Gaming Target - Xbox: Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

Written by Ryan Genno on June 24, 2003

Full Review: "GRRrrrrrrr, Me Hulk get revenge for bad Street Fighter movie!"

If this Marvel vs. Capcom 2 game sounds familiar to some of you then maybe you readers out there remember the Sega Dreamcast? "Come on, Anybody!?" Anyway, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was one of best games for the ill-fated Sega machine and now we Xbox owners can get the chance to try out this sleeper hit. This great fighting sequel not only has a lot of cool secrets to unlock but there are well over 50 different characters too from both the Capcom and Marvel universes. Add to the fact that this fighting series is well known for its furious action so a fantastic game just got even better. Let's look into why this 2D brawler won such critical acclaim in its day and let's also see if the game still holds up three long years later?

M vs. C 2 starts off with 24 default playable characters and it's a pretty impressive list too. Just take a look at this all-star line up here! If you're Marvel fan then maybe some of these names ring a bell? The Incredible Hulk (yes, the same big green guy who just recently got his own movie), Cable, Spider Man (never heard of him), Wolverine, Cyclops, (from X-men of course), Dr. Doom, and many more famous original comic book heroes and villains. On the Capcom side, not only are there are popular Street Fighter guys like Guile, Ryu, Sakura, Zangeif, and others in here, Capcom also included several oddball characters you normally wouldn't find in a one on one fighter like this. First there is Jill Valentine, the female cop found in Resident Evil who can use Zombies for special attacks. Next there is the cute but evil Tron Bonne from Mega Man Legends. Bonne may look silly with her robot suit but she is one of the better characters in the game thanks to her nasty combos. Rounding up the rest is Son Son (a character in an old PC Engine game), Hiryu Strider (remember that cool Sega Genesis game?), Amingo (a weird cactus creature?), and those are just a small faction some of the 50 plus fighters here. Other characters like Storm, Mega Man, and Black Heart can be purchased and unlocked by earning enough player points to enhance the game's replay value.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is not your typical one on one beat them up here, instead of picking just one single character this game lets you pick your own team of three like in SNK's King of the Fighters series. If all of your characters lose their energy or they less life than your opponents before the time runs out then its game over. To add a bit of depth to the game's fighting engine Capcom even included three different types of set ups for each character so you may be able to improve someone's dashing, projectile power, or whatever before the fight. The only annoying thing about this feature is that it sure eats up a lot of time while you're surfing through all these trivial menus and it doesn't help matters if you have to wait for your friend to make their pick while you have to endure some crappy music in the background.

Maybe the best part about this game is the easy to learn controls. Even with the bulky Xbox controller I had no problems pulling off any special moves, tag team attacks, and even some combos after only a few plays. This game can be quite user friendly.

Unfortunately, Marvel vs. Capcom 2's graphics are mediocre at best for an Xbox title. The few backgrounds in this game look fairly impressive and the characters are well represented with a nice selection of flashy moves. It's a shame that Capcom didn't make any effort to improve the sometimes stiff animation and blurry sprite based characters. You could easily put the Dreamcast and Xbox versions side by side and not tell the difference between the two.

Although the graphics had some issues, at least they were passable. This brings me to the worse part of Marvel vs. Capcom 2; the music. The only way I could describe the unusual soundtracks here is by calling it some kind of horrible Jazzy/Cherry Pop crap. Imagine hearing УAND I'LL NEVER LET YOU GOOoohoo!Ф while tough guys like Spider Man and Venom are beating the living hell out of one another? The sound effects weren't much better either. It's stupid when fighters have to pronounce their special moves. УWho does that in a fight?Ф This corny stuff just doesn't feel or sound right in this type of game and it may turn some people away too quickly.