Marvel VS Capcom 3

Preview from Jae - Thursday, 06 January 2011 @ 2:02am

Over the top fighting games is something you don't see often enough. Fighters of this generation have focused on depth and visual prowess whilst making minor adjustments to tell-taled formulas. I'll never forget that first time I beat Apocalypse in the original Streetfighter VS Xmen in the arcade (using power couple Akuma and Storm of course!). Battles were fast paced and packed with many instances where you would jump or be knocked back higher than the normal vertical view. Thankfully all of that stays intact for Marvel VS Capcom 3.

Charging Star!

First up the roster. 30 were available for preview, equally balanced in both the Capcom and the Marvel worlds. Many of the oldies (but goodies) return such as Ryu, Spiderman and Wolverine whilst we’re treated to a fair amount of new characters. Dante from the Devil May Cry series, prior to his recent make over, as well as the mighty Thor with his war hammer and lightning powers are welcome additions. Deadpool is not the glamorous character that people might think he is. By trying out his move set I’m not convinced that he’ll be a popular choice but I may be wrong. My favourites at the moment are Arthur, Captain America, Dante and Amaterasu. The most fun I had was playing a battle of Viewtiful Joe VS Arthur. It was like a battle of the midgets with overly exaggerated specials that would be 50 times bigger than their actual selves. Amaterasu can perform an aerial rave so stunning you'll continually mash it just for the visual pleasure. Then you have some interesting characters like Dante. He has a formidable move set including ice coated sword screw attacks, a repeater stab and shoot combo as well as nasty gun slinging of the vertical kind. It seems like a fair amount of effort was put into his moves more so over others. The two newly announced characters, Storm and Crimson Viper, have very similar moves from the games they last appeared in. I’m a little disappointed with Storm as she seems to have drawn the short end of the stick this time round. Her typhoon move takes an extra second and a half to execute which gives your opponent ample blocking or evading time. This may change with the final build but from what I played Storm may have to sit in the reserves for a while. Let’s save the rest of the roster for the final game as I’m keen to test out each and every one of them.

Puts me in the mood for pea and ham soup

The simplistic controls seem to have carried over from Tatsunoko VS Capcom. There were two control types selectable; normal and simple. Simple maps out each of the four face buttons to basic, special, alternate special and super whilst normal mode has light, medium and hard. This varies from MVC2's light and hard punch and kicks but once you play a round or two you'll get the hang of it. Again, this was preview build so I’m hoping the final version will give you classic control options. I would imagine so as many players with be dusting off their 6 button layout arcade sticks to get in on the action. Supers and multi-supers return in all their over top glory. Expect combo hits to hit the 50+ count and derive that satisfaction from a well timed super that hits more than one opponent. The satisfaction is almost unrivalled. Well unrivalled in the gaming sense.
The backdrops are artistically reminiscent of your favourite Capcom games and Marvel universes. Things such as the inflatable float parade in Spiderman’s New York city as well as the T-Virus Tyrant bio lab from Resident Evil display some eye candy whilst you’re battling it out in a maniacal frenzy.
All true fighting fans know not to expect deep fighting mechanics and balanced characters in the VS series. It’s all about the roster, the out of this world special moves and whacky combinations. If you liked them in the past I’m sure you will love this one to come. I’m itching to get into the final build of this game and I’ll surely be online to test my skills, or get smashed which is the more likely outcome.

Marvel VS Capcom 3 is due for release on the PS3 and Xbox 360 17th February 2011 with Special Editions available for pre-order.

No my hair better