Marvel vs Capcom 3

Easily the best game in the franchise thus far, without a shadow of doubt.

BERSERKER BARRAGE!

The premise is the same: superheroes and villains from the Marvel universe are pitted against the warriors of Capcom games. I did not play either of the previous games in-depth, so I wouldn’t really know if there have been improvements, but suffice to say the game system is sufficiently developed anyway, even if nothing new was added. The point (for me, anyway) is not any new gameplay gimmick, but the slew of new characters that were added into the game.

One of my favorite additions has to be Dante, of the Devil May Cry franchise. In MvC3 he’s a great character with insane reach, projectiles, speed (though some characters are faster, but he’s pretty fast in his own right) and a HUGE amount of specials. They basically ported a huge bunch of his combos – including unlockable weapons from the third game Cerberus, Agni and Rudra, Nevan and Artemis – into the game, which resulted in a gigantic movelist. He has something like 20-30 specials, and even some of his normals gattling into other moves. A deep character, to be sure.

Feel the looooove of the Hyper Combo!

My second favourite addition to the roster is from the Marvel side. You guessed it, its Deadpool. Portrayed in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie as a mouthy swordsman, the Deadpool here is more true to his comic book origins. Full of insane quips (“PINEAPPLE SURPRISE!”, “I’m the ghost of Christmas KICK YOUR ASS!!”, “HAVE GUN WILL SHOOT!” are some of my favorites), funky move names (KATANA-RAMA!! comes to mind) and downright hilarity (down to his stance; after hopping around for awhile he stops to scratch his butt), Deadpool makes a great addition. The guy who suggested that he should be added in must be patting himself on the back right now.

Many old characters have been removed, of course, like Rock Man, Cable, Cyclops, Jin and Strider. Some of the classics are still here, though; Ryu, Wolverine, Chun-Li, Spider-man, Akuma and Hulk are playable, along with newcomers like She-Hulk, Crimson Viper, Super-Skrull, Trish, Viewtiful Joe, X-23 and Zero, to name a few.

The game gets a much-needed facelift from the previous game; gone are the 2D graphics, the less-than-spectacular effects. The game is done in the style of the recent Street Fighter 4, with American-comic-book-style “sound-words” and fonts. The effects are spectacular and over-the-top, which suits the game perfectly.

Music wise, the game leaves something to be desired. I have been pampered by the excellent compositions of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, and the pieces in MvC3, while decent enough for the game, can definitely be improved a great deal. For one, they could do with less of the “electronic” feel and go with a more rocking tune. I’m just sayin’.

Overall, definitely a great game. Pick it up if you’re a fighting game fan, even if you’re not a fan of the series. It will make you a believer.