Marvel vs. Capcom 2 ReviewXBLA

The easiest way to tell the truly great games apart from the rest of the crowded games market is longevity. Good games find a niche ten years down the road. Great games become a phenomenon all their own. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is one of those mythical great games. Here we are ten years after its initial release, and it still stands as one of the best 2D fighting games ever. And even better, the XBLA release is the best version of the game yet. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has managed to hold up incredibly well over the last ten years thanks to addictive, fast, hyperactive gameplay and a deep cast of 56 characters from the Marvsl and Capcom universes that make it easy to find a character or 12 that you can really love.

It isn't a traditional 2D fighter, but that is probably what makes it so great. It is a 3-on-3 team-based fighter where you are free to switch characters at will but can also launch deadly special attacks with all three at the same time to hack your opponent's life bar to pieces in mere seconds. There are melee characters and projectile characters and a wide variety of reach distances available, and the key to the game is putting together a team that suits the style you want to play and then knowing how and when to use their abilities to their full potential.

One thing that needs to be said about Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is that the difference between casual players and hardcore players is like night and day. It is like they are playing two completely different games. Underneath the flashy hyper combos and screen filling special moves are traditional combo strings and infinite attacks that can be strung together to completely dominate opponents. This style takes a lot more effort to master, however. That is what makes MvC2 so great, though, because it rewards both casual and hardcore players by offering a ton of different styles depending on how much effort you want to put in.

As for the XBLA release specifically. It seems like the difficulty has been bumped up over previous releases. I have seen the CPU do crazy stuff on "Easy" difficulty I never saw it do on the DC or Xbox. The most important feature, though, is online play and it is pretty darn close to perfect. Make sure your skills are up to snuff, however, or hardcore players will wipe the floor with you.

View the original article here