This is Capcom's first foray back into cross over fighting in a while, but they haven't lost a single step.
This sound little gem almost snuck onto the Wii past us. The hype for it was fairly minimal, overshadowed largely by the afterglow of Street Fighter IV and the anticipation of Super Street Fighter IV. It was also easy to overlook this fighter because of it's obscure list of combatants. Large chunks of the Tatsunoko roster are only really known to the most devout, ravenous anime fans and little of their work saw the light of day stateside as anything more than limited releases of sub-titled niche DVDs. And we all remember the last time Capcom released a fighter with an obscure roster in an unostentatious manner...Fighting Evolution, a pock-mark on an otherwise impressive record. Believe me when I say that this brawler is easily up to snuff with some of the best in this vein.
The Tatsunoko roster features fighters from many of their anime series, most of which I'm not familiar with and I'm sure that the vast majority of other U.S. gamers aren't either. The list includes characters from Science Ninja Gatchaman, Neoroider Casshan, and Time Bokan Series Yatterman...I'm going to smile and nod like I normally do when I don't understand what the hell someone is talking about. Capcom's roster features Street Fighter veterans Ryu and Chun-Li, SFIII brawler Alex and another Capcom Cross-over favorite in Dark Stalker's Morrigan, but they also offer up some more unique characters like Viewtiful Joe, Kaijin No Soki (Hideyasu Yuki) of Onimusha fame, and even Batsu of the Rival Schools series. The fighter roster is only 21 fighters deep (MvC2 sporting 52) but that only makes the diversity (at least on Capcom's side) that much more impressive.
The game's formula is the same formula that 2D fighter veterans know and truly love. You pick any two of the 21 fighters (unless you pick a Giant character) and duke it out against another two fighters. You can tag the two characters in and out, and you still have things like the supers and hypers at your disposal. Those anticipating more of the tactical, slightly slower paced fighting of Capcom's SFIV are going to be sorely disappointed. This game features frenetic, intense combat reminiscient of Capcom's last amazing vs. title Marvel vs Capcom 2.
This installment sees some features fairly unique to the series (Disclaimer: My statements of the control scheme come from using the "Classic Controller Pro" and no other control scheme) The first is that the control scheme is simple enough, light, medium, and hard punch and kick buttons have been replaced with a more generic light, medium, hard attack button. This chops the number of primary attack buttons in half. There is now also a specific button to trigger the partner attacks instead of having to press a combination of buttons. This does nothing to hurt the depth or the smoothness of the trademark Capcom cross-over experience you have come to expect. The control scheme has several options which would make the game much more accessible to first-time/casual fighters by allowing you to tweak certain advnaced commands to be automatic or not. It's a nice touch in keeping with the Wii's "Make it fun for everyone" design philosophy. In it's most elaborate control set-up this title has all the depth that Capcom Cross-Over veterans know and love. This title has that same super-polished feel, butterey smooth combo controls, and comforting familiarity that helped this series work its way into the hearts and minds of 2D fighting fanatics everywhere.
Another innovation for this series is the introduction of a pair of "Giant" characters. These lumbering behemoths dominate the screen, hit harder, and are largely unflappable when it comes to being knocked down or interrupted by attacks. These giants are Gold Lightan from Golden Warrior Gold Lightan (Tatsunoko, obviously) and PTX-40A from Lost Planet. If you fight with one of these monsters it's the only fighter you can pick. These guys hit so much harder but the trade-off, in keeping with most all behemoth characters, is that they're incredibly slow.
There are complex fighting additions that add a new layer of amazing complexity for the veterans which can be tweaked in the options to keep them from alienating those precious first-timer/casual fighters that can make or break a game like this. These include things like the Cross-over air raid, baroque, and mega crash. I'm not going to go into detail, I don't want to regurgitate the manual, but these are definitely tools that the more advanced players will be able to quickly learn and utilize with a bit of practice. They're all integrated into the game with flawless ease. Since this is a Wii title and Capcom does not want to alienate those new to these games, they have options for tweaking them and in low difficulty settings in single player they aren't even necessary to win.
The visual style here is quite new for the Capcom vs games. The character art is now uniform. No longer is the Morrigan you see in this game the same Morrigan you saw in 1996, she is a brand new model created specifially for this game, a 3D model fighting in a 2D field. Everyone has been redesigned specifically for this title. I kind of liked the old style in games like Marvel vs Capcom 2 with the Morrigan from the original Dark Stalkers and the Wolverine from Marvel Super Heroes. It was part of the charm of the cross-over asthetic. However this new, uniform art style is deinfitely not without its loads of appeal. The background for hyper attacks and the quick cinematics that accompany them shatter when they're over to reveal the original background. The whole thing helps to amplify the kinetic pace of the fighting in this title. The buttery smooth control scheme coupled with the new aesthetics help to truly remind us of the classic that is MvC2.
The game does offer an online experience but I haven't personally spent any time with it. I don't plan on spending more time with it either.
The single player modes are pretty basic. You have Arcade, fighting against the CPU in a linear story progression to earn Zenny to spend in the shop on gallery illustrations and such; Survival, which has you fighting through as many CPU contorlled opponents as you can with limited health; and Time Attack, which sees how fast you can fight through the opponents. The real reason to repeatedly go through these modes is to earn enough Zenny to acquire everything available in the shop. That and because this game is excellent and any excuse to play it is an excuse worth utilizing.
I'm sure you all know what I am going to say here. If you're a Wii owner and have any fond memories of Marvel vs Capcom 2 then you have got to pick up this title. The new innovations in the control scheme make this one a must play that will keep you coming back until you've cleared the title with every fighter it has. As for first timers who want to get into this resurgence of 2D brawlers, this is as good a place as any to start. The level of customization here makes it easy enough to pick up and succeed.
On another level I have to say that this game should help to sell Nintendo's new Classic Controller Pro. The tweaked shape and the addition of the grips make it so smooth. I loved playing this game with it. The controls of this game are like the other Capcom 2D fighters, incredibly smooth. This contorller makes 'em slicker than snot on a doorknob! It's a truly spectacular controller and its design offers the smooth rolls and shoryuken motions that veterans crave and will help rookies learn. If you don't have one of these for whatever reason, go get one. If you have one, relegate it to player 2, you're #1 and you deserve something like this.