"What happened to the skill?"

Marvel vs Capcom 2: Possibly one of the most popular arcade fighters to date. Following the success of its predecessor, Capcom and Marvel Entertainment have once again combined forces to bring us yet another installment of their popular fighting games. But as the music industry has taught us, popularity has nothing to do with quality. What do I mean? Please read on...

Storyline: n/a
Besides combining two genres that have almost nothing in common merely for the sake of attracting a larger audience, there really isn't much of a storyline. Someone evil plans to conquer the world, unless your team of superheroes can stop him via a fighting tournament...blah blah blah. Hey, its a fighting game, noone cares about the story, right? Right. The real appeal, though, is how many playable characters there are available. With a lineup of almost 60 characters (not including hidden/ boss characters), this game has the largest collection of combatants I've ever seen in a fighter. Most of the Capcom characters are taken from Street Fighter fame, with a few other famous Capcom characters added to the pile, such as Mega Man and Strider. Marvel's lineup includes the likes of Spiderman, the Hulk, and many popular X-Men members. This game also adds brand new fighters to the mix, such as Jill Valentine of the Resident Evil series, and the very popular Cable.

Graphics: 9
The is actually where the game really shines, and partly why I did not give this game a 1. Large colorful sprites shine in front of incredibly beautiful backgrounds. The smooth, silky animation of the characters is really some of the best 2D animation I have ever seen in a fighting game, right up there with SNKs Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Most of the sprites are taken from previous CvsM games, but have been touched up to give them that fresh new look. Very nice.

Sound: 8
The big-bang punches and fire attacks really sound great in this game. Character voices are dead-on, but the background music isn't anything special. But again, who really ever pays attention to the game music, right? Right.

Gameplay: 1
Now this is where the game's appeal plummets. You're set up with a team of 3 fighters and must make your way up to the final battle...etc. You have a typical 8 directional joystick, and 6 attack buttons. Now, if you're familiar with the Street Fighter series, you know the old Light, Medium, and Heavy punch/ kick pattern. But press Heavy in this game, and what happens? One of your teammates either zips across the screen or shoots a projectile at the enemy. Now, press back and Heavy at once, and given that your power gauge is at the correct amount, you instantly shoot off a massive, 12+ combo. Huh? Yeah, confused the heck out of me the first time too. From there its just gets worse. Pounding the controls gives the player ridiculously massive attacks against his/her opponent with almost no prerequisite for skill whatsoever. The game engine seems to have been designed for the completely inexperienced gamer in mind. What lacks in this game is actual skill and hand-eye coordination, and leaves us with a sorry button-masher's dream. Who needs to bother learning a complicated Dragon Punch combo when you could launch a huge 30 something hit combo by simply smashing two buttons at once?

Replayability: 4
Once you've figured out how easy and, frankly, how irritating the gameplay can be, one soon grows tired of the cheesy fighting engine this game suffers from. But if you can get over this massive flaw (or, heaven forbid, actually ENJOY it), then the impressive roster and game ending possibilities may keep you entertained.....for a little while at least.

Final Rating: 4
Marvel VS Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes suffers from much of the same flaws as it's previous incarnation, Marvel VS Capcom 1. While absolutely beautiful to watch and listen to, the cheap, annoying game engine really bogs down the overall quality of the game. Over time, it seems the Capcom fighting series has been like a small glass of water. Although the company has poured in vast amounts of color and animated eye-candy into their games, one thing has been leaking out the whole time: actual skill.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/03, Updated 01/18/03