Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Arcade) review "When I used to make regular trips to the arcade, I used to play Marvel vs. Capcom a lot. Since I am a huge fan of 2D fighting games, especially ones made by Capcom, I was really excited about the game. Featuring all of my favorite Marvel and Capcom characters, ranging from Magnetto to Mega Man, I knew I was going to love the game. And the Arcade version did not disappoint. Hell, I still play this game from time to time whenever I decide to make a trip over to the local arcade or Cici’s Pizza, si..."

When I used to make regular trips to the arcade, I used to play Marvel vs. Capcom a lot. Since I am a huge fan of 2D fighting games, especially ones made by Capcom, I was really excited about the game. Featuring all of my favorite Marvel and Capcom characters, ranging from Magnetto to Mega Man, I knew I was going to love the game. And the Arcade version did not disappoint. Hell, I still play this game from time to time whenever I decide to make a trip over to the local arcade or Cici’s Pizza, since they both have the game in their collection anyways. I really did enjoy playing this game and felt it was an outstanding piece of art that should be played by everyone.

Even if you do not like 2D fighting games, chances are you will find a lot to like about this game. Heck, the 2D fighting game genre has never exactly been my favorite, but I still enjoy some of the games nevertheless. This was one of those games I just happened to enjoy. I found a lot to like about this game, from how well the Marvel and Capcom characters are used, to how well the actual fighting action is implemented. I really felt this was a fast and very fun attempt at making a fighting game by Capcom, and the action really paid off, as I was really impressed by this game.

The thing I liked most about this game was the fact that the tag team option of the game was just awesome. In the beginning of the fight, you now choose two people instead of just one. His is cool because it opens up a whole degree of strategy in terms of what the perfect team is. I usually use the team of Mega Man and Wolverine, but feel free to use any team you may want to use. I liked how simple and effective the battle system was, as well, although it was definitely fun, as the action was fast and furious. I really enjoyed playing this game and still feel that it will go down, or at least should go down, as one of the true all time classics of the Arcade. It really is that good.

Someone or another, from the subconscious of Professor X and Magneto, Onslaught was formed. Onslaught is definitely a super villain up to no good. Professor X sends a telepathic signal, summoning all the super heroes in the world to try and stop Onslaught before he destroys everything! How is that for a cool story line? Each character has a different ending, although they are short and some are kind of confusing. I wish Capcom had thought their decision to include multiple endings out thoroughly before going ahead with it, because it was a nice idea that was kind of not implemented as well as it should have been, to say the absolute least, in my opinion.

The graphics in the game are simply splendid. There is not much more I can really say than that, but I might as well talk about some of the elements of the graphics of the game. The backgrounds in the game are superbly designed and I liked how there was a nice variety of background designs in the game, and how they all fit in nicely with the overall feeling of the game. The stage designs were awesome, as the stages actually scrolled from the left to the right, and they all fit in well with the background designs of the game. I really liked a lot of the elements of the graphics in the game.

One of the main concerns about some 2D fighting games is, of course, the animation in the game. Thankfully, the arcade version of Marvel vs. Capcom does not suffer from any animation problems. Well, it does suffer from some small problems but nothing too noticeable. The frame rate remains steady and there is little animation loss, even when doing awesome looking attacks. I was surprised by this, because I expected there to be a lot of animation loss and other major problems, but fortunately the game still maintained its high level of frame rate and speed, even when faced with all sorts of blinding attacks at once.

The character designs in the game are great, as they look a lot like their comic book counterparts. Of course, this is to be expected, but we shouldn’t exactly be taking anything for granted. I liked the design of Mega Man, Wolverine, and Spider Man best, and I like how there is a definite size difference between the characters while fighting. I was expecting Capcom to maybe mess up and decide to make every character the same size, but fortunately that did not turn out to be the case, at all. I really liked the character designs in the game and felt they added a lot to the overall feeling of the game play.

The music in the game is simply some of the best music ever featured in any sort of Arcade game, although it is not perfect, as I would have liked to hear more classic music from some of the characters in the game, such as Captain Commando, Mega Man, and Wolverine (can I get a classic X-Men theme remixed for this game please?). The music in the game is really quite good, but I felt that the music playing in the stage did not have the correct feeling in terms of the stage itself. For instance, in the Mega Man stage, they played some decent Mega Man stage music, but I would have preferred to hear some more classic Mega Man music, like the boss introduction theme in Mega Man X, for instance. The rest of the music in the game is awesome, as I heard some of the best music I have ever heard in an arcade fighting game, in this game. Regardless, the music in the game is still quite good.

The sound effects in the game are solid, as I liked the variety of sound effects in the game. There was not as much variety as I expected, but I was still fairly impressed with how well the sound effects were. Sound effect wise, the sound effects in the game are fantastic, and all of the expected sound effects in the game are here, from the shooting sounds of the guns to the fierce punches and kicks landing on the metallic armor of your opponent. There is not too much here in terms of innovation, but if you were expecting a lot of innovation then I think you went to the wrong place.

The control in the game is fairly solid, as it is easy enough to do everything in the game. It is easy enough to pull off the special moves of the game, which was surprising to me. After all, I have never exactly been the master of pulling off moves in fighting games, so it surprised me that I was able to pull off some strong combos in the game with the touch of a few buttons. I think the fact I set the game to an easy setting with Auto combos certainly helped, but oh well. I really liked the control, regardless, because I felt it was easy to do everything I wanted to do, like combos, and running around kicking and punching. And you don’t have to worry about that annoying Dream Cast controller!

The game play in this game is superb, as well. Take your average Capcom 2D fighter, throw in new modes like a true tag team mode and other goodies, and you have a can't miss game. I believe that this is the first arcade version of a fighting game that has a true tag team mode. If so, then the game would be worth it right there, because multi player tag team battles are fun as hell. I love most of the characters in the game as well, and their moves are easy to pull off, because of the simplicity of the control of the game.

I really loved the tag team mode of the game, and felt it really added a lot to the overall feeling of the game. Instead of doing basic one on one fights, you can now do two on two fights. You choose two characters at the beginning of the fight, and your opponent then chooses theirs. You then have a little spinning bar, which chooses your special partner. You can call on this partner during the fight and he/she will come in and save you during the fight. It is a fairly innovative concept that worked out quite well. I really felt that this game was fun to play, and it will remain one of my favorite Arcade games for a long time, possibly for all time.

This game does not feature an outstanding amount of replay value, but it gets the job done. I was impressed by how much replay value the game did possess considering there was not much here to keep me coming back time after time. I thought I needed to have several game modes and special modes in order to be able to enjoy a fighting game time after time, but that is not the case with this game. The simple fact that the game was so addicting, especially in the two player mode, was enough to keep me playing this game over and over again. I was really impressed by this game.

The challenge level of this game is not as high as I expected, but is perfectly acceptable nevertheless. You win a fight, you get to continue on, you lose a fight, you have to deposit another quarter to play. Just like any other fighting game, in that particular aspect. Some of the earlier fights are simple enough, as it is fairly easy to pull off the moves and the guys are not that tough, but soon enough you will be challenged by this game. I guarantee that you will find a lot to like about this game, especially when it comes to the challenge level of it. The game was definitely the perfect challenge level, to say the absolute least.

Overall, Marvel vs Capcom is the one of the most enjoyable Arcade games I have yet to play, and I do think that it is better than Soul Calibur and any other fighting game out there. The variety of characters, the tag team mode, and the outstanding replay value add up to a can't miss game. The control in this game is definitely solid, as it is easy enough to pull off moves, and overall I just plain old love this game. It is well worth putting a few dollars into, because it really is an awesome and extremely enjoyable game!

Community review by psychopenguin (May 20, 2007) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.