Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics brings together six amazing fighting games as well as a legendary beat em up and the product is top quality. Each game has a training mode as well as offline and online play, with netplay that works like a dream and allows for great matches and easily getting clobbered by Justin Wong in Marvel vs Capcom 2. There is a music players as well, along with a number of other bonus content like artwork and design documents that give an insight into how the games were made. All of the games include the Japanese versions as an option as well, which was a nice touch, and are fun offline and online As for the actual games, we should go through them as best we can.
X Men Children of the Atom was the first fighting game Capcom made using Marvel characters, namely the X Men, with a guest appearance from Akuma that was a sign of things to come. This is a fantastic game to play with friends, but trying to play against a computer will see you getting crushed right away. This one was a blast online, and while I did not spend a long time with it, I enjoyed this fighting game based on the Fatal Attractions storyline.
Marvel Superheroes was based on the Infinity Gauntlet storyline and utilized a gem mechanic that would influence the assist mechanic in later entries. This one is a decent fighting game that brings many of the iconic Marvel heroes and villains ( and Shuma Gorath), but honestly, I found the other games to simply be much more fun. The online worked great but the other games were just better.
X Men vs Street Fighter is easily my favourite of the fighting games and I had forgotten how amazing it is. Excellent music and visuals and spot on controls, along with the introduction of 2 v 2 tag matches made this first official crossover fighting game special. I spent the most time playing this online and it never got old for me and I still feel this is one of the best fighting games ever made. This was a fantastic start for the crossover games and still plays like a dream.
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter was the logical next step but does not feel as good as X Men vs Street Fighter. That game felt so polished and refined, while Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter feels a bit rougher, even if it is still fun. The mechanics introduced here are not as good as what was present in X Men vs Street Fighter and the music is not as good, but this was still a solid experience online and I rank it above Marvel Super Heroes.
Marvel vs Capcom Clash of Superheroes is a fun game, there is no denying that and the use of Onslaught as the villain is excellent. The character balancing is decent and the tag mechanics were refined to better handle assists and swaps, but the clear attraction was the wide array of characters. I spent quite a bit of time online but I still rank X Men vs Street Fighter as the best of the 2 V 2 games.
And lastly we have Marvel vs Capcom 2 New Age of Heroes, where the series abandoned all sense of balance, moved to a 3 v 3 mechanic and had an enormous roster. This is a game I enjoyed playing back in junior high at a local convenience store near my school with my friends and the experience is still great now on modern hardware. Of course the online has been plagued by Justin Wong taking revenge on everyone for Evo moment 37, but when not interacting with him, this is some of the most fun you will have in an online fighting game just for how wacky and unbalanced the game is, leading to a a lot of creativity.
In addition to the fighting games, there is also the inclusion of The Punisher, the first Marvel and Capcom collaboration, and this beat em up has aged wonderfully. The game controls great, and the Japanese version does still retain the additional content that was taken out for the west. The Punisher’s quest to take down the Kingpin sees him take on a variety of enemies and locals, and you can team up locally or online with a second player taking control of Nick Fury, with the characters controlling the same but having a different flair. This beat em up incorporated run n gun mechanics as well, as whenever an enemy with a gun approaches, The Punisher and Fury pull out their guns and start firing. There are a number of other weapons to find and one thing I love is that all weapons, not just the additional firearms, will let you know how many uses are left. Some of the enemy choices may seem odd, but this is still a game that does not hold back and the experience is as fun today as it was back in 1993.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is an amazing collection that brings the arcade greats from Marvel and Capcom into one package that is filled with care and attention. I would have liked some of the console versions, such as Marvel vs Capcom on PS1, for how different it was, but I can hope that can be included in another collection in the future. For the price being asked, Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is a cannot miss product and more than lives up to the hype. Play this if you wanna get taken for a ride!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
