Marvel
vs. Capcom ticks me off a bit. I just wanted to get that off my chest.
But you know what, I play it anyway. I'm funny that way, or maybe I
just like being hurt (see also: Captain
Novolin, Lost Word
of Jenny, Foton, et
al.) It's probably a serious condition, one that should
be treated before it mutates into some disorder that makes me believe
that buying the annual updates of Tony Hawk/Dave Mirra/John Madden are
a bargain.
The
premise behind the game is simple, as suits Capcom. I'd almost credit
them with single-handedly inventing the game-mechanic excusing, arbitrary
and mindlessly simple background story if not for the fact that a certain
series starring a certain plumber who happens to be able to get more
lift than the typical NBA player predates most of their major franchises.
Whatever. The story, which is usually regarded by most fighting games
as about as important as balancing all the characters, is sort of a
retelling of the Onslaught storyline that encompassed the whole Marvel
universe then was promptly forgotten about just like the other fifteen
world-threatening crises. For the uninitiated, Prof. X (bad wheelchair
guy) absorbs Magneto's genocidal bent through some sort of psychic STD
kind of transfer. His vaguely-defined but presumably powerful psychic
powers then combine with the dark emotions and create Onslaught, who
is basically Xavier's id with Magneto's fashion sense and self-restraint.
However, the last vestiges of Xavier's good heart (blech) summon the
maaagical heroes of Capcom to battle evil since he knows deep
down none of the X-Men are up to it. I guess the old man must have played
too many video games, or not enough- remember Capcom's most famous champion
can be beaten by anything vaguely pointy.
The
cast of heroes is refreshingly diverse in this one. Granted, if "fighter"+"Capcom"={true}it's
no surprise that Ryu, Chun-Li and Zangief are in this. And since it's
a crossover, Morrigan is a shoe-in. Street Fighters and the like aside,
this game also features Strider Hiryu, the company's rightfully-neglected
mascot Captain Commando, and Megaman, in the role of a lifetime. There's
also a smattering of hidden fighters like Megaman's sister Roll (with
the ability to not have to duck under things she is indeed his little
sister) and well... Most of the hidden fighters are just the original
fighters with different colors and moves. Like a Morrigan that shoots
hearts, or a strange missile-launching Chun-Li. The Marvel heroes in
this one are a little lacking in my opinion. Or maybe it's just how
burnt-out I got on the X-Men craze speaking. Wolverine is here, and
he's decent, with a nice super combination I rather like. Spider-Man
yells the names of his attacks as he does them, which is somehow a step
down from his usual mid-combat banter. Something about saying "Maximum
Spider" feels dirty. The Incredible Hulk is a large, suprisingly
spry character with a wider vocabulary than normal. He says about everything
except "Hulk Smash," though. Odd. Captain America is sort
of the Vega of the game, since he actually has to retrieve his shield
after throwing it. Cap also has a super that shares a name with a Joe
Don Baker movie (Final Justice.) The implications are staggering. Gambit's
an okay fighter whose supers the computer never seems to be able to
block.
I
didn't go into this before, but I like to think this game has the most
unabashedly cheap Ryu I've seen. He doesn't just stick with his Hadouken/Dragon
Punch schtick this time- he can change costumes so he fights like Ken
or Akuma. Yes, that's right, Ryu can now rip off his imitators. I can
only imagine that in later games he's going to start aping Sakura and
Dan Hibiki's clutz-fu.
The
game format seems to be the major dividing factor between people who
like the game and people who don't. Personally, I don't like a game
where Dragonball Z-sized fireballs blast 21 hit combos that inflict
remarkably little actual damage. I also don't care for the fact the
controls seem to ignore my joystick/d-pad commands and just see which
buttons I pushed down. And even then I found myself triggering moves
I thought used punches instead of kicks and vice versa.
The
saddest truth of the M vs C game engine is they really, really
seemed to have been trying for depth. For all the flash, most supers
only seem to do about a fourth of a bar of damage- not that I'm necessarily
complaining that Ryu's ridiculously huge Shinkuu Hadouken doesn't vaporize
me outright. There's a little emphasis on air combat, which is rapidly
going out of vogue since so few games even approach doing it well (DBZ
games do NOT count, especially the new Budokai and its strange habit
of making defeated fighters float in midair.) With all the random messages
flashing in and out ("Tech Hit!" Whatever the hell that is,
yay!) they seem to want us to believe there's more to the game than
strobe lights and liscensed characters. Unfortunately, there are only
so many features you can add into a game before It just starts getting
awkward. This is the sort of game button mashers excel at. With so many
things to do, random button combinations are bound to do something.
Of
course, I may just be a little bitter since the first time I ever played
this game I was soundly thrashed by some joker who did nothing but keep
calling in his helper character over and over. Who can say.