Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Review from Jae - Thursday, 25 February 2010 @ 2:23pm

We haven’t had a good mash up of fighters in a long while. I don’t count the SNK vs Capcom games because they were pretty full of themselves. Marvel VS Capcom 2 was the epitome of fighting games combined, then comes along the Tatsunoko consortium. Made up of various Japanese centric intellectual properties Tatsunoko are probably best known in the Western world for their Battle of the Planets cartoon. Of course you have to be about 25 years old or above to have any idea what I’m talking about. If you’ve noticed lately the last 12 months has seen a plethora of fighting games, both good and bad. I’m glad to say TvC sits in the good corner far away from some of the tripe of late.

It really doesn’t matter if you recognise anyone from the Tatsunoko side of the game, all the characters are so exuberant that you forget you ever cared where they came from. Migrating from 2D character models to 3D, whilst on a 2D plane, the graphical updates in the VS series are looking mighty nice especially for a Wii title. It makes you think that the next Marvel vs Capcom title will look nothing short of spectacular. The highlight of this VS game isn’t really the visuals but more so the fast pace action on screen. I never had a trained eye for over the top fighters but spending some time with TvC gets you better at following the vibrant colours and flashes that eventually lead to high hit combos.

A bajillion damage

Having played the import version since last year there have been some changes made for the Ultimate All Stars version. The biggest difference is the character selection. You now have characters made specifically for the Western release such as Frank from Dead Rising. I’m not sure why there isn’t a Resident Evil character as Jill Valentine’s last guest appearance in a fighter was a great addition. You have a Lost Planet, Megaman and Dalkstalkers character all from original Capcom IPs. The most peculiar of characters is Gold Lightan from the Tatsunoko side of things. He looks like a giant transformer but really he’s just a big cigarette lighter. Things like this can only be fathomed from Japan, the land of obscurity. If you’re not an avid fighting gamer give Gold Lightan a go, you may just win your first few matches without breaking a sweat.

It baffles me as to why this game has come to the Wii. The least hardcore console gets a hardcore fighter. Having said that Eighting, the developers, have done a great job in making the game accessible to anyone. You’ll still find TvC circling around the fighter tournaments in Australia for time to come. The button layout has been customised for the Wii, with a strong, medium and heavy button, and a new move called the baroque technique. Just like the focus attack brought into Street Fighter IV, baroque is a way in which you sacrifice your recovery potential to cancel out an opponent’s attack. This works mainly to keep your combo’s going endlessly. If you’re a pro and you’re up against someone who hasn’t played TvC then you can combo your way to a knock out easily. Baroque isn’t as simple to pull off as a focus attack so some perseverance and training is needed to get good as this, I’m certainly far off mastering this technique. For those found stuck in an endless baroque there are mega crash cancels which come with a hefty price of your hyper combos. Again, this is some what of a technique to train and get right in order to gain the advantage.

If you have a choice of control scheme stay off the Wii remote. The hardest of hardcore can invest in a fighting stick but with the lack of any other real fighters on the Wii (Smash bros does not count as a fighter folks) means there is hardly any reason to invest. Your best bet is to use a classic controller although it still bugs me how the thing weighs less than a packet of gum and feels like a plastic toy. There is also the Gamecube controller which is not bad but the D-pad feels like it was made for 5 year olds.

Unfortunately before writing this I’ve had technical difficulties with WiFi working on the Wii so I can’t give you a run down on the online play. From what I can tell the menus are as convoluted as ever. An easy user interface doesn’t seem to be within the requirement of Eastern developed fighters. The notion of entering a game specific 12 digit friend code is just not worth anyone’s time.

Tatsunoko vs Capcom is the first solid fighting game released this year. If you own a Wii and have nothing to play on it (let’s face it no one has anything to play on it) then invest in TvC. You can engross yourself into the world of over the top fighting mash ups and Japanify yourself.

Pros

Best fighter on the Wii and better than most fighters on other HD gen consoles.
Over the top fast paced action that is well known in the Vs series.
Can be accessible by non hardcore fighters and button mashers yet hardcore for those who want to take it there.

Cons

Wii has restraints in terms of controls, unless you shell out for an arcade stick.
Understanding baroque and mega crash techniques can put you off.