose) by pressing the two assist buttons at the same time...depending if you have enough levels in your super guage or not. This alone can spell the end for your opponent, whether they are at full life or not.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 suffers from a lot of Gameplay drawbacks. Sure it has a cast of 56 characters and a decent gameplay engine, but the problem is that the game's features are highly abused and the 56 characters are very unbalanced.

The assist attacks in the game can be called often without little recovery time or delay, this leads to it being over-abused. In fact, it's downright impossible to win without using them in a lot of cases against human competition. People use this to play keep away and it becomes really fustrating for characters that have a lot of trouble countering keep away tactics like Zangief or Collosus.

Even more than that, the ability to link 3 supers together can pretty much decimate an opponent in a single combo. What's worst is that in a lot of cases, blocking the trio of supers cause an insane amount of block damage.

With these two features, combos have become less apparent in the game as people use keep away tactics and beam characters with a constant flurry of assist attacks. The game is no longer about combos anymore, it's becoming more of an overly-abusive ''who can get the most assist attacks'' out type of game. Character balance is another issue. Someone with the projectiles of Cable will have a relatively easy time against a bulkier and slower character like Zangief simply by keeping him away. It's been a constant problem in the Vs. series for years, making a lot of the slower characters useless. Not only that, a lot of the previous characters from previous games remain unchanged. Nothing new, as if they were a cut and copy from the old game and placed onto a new title.

Overall
While MvC2 is a lot of fun, it's hurt by an extremely unbalanced cast, the ability to over-abuse it's features, and at times an annoying sound track. MvC2 however is a game that's easy to learn, yet lacks a lot of depth in terms of gameplay and it was simply made to be a pure beat 'em up fighter.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/01, Updated 07/16/01