GAME OF THE MONTH COLLECTION!
MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 2: New age of Heroes
(Capcom, 2000)



If this Marvel vs. Capcom 2 game here sounds familiar to some of you then maybe you readers out there remember the Sega Dreamcast? "Come on, Anybody!?" Anyway, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was one of best games for the ill fated Sega machine in the year 2000 and Playstation2 and Xbox owners also got the rare chance to try out this sleeper hit as well. Although this isn't one of the easiest games to find for either console (it usually cost anywhere found 30 to 90 US on online auctions alone because of its limited release), Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is famous for having cool secrets to unlock, there are over 50 different characters to play as from both the Capcom and Marvel universes. Unlike other lame Capcom fighters like DarkStalkers (it sucks and you know it!) see why this game might be worth picking up.

This game starts off with 24 default playable characters from it's Capcom and Marvel titles and it's a fairly impressive list too. If you're an Marvel Comics fan then maybe some of these names ring a bell for ya? The Incredible Hulk, Cable, Spider Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, (from X-Men of course), Dr. Doom, and many more famous original comic book heroes and villains. On the Capcom side, not only are there are popular Street Fighter guys like Guile, Ryu, Sakura, Zangeif, and others in here, Capcom also included several wrackjobs characters you normally wouldn't find in a one on one fighter like this. For example there is Jill Valentine; the female cop found in Resident Evil who can use Zombies for special attacks. Next there is the cute but very evil Tron Bonne from Mega Man Legends. Bonne may look silly with her robot suit but she is one of the better characters in the game thanks to her nasty combos. Rounding up the rest is Son Son (a character in an old PC Engine game), Hiryu Strider (remember that cool Sega Genesis game?), Amingo (a weird cactus creature?), and those are just a small fraction some of the 50 plus fighters here. Other characters like Storm, Mega Man, and Black Heart can be purchased and unlocked by earning enough player points. Sure most of the characters are actually recycled from past titles but having all these fighters definitely enhance the game's replay value.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is not your typical one on one beat them up here, instead of picking just one single character this game lets you pick your own team of three just like in the SNK's King of Fighters series (real original guys!). If all of your characters lose their energy or they less life than your opponents before the time runs out then its game over. To add a bit of depth to the game's fighting engine Capcom even included three different types of set ups for each character so you may be able to improve someone's dashing, projectile power, or whatever before the fight. The only annoying thing about this feature is that it sure eats up a lot of time while you're surfing through all these trivial menus and it doesn't help matters if you have to wait for your friend to make their pick while you have to endure some crappy looping music in the background.

Maybe the best part about this game is the easy to learn controls. If you are familiar with other Capcom fighting games you will feel right at home here. I had no problems pulling off any of the special moves, tag team attacks, and even some combos after only a few plays and you can't say that with all beat em ups out there. This game can be quite user friendly.

The few 3D backgrounds in this game look fairly impressive and the characters are well represented with a nice selection of flashy moves. What isn't so good though the creators just ported over the game and didn't make any effort to improve the sometimes stiff animation and blurry sprite based characters. You could easily put this and the other versions side by side and not tell the difference between them.

Although the graphics had some issues, at least they were passable. This brings me to the worse part of Marvel vs. Capcom 2; the music. The only way I could describe the unusual soundtracks here is by calling it some kind of horrible Jazzy/Cherry Pop crap. Imagine hearing "AND I'LL NEVER LET YOU GOOoohoo!" while tough guys like Spider Man and his arch rival Venom are beating the living hell out of one another? This is a Teen Rated game, butch it up! The sound effects weren't much better either. I know Capcom likes to do this sort of thing but it's stupid when fighters have to pronounce their special moves. "Who does that in a fight?" I certainly don't yell out; 'Punch To The Face' or 'Knee To The Groin' in my real life fights so why are these guys? This corny stuff just doesn't feel or sound right in this type of game and it may turn some people away too quickly.

On the down side I'm a little upset that Capcom didn't even try to improve this old game here on the other machines. I still have the Dreamcast version here at my place and the two are virtually identical. Why not add more characters, online play, or take out that stupid God awful music? Despite its old age though, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is still an excellent 2D fighter with amazing anime style graphics, one of largest line up of fighters you'll every witness, and great arcade action. This Marvel vs. Capcom game may be a pleasant surprise if you can manage to find it, eh?