Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Reviewed by:
Gerasimos Manolatos

Price: 1200 MS Points/$15

The Skinny: Ryu. Wolverine. Cyclops. Some guy that looks like a cactus. Pit some of your childhood heroes against one another for worldwide supremacy from the comfort of your living room.

The Good: While the King of Fighters series was really the first major fighting series to implement an effective and balanced 3-on-3 structure, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on the Dreamcast and in arcades did it and made it look cool. It's like two guys wearing the same shirt at some nightclub—one of them looks the part while the other looks the poser. The megaclusterfuck has finally made its way to next-gen consoles after previous PS2 and Xbox ports and it still delivers the fun of playing in a sweltering hole-in-the-wall arcade. Veterans will have no bone to pick with the transition—all 56 fighters with slick new graphics have made the trip and are unlocked from the start—and noobs have more than enough training options to get up to snuff.



The Bad: While you'll feel like you are playing your generic fighting game, this is not a Street Fighter game, a point that may frustrate firsttimers. You'll have to put in the time learning how to appropriately tag in teammates and string together deadly 100-hit combinations before you can truly appreciate the strategy involved with each matchup. With that said, while online multiplayer is well done, you WILL get your ass handed to you on a silver platter with a cherry on top. That's a lot of ass.

Smooth Moves: There are three different graphical filters you can activate—smooth, crisp, and classic—so you can enjoy Rogue's boob physics in both the pixel and non-pixel setting.

Buy, Rent, or Disembowel: Considering that there were eBayers ready to plunk down 60 to 100 dollars for a console version of this game, this is an absolute steal.

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