Marvel vs. Capcom 2

"Over two years later… A study in imperfections and how they are transcended"

(Note: This review has been updated for correct content)

Capcom seemed to have a license to print money with it’s “Versus” series. X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Marvel vs. Capcom were highly popular games that many gamers considered the one of the heights of 2d fighting gaming. So now Capcom has a problem. How do you top such an excellent act like Marvel vs. Capcom, with it’s nearly definitive cast that included all the real legends and some major cult characters from both sides?

They went for bigger. Much bigger.

A note: since this review comes over two years since the initial release of the game, I am going to attempt to judge it with the benefit and perspective of history on my side. I should also note that I am not a top tier fighting game player and I’ve never participated in a tournament, I am just someone who has played a lot of games over the years, and thinks he knows a thing or two about what makes a really successful game. Just a little FYI to let you, the reader, know where this review is coming from.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 boasts an impressive 56 total characters, with 28 to a side. The very loose plot features Ruby Heart, a totally new character for the Capcom side, and Cable, one of Marvel’s most popular characters from the X-Men family of books, searching for Abyss, the latest in the line of super-sized Vs. series bosses. That’s all the story we get, so there’s no very clearly defined reason for all these characters, some from different timelines, to be together, unlike the brief explanation we got in Marvel vs. Capcom 1. The cast includes all the favorites from Versus games past, from old standbys Ryu, Zangief, Spider-Man, Captain America, Captain Commando, Mega Man, Wolverine, the Hulk, Morrigan, Chun Li, Storm, Gambit, and just about everyone to not be a hidden character in the three preceding Versus games. As well, every non-hidden character from X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Superheroes are present, including MSH bosses Dr. Doom and Thanos in their first fully playable appearances. In addition to Ruby Heart and Cable, there another 12 characters making their first appearances in the Versus series.

First and foremost of these in the minds of many is Guile. This is his first arcade 2D appearance since he popped back up in the Playstation version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 released a while earlier. He still only has 2 special moves, but as usual, they’re all he’s ever needed. Three Darkstalkers also make the jump to the arcade series for the first and last time. Of them, Felicia has new intro animations, new takes on old attacks, and new win poses. Was she perhaps meant for inclusion for Marvel vs. Capcom 1? Anakaris has also gained a few new touches, including a powered-up super. Ditto for Baby Bonnie Hood, who’s Cruel Hunting can now deal as many as 52 hits, but she seems to be the most direct translation of all the Darkstalkers.

The remaining characters on the Capcom side are all making their first appearances in 2D fighting games. Hayato makes the translation from Star Gladiators, bringing his moves mostly intact. He also plays weaker than one would think he should play at a first glance. Son-Son is an obscure character from one of Capcom’s earliest games. Apparently, this Son-Son is the granddaughter of the one in that game, thus dispelling any rumors of a sex change. Amingo is another all-new character making his debut in the game. He’s also perhaps the most bizarre, a cactus who grows mini versions of himself and engages in more acts of Mexican stereotyping than would be safe considering that Speedy Gonzales was taken off Cartoon Network for a long while for that very reason. Tron Bonne is a loony young lady from the Mega Man Legend series. She rides her personal combat mech and is accompanied by her loyal but goofy Servbots, or Kobuns in Japan. One such Servbot is a hidden character in the game, making him perhaps the smallest character ever in fighting game history. And also a welcome breath of fresh air, with attacks that are over the very top of oddball. Finally for Capcom, Resident Evil fans rejoiced when the one and only Jill Valentine was announced to be present in the game. And she brought many zombies and other such strangeness from her series with her, along with luck in avoiding them that would make Marvel cult favorite Longshot envious.

Speaking of Longshot, he’s not here. In fact, there are only 2 new Marvel characters after Cable, and one of them is a disappointment. The first is Marrow, who was at the time a new member of the X-Men, one of three introduced at once and the one that seemed to stick. She’s a semi-lackluster addition to the game, but for flavor, I can think of a few worse choices. Like “Bone Claw” Wolverine. And yet, there he is, alongside his adamantium-clawed counterpart. Now, let’s be perfectly honest here. I can excuse the Shoto clones, I can excuse a lot in fact, but does this game really need two Wolverines? Marvel has a world of more worthy characters, whose names need not mention here, because if you’re curious enough to read this review, you can probably think of plenty of characters deserving of 2D fighting game glory. I’ll simply say that I’d have even accepted such losers as the Trapster and Squirrel Girl before a second Wolverine. This is justification for the “Capcom is lazy” argument. And, yes, I know Wolverine is a popular character, but so is Spider-Man, and we didn’t see an alternate version of him, did we?

It’s also worth noting that the character selection is fairly X-Men heavy, thanks to the recycled characters from previous games. 17 X-Men related characters, 18 when you add “Bonerine” as he’s become known, out of 28 total characters representing Marvel. I love the X-Men as much as the next comic book fan, but seriously, there is so much more to Marvel than this. Not to mention that some characters like Shuma Gorath, Spiral and Blackheart are relative fringe characters who have had little media exposure compared to characters like Daredevil and the Silver Surfer. As well, some things were lost in characters, from Rogue’s absorbtion of special attacks in lieu of statistical power-ups like restored health or added defense. Thanos, in fact, seems to have lost a lot since he was a boss character in MSH. Such is the cost of Capcom’s desire to get a product out the doors for the masses in the easiest fashion possible.

At any rate, the gameplay goes something like this. You pick a team of three characters. At any time during the game, you can call out one of the characters to do an attack, pre-selected when you chose the character. These assists take up two buttons on the control set-up, and the other four are light and heavy punches and kicks, respectively. Pressing both lights or both heavy attacks will tag in a corresponding teammate. If you hit with a light attack, and follow it up with another press of the same light attack button, you get the missing medium attack animation and function.

Now it gets complicated. Special attacks are done with the usual Capcom controller motions: quarter circles, half circles, z-motions or “Dragon Punch” motions, charge moves, and the occasional 360 controller motions. Designated special move motions plus two punch or kick motions will result in a super move, and a character can have anywhere from two to four such super moves. Each super move takes a stock of your super energy, which you build through successful attacks. If you have enough, you can link those supers, up to three, between your characters, who will jump in to replace the previous character. Some moves result in launching your opponent skyward, and you can pursue them and keep attacking in what’s referred to as an Aerial Rave. Finally, pressing both assist buttons, at the cost of up to three stores of super energy, will call out all of your characters for one big double or triple team attack. The attacks executed sometimes depend on the assist you selected for those characters.

Got all that? Good, because the hard part is now officially over.

Graphically, this is the first 2D fighting game I’m aware of to use 3D backgrounds. It’s a neat touch, and some of the backgrounds are inventive, but it also brings to mind how out of date some of these character sprites really are, especially Morrigan from Darkstalkers and some of the characters from X-Men: CotA and MSH that did not make return appearances in the Versus series until now. And some characters even seem worse off for the transition. Colossus, for example seems to have lost something since we saw him in CotA. Regardless, characters mostly animate as smoothly as ever, and the new characters can be treats to watch, especially Son-Son, Servbot and Amingo, with their odd-ball attacks that come from unexpected angles and by even more unexpected means. Nothing compares to the look on the face of someone who was just hit by Son-Son’s “POW!” super move.

Sound-wise, Capcom took an interesting departure for the music to the game. Gone are the individual character themes, and with a cast this deep, I can’t say that I really blame them in this regard. In its place is a soundtrack that can best be described as… lounge-lizard warrioresque? Seriously, I don’t know what Capcom was thinking when they came up with these songs, because this is not only a departure, but also a serious downgrade. The character select theme is a tremendously annoying piece of music, and odd lyrics over the fights tend to give the game, already surreal with fights such as Ryu vs. Shuma Gorath and Felicia vs. Jin Saotome, even stranger. Perhaps Capcom realized how weird this whole thing was really becoming and decided to just go with the flow?

Now, I ought to talk for a moment as to how you unlock the other half of the characters in this game. You build up points in this version of it through the various modes. This even includes training mode, amazingly enough, so you can leave your Dreamcast on overnight and wake up to a bevy of points waiting to be spent. These points can be spent on the other characters in the game, as well as extra color schemes for them and variations on the stages, like Ruby Heart’s ship at night. Other than training and versus modes, the only new mode in the game is Score Attack, where you gain more points to spend on hidden stuff by beating the top scores for the mode.

So what’s left to talk about? Plenty. First of all, this game was apparently not very well playtested, and there are some nasty glitches in it, including some that are really game breaking. Since a lot of them are considered taboo for playing against a human opponent, you really don’t have to worry about seeing them in play with your friends or in tournaments, unless the rules are really loose. There is also the matter of tiering. These tiers of characters have been debated, tested, contested, derided, and brandied about almost like an old war banner. There are camps who say that the tiers don’t matter at all, camps that say that the tiers are a hard and true fact to the game, and some people won’t even consider playing a character that isn’t considered top-tier. The time where I even bothered to debate this matter in any way, shape or form has long since passed, and I’ll just say to look into the matter yourself and make your own opinion.

But, wait. There’s something else to be found in this rather rabid base of opinions. This game is still, for all I can tell, very much alive on the tournament scene in arcades, or at least still going with some strength. It’s still one of the most popular subjects right here at GameFAQs’ forums for debates on teams and for regional scenes around the world. Some people have gotten tired of it, but there is still a very devoted following to it. If you find it in an arcade and put your credits in, chances are you’ll find at least one opponent. In this form, the game has stood the test of time quite well.

Does that mean that the Dreamcast version is worth your hard-earned cash, however? Well, 56 characters means a lot of replay options, that’s for sure. And with that many, there’s bound to be at least a few that you’re going to like, even if you are disappointed that so-and-so didn’t make it in. And in spite of its numerous warts, there is a really fun game to be found here. However, it is also becoming exceptionally scarce by this point in time, even used. It’s that popular. If you must have it for your Dreamcast, best of luck. If you can wait, Playstation 2 and X-Box versions are due out in Japan later this year, and though there’s no official announcement of a stateside appearance to my knowledge, with the popularity of Marvels’ movies, it’s almost a foregone conclusion.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/02, Updated 09/25/02