PixlBit

One of the craziest, most ludicrous, over-the-top fighting games to ever come to consoles

The Marvel Vs. Capcom series is one of the most famous cross-over fighting series in gaming. Believe it or not, this game is actually the fourth game in the series. The full title is Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. It was developed and published by Capcom and released in arcades in 2000. It was ported to a lot of consoles over a large span of time. The first system which received a port was Sega's Dreamcast, and this is the version which I played. It's a perfect arcade port on Sega's powerful last system. 

MvC2 is a tag-team fighting game in which you choose three fighters from a massive roster. There are 56 characters in all, but a big chunk of them have to be unlocked. All the Marvel and Capcom mainstays are here, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Ryu, Mega Man, Morrigan, and many more. There are also some obscure characters which only die-hard fans would know, such as Blackheart, Marrow, and Shuma-Gorath. Capcom pays tribute to some of its lesser known games by including characters like SonSon (from an old 80s arcade game) and Captain Commando (from a 90s beat 'em up on the SNES). 

The game includes Arcade Mode (which is the main 1 player mode), Vs Mode, Training Mode, Options, Score Attack, and Secret Factor. In Arcade Mode, you'll face seven levels of opponents before facing off against the main villain, Abyss. Training Mode allows you to practice with fighters and earn points. You can use these points to go to Secret Factor and purchase hidden fighters. That's right, you don't unlock them, you buy them. Score Attack is just like Arcade Mode, except they keep track of your score. 

Now to the fighting! The four face buttons do your regular attacks, and of course you can do combos with different button configurations. The shoulder buttons will summon your assist, who will jump in and attack, then jump back out. You can also switch to another fighter at any time. Each fighter has his own special attack. If your meter is full, pressing both shoulder buttons will do this special attack; some fighters have crazy, ultra-powerful specials while others really aren't that great. You can also perform a special attack that uses all three fighters, which does the most damage. 

MvC2's biggest fault is that it's so unbalanced. Certain fighters are very over-powered, such as Storm, Magneto, and Sentinel. Others have terrible reach and can be quite weak. But of course, this kind of game is not supposed to be balanced, it's supposed to be over-the-top and crazy. And it is! Many attacks are exaggerated and ridiculous. For example, for his special, SonSon turns into a monstrous ape that shoots fire! Ruby Heart summons her ship, which appears in the background and shoots cannonballs at the opponent. All of this craziness makes for one exhilerating and awesome fighting experience! If you want balanced, play Street Fighter. 

I do need to complain about the final boss, Abyss, in Arcade Mode. He has three forms and each one gets progressively harder. The first one is very slow, the second is very fast, and the last one is huge and extremely strong. I got really close to beating this guy, but I couldn't do it. You get unlimited continues and can choose new fighters each time, but this boss is way too hard. If you lose a fighter in phase one or two, you don't get them back later in the fight. It's really frustrating! The last phase of the battle seems really unfair as Abyss will shoot up from the ground randomly, and dodging it is nigh impossible. This is my major gripe with the game. 

Besides that, though, this game is loads of fun. The graphics are gorgeous! Each fighter is detailed beautifully with all kinds of great movements and attacks. This is a perfect arcade port if ever I've seen one. This is also a wonderful game to play with friends. Unlock all the fighters and have a group over, taking turns playing. The crazy, ludicrous nature of it all will keep you entertained for a long time. 

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

This is an awesome fighting game that no gamer should miss. If you own a Dreamcast, this is a must-own game. In fact, some say that this is the best game on the console. I believe it! This is one crazy fighting game. Realistic? Not even close. Balanced? Nope, terribly unbalanced. Crazy fun? Absolutely! And if that's what Capcom set out to give us, they succeeded 100%. And let me also add that the series is still going strong today. 

Join me for Retro Review every other Saturday as we examine games of yore.