One Life Left - "Marvel vs. Capcom 3"

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 forever changed arcade fighters. Tournaments popped up across the country, many characters were introduced, some of which no one had ever heard of (I’m looking at you, Amingo) and the game spawned lingo such as, “Scoops! Haagen-Dazs!” and “Where’s your swoopy moustache?!”

Ten years later, Capcom finally released Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (MvC3) for the next generation consoles. The roster had shrunk from a whopping 56 characters in MvC2 to a still-respectable 36. Veterans of the series such as Ryu (Street Fighter), Iron Man, Morrigan (Darkstalkers) and Spiderman all make their triumphant return, as well as a slew of new characters such as Dante, the stylish, smooth-talking protagonist of the Devil May Cry games, Deadpool, the fourth-wall-breaking loudmouth of Marvel fame and Amaterasu, the doglike Japanese sun god from Okami.

The story of the game makes little to no sense. The characters stumble upon each other and, perceiving each other as a threat, they begin to fight. But in a shocking plot twist, Galactus, the godlike planet-eater from the Marvel comics, shows up to ruin the party. The characters band together to take him down lest the world be eaten. That’s it. Adding insult to injury, the endings in the arcade mode are incredibly disappointing.The only memorable endings are those that hint at characters that may or may not be added to the roster sometime in the future.

The game itself is a blast. Players chooses teams of three characters, then must decided on one of three “assist” moves for each character. Finding a team that is fun but has good synergy with one another is the key to becoming good at this game. Characters such as Spiderman and X-23 (X-men) are fast and can combo easily but take damage quicker than other characters, while heavyweights like the Hulk and Thor are slow but pack a mean punch. Then there are characters like Dante, Deadpool and Joe (Viewtiful Joe) who just like to keep it stylish. The characters are generally balanced, but there are a few exceptions. Sentinel (X-men) has made his return and will still grieve players beyond all belief.

MvC3’s biggest draw is its simple-to-pick-up-but-hard-to-master learning curve. Then there’s basic comboing, air comboing, team switching while in the middle of an aerial combo and knowing when to pull off hyper combos (flashy signature moves). Another aspect of battle is called X-factor, which can only be activated once. Basically, the player smashes all four attack buttons at once and the character(s) begin glowing red, are faster, stronger, heal damage faster and can use more hyper combos consecutively. With the right character and in the right hands, the X-factor can turn a desperate round into a winning game.

Luckily, the game offers full online play where players can compete against other players who are more or less at your skill level.  Finding a ranked match was near impossible, and winning one is basically impossible. Everyone in the ranked games is so ridiculously good it just stops being fun. However, players can also jump into player matches, which are a lot more relaxed.

MvC3 is a great fighting game with a solid engine to back it up. I’m sure its life will only increase as the game increases in popularity.

MvC3 gets an 8/10.