Few fighting game series are as revered as Marvel vs. Capcom, a line that has entertained casual and die-hard players for decades. However, playing the games on contemporary PCs and consoles has been an impossibility—until now.
The Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection, set for digital release on September 12 and physical release on November 22, lets you play the collection’s eight titles without resorting to emulation or pulling out old hardware. Judging by a lengthy media demo we were invited to play this week, it’s shaping up to be a must-purchase title for genre fans.
(Credit: Capcom)
What’s In the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection?
The bundle includes all the sprite-based games in the series: X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. It also includes The Punisher, a side-scrolling beat ’em up that was the first game born from the Capcom and Marvel partnership. You won’t find the polygonal Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, or Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.
Our initial article on the game bundle (Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Can Your PC Run the Crossover Classics?) detailed the compilation’s basic information, such as the game list, recommended system specs on PC, and how to best play it. Here, we’ll focus on new information based on a hands-on demo.
How Do the Games Play?
The Punisher and Marvel Super Heroes weren’t available for demo play, but we fired up the six other titles. The games played as well as we remembered, with the tight controls, chain combos, and over-the-top flair that let us serve up digital hands to an editor from a rival publication. However, the original Marvel vs. Capcom suffered an occasional slowdown, an unexpected ill from a classic game running on a PlayStation 5. It wasn’t enough to ruin the experience, but it was noticeable.
Playing the games in mostly chronological order revealed two things. First, the early games are slow-moving titles, even when set to “Turbo” movement speed. That may not be a deal-breaker if you played the games when they first dropped, but newcomers may demand more speed.
Second, the vs. games (except for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which has polygonal backgrounds) have absoutely gorgeous 2D stages that will make you lament the move to 3D levels.
(Credit: Capcom)
The Many Game Options
The various games now contain the following features that give the titles more console and novice appeal:
Training Mode (featuring input displays, hitboxes, and damage numbers)Quick SaveMarquee CardsUnlockable Hidden CardsHigh Score ChallengeSeveral Display FiltersMove ListsChoice of either the English or Japanese versionsOne-button special movesArt GalleryJukebox
Besides the aforementioned features, Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection has eight graphics filters that let you either sharpen or smooth over the 2D pixel art. By cycling through the filters, we enjoyed pixels sharp enough to punch a hole in a TV or gaming monitor. We also applied a graphics filter that resembled CRT visuals, which took us back to smoke-filled 1990s arcades. Depending on the game, dip switch settings let you unlock hidden characters (like Akuma in X-Men: Children of the Atom) so that they’re playable from the jump.
Each game features a rollback netcode for smooth online play in Casual, Custom, and Ranked game modes (the latter match type disables one-button specials). Due to the nature of the demo’s local play, I couldn’t test the rollback netcode. Custom matches support up to nine combatants and feature a spectator mode if you simply want to watch the fisticuffs. None of the games feature cross-platform play, which is a bit of a letdown since Street Fighter 6 has it. Its exclusion simply splinters the player base.
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection’s Release Date
Still, the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection is shaping up to be a must-buy title for anyone who loves fighting games, Capcom games, or Marvel Comics characters. Capcom confirmed that the game is headed to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC on September 12 (digital) and November 22 (physical).
We go hands on with Capcom’s feature-packed fighting game bundle that drops on September 12. Read More