Marvel vs. Capcom 2

"Potentially the most insane fighting game ever."

If you thought the other VS series games were insane, they are nothing comapared to the sheer power of the latest in it's series, Marvel VS. Capcom 2.

First of all, I want to say that this game may be dangerous for some player, due to the change in the button system, and the increased cheesiness. If you say that MvsC2 got to be the worst 2D game ever, I respect your opinion, and besides, we all have different views.

When you first play this game, the first thing you may notice is the absurd amount of characters in the character select. I have never expected Capcom to exceed beyond the number of fighters in the previous VS games, which most holds about twenty characters or more. MvsC2 holds over fifty characters, starting out first with about 1/2 of the characters available to select. The rest of the others are yet to be unlocked, in the question mark boxes. I am not familiar to how the hiddens are to be unlocked, but I get the impression that if the people play the game more, the arcade gain 'experience points', and the more points you get, the more characters gets unlocked.

The graphics are incredible, mainly the backgrounds. Capcom seemed to begin stepping up to the age of 3-d graphics, but still retains those 2-d sprites. The view of 2-d sprites on 3-d background may be awkward for those who appreciate eye candy, but nevertheless, stunning.

The controls changed vastly from it's previous games. First of all, which most people complained, is the change of the button system. The Fierce and Roundhouse buttons have been replaced by the two Assist buttons, while the Strong and Forward are replaced by the Fierce and Roundhouse buttons. Some may get intensly confused when first playing the game, mainly because they don't know how to do a full zigzag combo. The trick to this is that if you wanted to include Strong and Forward in your zigzag, it would be required to ''repeat'' the Jab and Short buttons. Pressing Jab twice is equivilant to Jab, Strong. For characters who have ZigZag series, pressing Jab, Short, Jab, Short is equvilant to Jab, Short, Strong, Forward. For Stronger series characters, pressing Jab, Short will be the same as Jab, Forward, and same goes for Short, Jab. Comprendes?

I have to admit, the gameplay in the game have increased in terms of cheesiness. You will discover far more infinites than in Marvel VS. Capcom, and some incredibly insane long combos. I don't know if the amount of combos are as much as in X-Men VS. Street Fighter, but all I can say, that the combo system have increased it's potential. Sadly, of course, even the cheapos are beefed up in comboability, such as Wolverine, Spider-Man, Cyclops, etc. But I also find this more fun this way, since combos seems to be the main center of the fun factor in the VS series games.

Another thing is, you get to select three characters in one team. It increases the creativity in your team development. You can even create the Shotokan Trio by selecting Ryu, Ken, and Akuma. Or you can pick your own X-Men team, such as Wolverine, Cyclops, Cable, Marrow, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Remember the helper system in Marvel Super Heroes VS. Street Fighter? It's back in the game, and you summon your partner with the Assist buttons (the ones replacing the Fierce and Roundhouse buttons.) Pressing the top Assist button summons your 2nd character, and the bottom summons your 3rd character. You can find out which by looking at the order your characters' life bars are arranged in.

Not only that, the Helper system also made some improvements. They are quick, can be put in combos, and set up supers. Of course, there have to be a drawback. If your opponent attacks your helper while he/she is on screen (usually when he/she is posing), the helper receives twice the amount of damage inflicted by the assaulting opponent. Be aware of this, sometimes if a helper attack is blocked, the opponent can unleash a super that take both of your characters, damaging both.

The only negative thing I can say about this game is that there are some bugs and glitches, such as throws that take 99% damage, freezes, and infinites. I can't possibly blame Capcom for this, since sometimes the combo system can be messed up in the VS games. Good thing that the glitches and bugs rarely happens, so feel safe when playing.

What can I say overall? I try not to be biased, but I must say that in my opinion, Marvel VS. Capcom 2 is potentially the best 2-d fighting game I've ever played. It's vast amount of characters, whole new features, large replayability due to the large number of characters, it's an experience most of you (besides the VS haters) shouldn't miss.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/00, Updated 06/11/00