Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

"Still beating people down on the Saturn."

In one of the more accomplished crossover games, you now have at your disposal several different fighters from both the Street Fighter and Marvel world. Most of what you’ll find here is the first appearances of Gambit and Rogue as well as other various characters from both worlds. With some impressive fighting skills and new maneuvers that you can now complete, there is plenty to learn and plenty to use. Although the game really isn’t as the complex or filled with characters like the Marvel vs. Capcom line, it still does have quite a bit of fighting spirit that should make it a part of the fighting game resume for any fan.

-The Game Play-

As with most fighting games, you take control of a character and go in a best out of three matches up against the computer-controlled opponents. However, in this outing, you have the ability to select a secondary character that will give you more of an opportunity to learn just what and how to fight with different teams. Teaming up the correct characters takes a little practice, with most of the game revolving around simply creating a kick ass team. With the different characters that you’ll find here, you should be able to set together a team that allows for impressive and damaging attacks.

One of the best features is the amount of in-battle moves that you can now perform. With your partner and a powered up Super Bar, you can now pull off some awesome looking Super Combinations that allow you to dish out heavy damage. Super Jumps and tagging in your partner really do a lot to creating custom combinations that weren’t there before. Another interesting feature is the use of the Team Attack, which calls in your partner and allows for a special attack before the battle resumes once again.

Now, the modes that you have at your disposal are your basic Arcade Mode, your Practice Mode and your Versus Mode. The first and third modes are pretty much the same in which you can take on the computer or a friend in a best two out of three battle to the finish. The Practice Mode on the other hand is where you can take a character and practice performing all of the high hitting combinations that will make sure to cement you a successful win. I’ve found that the Practice Mode is where I’ve spent the most time just learning how to control all of the characters for future battles against my friends and it is time well spent.

The tried and true system of using directional pad movements and following up with a button press hasn't changed through the different versions of Street Fighter and its subsequent clones, and remains the same here. The learning curve is nil if you already know how to play any of the characters, even in a limited fashion. All of the available moves do take a little bit of practice to pull off, so you’ll just have to sit down and learn what there is to learn throughout the game with the various characters. Super Moves are easy enough to pull off with some practice, and soon enough, you'll be busting off heavy hitting combinations with no problem!

-The Visuals-

Done in true comic-book fashion, most of what you’ll find here matches what you would expect to find in the comics. The characters are true to their roots, from the Street Fighters of Ken and Ryu to the Marvel Characters of Gambit and Rogue. All of the special moves reflect the character’s attitude and you’ll find that the detail on the characters, backgrounds and special moves are impressive in their own right. The only problem that I could see with this game is that you have to work with all of the flashy visuals and special effects. From time to time, you’ll see that the action tends to overtake and override what you’re seeing on the screen.

-The Audio-

That announcer with the cheery voice sounds like he's a DJ more than a fight commentator, which isn't all bad. The other voice over effects are unique to each character, from the high voice of Spider-Man, to the rugged, deep throated growl of Wolverine! The music sets each stage apart, never using the same piece of music twice, and keeps an up beat, almost dance like tone to the entire game, from beginning to end. When you place this together, you have a game that keeps the overall physical theme to the maximum. However, you’ll see that the game tends to give the fights a more lighter tone and takes away from the overall violent theme that fighting games should have!

-The Verdict-

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter really isn’t all that bad of a fighting game, though you might see that the Marvel vs. Capcom games are done in a better fashion with the way that everything is presented. The fighting skills that you need are ones that you would bring from other fighting games, and the visuals as long as the audio all make a good impact. The game play is about what you would expect, though you might find that the average fighting seems to draw the game out. Either way you look at it, if you’re looking for an older fighting game, then MSH vs. ST is a good place to start before running head long into the Marvel vs. Capcom games!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/02/02, Updated 10/02/02