Published by: Capcom
Developed by: Backbone Entertainment
Score: 85

For what seems to be an eternity of “if only”s, the plethora of calls for an online Marvel vs Capcom 2 has finally been heard. Released for the 360 right now and soon for PSN, the game that welcomes all sorts of fighting game fans is finally online. So how well does it fare today in our BlazBlue world?

Oh and by the way, hi welcome back :)

The game is fairly simple to explain if you’ve heard of any previous versus games (Xmen vs Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs Capcom, etc.). Three characters from the Marvel and Capcom universes are selected to go into 3 on 3 tag battles. What separates it from other fighting games, and at times alienates fighting gamers, is the ease at which the game can be played. Super attacks can be done in one motion and usually aren’t hard to perform. Combos going into the 40 and over hit range are common which can at times cause those who are accustomed to Street Fighter or King of Fighters to cringe. The six button scheme which consists of a weak and strong punch, a weak and strong kick, and two assist buttons makes the game more easily accessible. Pressing either of the weak buttons twice in a row will turn that second attack into a medium kick or punch.

Assists are essential to the game and are basically special attacks that can be initiated by simple hitting one of the two assist buttons which correspond to the other two remaining fighters on a team. Having an assist that can disrupt enemy combos or aid in creating your own are very important. The game’s versatility gives rise to a number of strategies which you match to fit your own style. If you like to “turtle”, you can pick out a Sentinel, Storm and Doom combo. There are tons of possibilities. However, I feel it fair to note that there are balance issues. There’s the old saying that a good player with the worst characters can beat a weak player with the strongest and “cheapest” characters, but that gets thrown out the window. A team like Sentinel, Cable and Blackheart will beat a team of Roll, Servbot and Dan every single time because of some of the exploits and general “bullshitery” that can happen. The solution? Stick to the higher tier of characters or become an expert in lesser characters. I won’t say it’s impossible, but after getting beat down enough times, it may be time to change your strategy.

Online is obviously the newest and most attractive feature of the game. As with all fighting games, network speed and connections are the most crucial factor in determining if this section is a success or a failure. JPG and I played a few games, with a timezone between us and found a reliable connection. The only hint of lag was in the character selection screen which on more than one occasion caused me to pick a character I didn’t want. Of course this can be easily remedied by going a little slower, but it is nonetheless a chink in the armor. However, my biggest complaint by far is the lack of modes, there are only the obligatory ranked and unranked match modes, but that is about it. Player or unranked matches give you the option to create a room in which you can watch 2 players fight it out while you watch until your turn, nothing new. And that’s just it. No tournament modes or anything like that. It’s bare bones, but it gets the job done.

I said earlier that the game isn’t always accepted by the most avid of the fighting game community, but the reality is that the any fighting game competition, the crowd is always around the MvC2 machines. The reason? The fast paced, over-the-top gameplay, no matter how unbalanced it is, is just too fun to look away from. We all know it’s broken and we all know that half of the roster is useless, but nonetheless, what remains is still entertaining. With any type of fighting game, there’s that initial beat down phase, where any and all attempts to win consistently are constantly thwarted, but it comes after this phase that a player can get to the next level. I don’t claim to be some sort of Messiah for the game, but I still have fun even if I am flat out destroyed because it’s finding how to beat a variety of strategies and coming up with your own that is truly fun and what makes this a great game.