Eleven years ago, the world was busy celebrating the lack of a global computer meltdown and trying to find a new anthem now that we'd all partied in 1999. Sega had fallen in love with the number 9 the September before and released it's final home console that was sadly about a generation ahead of its time, and I was a kid in high school who just didn't care. That was until Capcom decided to release one of the most beloved and absurd fighting games ever created. I worked most of that summer saving money for my freshman year of college, but rather than spend it all on beer and pizza, I wound up toiling away so I could buy a Dreamcast, just for a copy of Marvel vs Capcom 2. This landmark game pitted 50+ characters from all sorts of Capcom games and Marvel's most popular comics (aka mostly X-Men) in crazy 3 on 3 tag team match ups. If you ever wanted to know if Omega Red could take down a giant cactus, this was your game. Luckily, Capcom has finally revived the fighting game genre and pulled MvC kicking and screaming into the modern age with all the silly, screen filling energy beams one would expect from the series.
The new roster is a bit trimmed from the last game. Where Capcom had dozens of sprite based fighters to rip sprites from with MvC2, its sequel starts over with a fresh batch of character models (minus a few carryovers from Tatsunoko). For the most part, this fresh start means a far more even level for most of the remaining characters. It seems there's still a few overpowered fighters, but the power gaps are nothing like before. Capcom's roster is perhaps their best yet, nicely pulling old favorites like Ryu and Tron while smartly swapping out characters like Zangief for Hagger to cover more games. If I can find fault with the Capcom roster, its the shameless parading around of characters like Dante, Spencer, Amaterasu, and Viewtiful Joe as a painful reminder that Capcom has dumped the creators of so many of their best new franchises.
For me, the Marvel roster is more of a mixed bag. I'm thrilled to see the game bring in characters like Thor and Deadpool, and risky guys like MODOK. Yet, despite the good, I definitely feel quite a bit is missing from the Marvel side of things. For one, there's far more villains this time around, which pushes out a lot of fun, iconic characters like Gambit and Cyclops. The other, oddly baffling thing, is the number of Marvel's female versions of male characters that both made the roster. X-23 is one of my favorite characters in the game now, but she's also taking up space in the roster that could be used by someone who doesn't feel as much like Wolverine. She-Hulk and He-Hulk play quite differently, but I can't help but feel like Rogue or Ms. Marvel might have helped the roster feel larger than it is.
In any case, the game's the thing and Capcom has done a nice job adapting the cast to Tatsunoko's more streamlined style. The Guilty Gear style controls certainly feel at home with a game with this much air combo madness. There's a great feel to the characters and being able to quickly change playstyle as you swap between Dormammu's passive, trap based style and Felicia's more aggressive mechanics. Overall the game does a good job walking the line between moving forward while still feeling familiar to fans still playing their Dreamcast a decade later.
It must be said, however, that MvC3 really isn't a game for the solo type. Personally, I'm thrilled to see that online play has put an end to the days when you'd bring a fighter home, only to have to spend hours solo before you could invite friends over to brawl, but you certainly won't spend much time against the AI here. The locked characters are available after just a couple hours of play, leaving you with art and mediocre endings if you don't want to find human competition.
Overall, while I'm absolutely thrilled with MvC3, I can't help but feel it's that first game before Capcom really gets it right in a sequel. Like Street Fighter Alpha or even the original Marvel vs Capcom, I just can't help but want more; more fantastic backgrounds (the Ghosts and Goblins stage is one of their best ever), more Mega Man (X please!), and plenty more Marvel heroes. Capcom's created an incredibly satisfying fighter here, but this is Marvel vs Capcom we're talking about; it demands a gluttonous buffet!
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