As of late, we've been seeing a lot of callback collections, porting old games into new consoles. This is not only a port of video games that are rarely played now, but they're Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast era games. Their worth is now through the roof! For those who don't know, X-men vs Street Fighter was one of the biggest arcade blockbusters. It became very popular in the cabinet and also became one of the most beloved Sega Saturn titles. Well, they decided to keep expanding upon that idea and many great titles were a result. Well, in some amazing show of generocity, Capcom has decided to release an entire collection of these titles!
This will be a series of reviews, for obvious reasons. There are some big titles in this collection and covering all of them in one go would just result in a big bloated post. I would rather give one or two of them my undivided attention first and foremost. Today, we'll be looking at two of the titles that I have alluded to in former reviews, but have never taken a proper look at. We'll be doing the first two in the Marvel vs Capcom titles!
It was interesting to find out that I have barely ever played the first title in this series. Marvel vs Capcom was always overshadowed by its sequel, much in Capcom fashion, and I found out exactly why.
Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
When it comes to fighting games, Capcom has always been a name that you can trust. This title definitely brought the goods when it came to fighting mechanics. What it lacked, in retrospect, was characters. The first title gives you a fighting duo instead of a trio as well. It is not a bare bones roster, in fact, it has quite a few characters for a fighting game of its time. The problem is that it is covering two entire franchises. X-men vs Street Fighter could go lower in the number of characters it covered because it covered two much smaller groups.
This is a nitpick, when all is said and done, because this game is still a lot of fun to play through. One great thing this game has going for it is that it has Onslaught as the main badguy. If you're a comic book nerd, you'd probably know that name and who it really is. Still, with what characters they do have, this game delivers with Mega Man, Ryu, and Chun-li from the Capcom side to name a few. The characters they chose were heavy hitters, especially the returning cast of X-men vs Street Fighter. Another great feature that the Collection edition brings is the option to choose an alternative Chun-li and War Machine. Both of them have special powers and are a power duo. It was a very good start to the series and even if it doesn't hold up as well as its sequel, it's still a game with a lot of charm.
Marvel vs Capcom 2
This is the Justice League Unlimited of games, especially for its time. The roster on display here was a marvel of its time, no pun intended. There are so many characters from both franchises and they are presented so well. This game was great on Dreamcast and it is still great to this day. The ability to choose three characters to fight with, along with what type of gameplay you have to choose from. You really need to stand back and take in this game. The backgrounds, especially that horrific inflatable clown background, are chiseled into gaming history.
Playing through this game again, it became quite obvious that I was rusty as hell because it has become a bit difficult after so long of leaving it on the shelf. This is normally the title I play when I go to the local arcade here in town, and that's not on a very regular basis. It was rough relearning all of it, because it has been a very long time since I fought the final opponent, the Abyss! Of course, you had enemies spamming attacks. You also have Dan, the reject from Street Fighter. Don't ever fight with him unless you want to have a handicap to make the game even HARDER!
This and Marvel vs Capcom were also some of seeing Spider-man in his full form fighting mode! This was before Spider-man 2 came out and showed us how great a Spidey game could be. He is one of the highlight characters to use. He and Wolverine are staples of the series and have been, no matter how many stupid iterations leave Wolverine out.
These days, we have much later and larger iterations of the roster with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, but you really need to appreciate where these titles started. That's why it's so good to see them releasing these games for the later consoles. This is a great way to experience all of the games, and it's going to be a joy to look through and review all of the titles as I go. The more we go into the series, the more it is apparent that adding money to a title doesn't make it better. Their rosters can be twice the size, but that doesn't take away from these two that we've looked at today. Marvel vs Capcom 2 has become a favorite among old school gamers for a reason, and it's wonderful to see that it's more accessible now. Oh, that and Punisher shooting and killing criminals. The kids will love that one! Virtua Blam!
