Reliving the Glory Days of Crossover Fighters
I remember walking into the local pizza parlour on a chilly autumn day and noticing something was off. In the corner, where dust, pizza grease, cobwebs and dried-out pizza toppings dropped from the tops of our slices normally accumulated, sat a shiny, 7-foot-tall X-Men vs. Street Fighter arcade cabinet. It was the first time I had ever seen an arcade machine outside of an arcade or a movie theatre and here it was, mere steps away from my home.
I had just come to know the X-Men characters from renting the movie from the video store, so I knew who Wolverine, Rogue, Cyclops and the gang were. I had no clue, however, what a “Street Fighter” was. But when I walked up to the cabinet, I was instantly hooked. My team of Wolverine and Dhalsim were more than enough to get through half of the stages, a minor miracle at the time for my fighting game inept childhood self.
Above all, I loved the presentation, the music, the feeling. I remember gathering my friends and going to the shop ostensibly for a slice, but in reality to get one more match in.
Then, about a year later, I looked in the window and was left with a horrified expression. The cabinet was gone – and in its place was a crudely printed out black and white poster announcing a game called Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 will take its place in the coming weeks. A few weeks went by, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 showed up and honestly… I was not quite feeling it. It was 3v3, not 2v2, Dhalsim was “gone” (in actuality not unlocked) and the jazzy music sounded so weird. A local high schooler saw my reticence (and my aggressively lacking skills), took a chance on this lost creature and decided to show me how to make the most of the game.
And then… it clicked! I loved the 3v3, I loved the characters, and the soundtrack went from befuddling to mesmerizing. I would take every opportunity I could get to sneak away to the Pizza Shop. No thunderstorm, Canadian snow storm or school night could hold me back, and I got to enjoy a full 2 years with that machine learning the ins and outs before it too was taken away.
Almost 20 years later (and a retrospective rewind I fear may have felt like 20 years for some readers), all of the Marvel vs. Capcom classic games are back in a brand new collection from Capcom, bringing them together under the same roof for the first time in MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. And while my skills in fighters have gotten rusty since my heyday, I was beyond excited to jump back into the collection to reunite with old favourites and fulfil blindspots.
From Punisher to Phoenix
The arcade collection itself consists of online and offline play on the underrated beat ’em up The Punisher, and the fighters X-Men – Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Also included is a gallery with some behind-the-scenes documents, music (including the G.O.A.T. MVC 2 soundtrack) and a few deep cuts (including that poster I mentioned earlier).
But the star here is, of course, the games, and they have been brought to modern standards with rollback netcode, leaderboards and training. Unfortunately, crossplay is MIA and playing online with randoms is, at times, like playing with the best of the best at the arcade 24/7. But matchmaking waits were far from untenable.
As for the games themselves, to go through in order of release, The Punisher is a delightful, bonkers beat ’em up where The Punisher and Nick Fury team up on a New York City spanning, oil drum pizza-eating quest to face the Kingpin and his evil baddies including… punk arsonists, sword-toting kunoichis and… the Terminator? It’s a very odd game, but its combination of beat ’em up and shoot ’em up combat (the latter appears where enemies use guns – Frank doesn’t shoot first) is surprisingly delightful from start to finish and the hidden gem of the collection.
The Evolution of Marvel vs. Capcom
X-Men Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes are two sides of the same coin. 2 v 2 fighters before the Capcom vs. series which are limited in roster, and arguably rough around the edges by modern sensibilities. However, the love for their franchise characters is apparent in every pixel. Fans of these titles will be delighted to see the care in porting them to modern hardware, and Marvel Super Heroes sports a novel infinity stones mechanics, but these two were not favourites of mine.
X-Men vs. Street Fighter is where things get great, but I already waxed poetic on how much I love the game. What I can add is, the conversion from arcade feels seamless to my childhood and barcade memories, and I had a blast finally completing the arcade mode for the first time. Look 8-year old me, we did it!
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter is every bit as fun as its X-Men predecessor, just with a more varied roster. It is, for all intents and purposes, the very first Marvel vs. Capcom game, and it is a blast to play.
The actual first game, Marvel vs. Capcom 1, in comparison, I felt was a small step back from the vs. Street Fighter series. The difficulty curve in the arcade mode was less balanced, and the roster felt somewhat limited. However, the addition of guest character summons allowed for some truly unique representation across the Marvel and Capcom portfolio. Until recent MCU films, where else would you find US Agent on screen besides in this game? Not many places.
The Champion Returns: Marvel vs. Capcom 2’s Legacy and Impact
Then, of course, there is the crown champion of them all, Marvel vs. Capcom 2. A sprawling roster, a varied arcade mode, a jazzy soundtrack and a move list the size of War and Peace are just a few of the things that make this game, in my humble opinion, the greatest fighting game of all time.
A Must-Have Collection for Fighting Game Fans and Marvel Enthusiasts
So, in review, in Capcom’s newest collection, you are getting your hands on: an underrated beat ’em up, two early fighting games with a large Marvel roster, two superb Street Fighter crossovers, a darn fun genre mashup fighter and what is quite possibly the greatest fighting game of all time. All combined with extras, QOL upgrades and viable online play with rollback netcode.
This is all to say, if you are a Marvel fan, a fighting game fan or just a fan of great games in general, you need to add MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics to your library yesterday.
Hit Those Links
MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Shadow-drops a Clash of Epic Proportions onto Xbox – https://www.thexboxhub.com/marvel-vs-capcom-fighting-collection-arcade-classics-shadow-drops-a-clash-of-epic-proportions-onto-xbox/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/marvel-vs-capcom-fighting-collection-arcade-classics/9NWFM3HDJC94
