Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

"A lot better then the first one, that for sure."

I was excited when X-men vs Street Fighter came to Playstation. Grated, the tag-team mode wasn't in there (well it was, but not the way I expected) but I was excited nonetheless. Boy, was I disappointed on how the game played. Even without the tag-team, the game could have been better. Well, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter arrived (sometime last year) and I made it my duty to avoid it at all cost. My friend, however, had just brought the game and challenged me in the Vs. mode. I was expecting a XvS clone when he pop the disk in my Playstation. But what I got was a whole new fighting experience.

Graphics/10: Great graphics, indeed. Some reviews say that some frames of animations were cut out. But it seems that Capcom actully added more frames instead. The backgrounds are nice too but am I experienceing De ju vu? Were'nt these in X-men vs Street Fighter? They just seem more colorful and have more detail. Hmmmm.

Music&Sound/9: Like in the first game, each character has there own music to keep it from getting repeative. Some of the songs aren't that bad (I especially like the Hunks and Chu-lee) but some just make me want to turn down the volume. The sound is make up for that, though. Smacks and Booms are bigger now and the speechs are a lot clearer. (You just gonna love Cycoples ''Behold, Optic Blast!!!'')

Story/7: Same as the first one, only we know who it it now. I don't want to spoil it for first time players, But he the X-men's worst enemy. And he has a partner of his own now. Who is it? You have to play the game to find out.

Gameplay/10: Capcom must have listen to magzines reviews, cause they went back to the drawing board on this one and improved what they started. And, man, did it pay off. This game goes a lot faster and pulling off moves and combos has never been easier (in the first one I doubt you could pull off anything). As usual, there is no tag-team mode but Capcom added more options so it won't be a big drag. There Battle mode (or arcade as I like to call it), Vs., training, and two new ones, Heroes mode and Crossover. I haven't tried Heroes yet, but in Crossover it a tag-team match just like in the arcades. The only problem is that you can only select one character and the computer or a friend can select your partner. Then your must face your clones (ex: Spider-man and Ryu vs Ryu and Spider-man) in a all out match to the finish. It a good idea, but it wears thin after a while. Overall the gameplay is excellent.

All in all: MvS is one cool action packed 2-d fighting game that delivers what X-men vs Street Fighter failed to give. So if your looking for a kickin arcade port (or one close to it). Then steer clear of the first game and get Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter. You'll be playing this one for hours on end and won't get tired for a long time. Hope you find it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/00, Updated 04/01/00