MvC2 - A game of more genres than you'll ever know.....
OVERALL RATING: 9/10
MvC2 as a Fighting Game: Ok, let's start with the pretty obvious. MvC2
is game whose basic purpose is to have a bunch of peeps from both Marvel
Comics and Capcom Games duke it out. As a crossover, the idea sounds pretty
old when games like KOF'94 are taken into account. But the thing is NONE
of these games has ever tried to pull off what this game has accomplished:
a three-man all-out tagteam battle! The KOF series is round-based, meaning
the first guy has to be KOed before the next one butts in, while all the
other similar games include at most two players in a team. MvC2, however,
begs to differ not only in the concept of each of the three characters
having the ability to tag in and out in one entire round, but also in
their ability to do their thing simultaneously, resulting in a much as
SIX CHARACTERS on the screen, actively participating in the match! This
is no eye-candy though, as some of you may think, since teamplay is the
core strategy of the game. On the average, you are bound to see at least
three characters on screen at any given time. Oh and, speaking of strategies,
considering the fact that the game has 56 characters, 3 types of characters
depending on their assists, and 6 types of teams depending on the order
in which each member appears, there are over 26 MILLION combinations out
there, and because of that strategies are no longer limited to rushdown
or keepaway, but both.....and more.
MvC2 as a Shooting Game: So many characters in this game have projectiles
that some matches might just turn out to be projectile wars. Heck, some
peeps even have projectiles as their DEFAULT attacks! And if that ain't
enough, MvC2 also introduced the strategy of an air game, wherein trying
to avoid a hit becomes more of a priority than hitting your target, much
like what today's shooting games are all about. The characters themselves
who engage in air games usually have supers that cover the entire screen,
just as your everyday spaceship's limited attacks/bombs/whatever.
MvC2 as a Mystery / Puzzle Solving Game: Say what!? Lemme explain. This
is more like a very lucky shot for Capcom, because even though their
fumbling programmers made more bugs in the game than there are characters,
it actually became a good thing, better I suppose, than it would be if
only a couple of bugs were in it. This way the game has become quite a
mystery in itself, leading its players to try and discover new and wacky
bugs like going upside-down and turning invisible, or even strategic ones
like Cable (yeah, he's a walking bug, everything he does and is good at
were brought about by Capcom's miscalculations)
MvC2 as other games: Remember that Track and Field game where mashing is
the key to victory? Well that holds true for a lot of of the characters
in MvC2. Juggernaut, for instance, would be able to kill almost anyone
from a hundred percent life if only you could have the strength to mash
like a raving lunatic while he does his Headcrush. How bout the first
Bust A Groove game? It's all about timing, right? Well infinite combos,
like those of Ironman and War Mahince, are also an integral part of MvC2,
hence the invaluability of perfect timing despite the shifting circumstances.
There are a lot more, but I leave them for you to discover.
The downfalls: But even though I love MvC2 more than Tekken TT, I still
only gave it a 9/10 (as opposed to TTT's perfect 10) since MvC2 does have
its flaws, whereas no matter how hard I try I really can't find any in
TTT. Anyway, here's a few:
1) Rogue no longer absorbs an ability of whoever she kisses. Now she only
gets a boost in either strength, speed, or endurance. Semi-understandable
considering 55 different moves to master, but dissappointing nonetheless.
2) Two Wolverines, YES TWO WOLVERINES!!! Argh!! What a waste!! They could've
just put a missing Capcom character there, or if they didn't want more
Capcom characters than Marvel, then either get rid of Ken (hehe, I'm so
biased) or maybe have Thor join the party! I mean, they already made a
sprite of him in MvC1, didn't they?
3) Thanos has been badly raped. I mean, sure, four supers (and come to
think of it, it should've been six, but never mind that), but ONLY TWO
SPECIALS!? Man, how lazy Capcom has become. They didn't even have the
strength to "copy-paste" his "flame and earth control" moves from MSH.
4) Capcom characters are, on the average, waaaay waaaaay weaker than those
of the Marvel universe. Was this part of the contract between the two
companies, that Capcom would have to screw thier own characters if they
ever wanted to include Marvel peeps in their games?
I don't really care about graphics or sound, but MvC2 does excel in both.
A 3D background to contrast 2D action isn't such a bad idea after all.
Sound is also a lot more diversified than it was in MvC1 (a few bugs, but
very forgivable considering all the other bugs in the game). And for once
a fighting game used a piano for background music!! With some contemporary
jazz to boot!! But, most importantly, the overall fun factor (the most
important factor in any game) in MvC2 just out-shines all of its flaws,
and is thus one of best fighting games ever.
(
geocities.com/msfjoseph)