Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection is a great collection of some fantastic, over-the-top, and fast fighting games. By simply putting all of these games in one place with an affordable price tag it was already going to be a worthwhile purchase for me, but with its wonderful additional content, it makes buying this collection a no-brainer.
This collection puts together seven different Marvel fighting games, capturing X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom, and Marvel vs Capcom 2. Plus there is The Punisher beat ‘em up, which is an odd addition. But hey, why not? If you just want to bash heads to burn off steam by punching thugs after Cyber Akuma has stomped you flat for a few hours, it’s a nice thing to have. Having all of these games in a single package is fantastic for those who don’t want to have to hit the lottery to buy copies of them all. As well, having online without having to jump through certain hoops is really nice as well. Being able to launch all of these from one game is just really nice in and of itself.
There’s some fun extras to further entice you to pick up the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection. The game features a museum for each of the titles that contains old pamphlets, marquees, comic ads, design documents, rough stage/move/character drawings, and other fun oddities from the game’s past. While most of it is in Japanese, it was neat to look back on how a lot of the moves and stages came together as the games were created. The museum also lets you play through each game’s soundtrack as well, which is a fun addition if you just want to enjoy the tunes without having to avoid Wolverine’s Berserker Barrage.
The marquees in the museum are especially important, as you’re going to need to take some time to introduce yourself to each game’s unique mechanics and tools. If you want to learn about what the Infinity Gems do in Marvel Super Heroes or what the various assist types do in Marvel vs Capcom 2, you’re going to want to check out your move list or the game’s specific marquee. There’s not a ton of wild mechanics, but it’s enough that you’ll want to take a bit of time in the basic move lists to see what you’ll be running into in each game. A part of me wishes that each game had a little introduction to its mechanics (maybe just some still images) for new players to know what to expect, but what’s in place is functional.
With Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection, Capcom does offer new players (or Street Fighter 6 players who use Modern controls) the ability to perform easy special moves and supers. On Switch, hitting the L button plus a direction allows you to do a special move. Hitting ZL allows you to do your Hyper Combos and Supers (sometimes with a direction involved if you have multiple buttons). This allows you to do pretty much any special move with ease. What’s unexpected is that there doesn’t appear to be any change in damage to the moves if you use the regular directional input versus the one-button method. I thought this might be pretty controversial, but it is locked out for Ranked play online (but can be turned on or off for Casual Matches or Custom Rooms). It’s a shame this couldn’t be worked into something resembling Modern controls in Street Fighter 6, but given the catastrophic possibilities it would add to balancing the moves in these older games, I understand why it was done this way.
For those who want to get their execution down for Ranked play, the games all have their own practice modes complete with hit/hurtboxes, on-screen inputs, attack data, and some dummy behavior you can set up (including recordings). It’s wild to me that I can go in and set up a training dummy doing specific moves in games that are this old, but it’s a really solid training mode that is a welcome feature. Far better than what I used to do when I set it to two player mode and then just beat up on the second player. Holding up with your toe on the second controller to make them jump was always a pain.
And once you get your moves down, whether through practice or just fiddling with the one-button specials, you’ll be able to hop in and have a great time with all of the fighters in the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection. These are games I used to have a blast playing just by mashing buttons because they were fast and looked great. Each have their own visual quirks, but overall they are filled with big, detailed characters with flashy moves that are fun to see in action. I love them all in their own ways, so it’s fun to just bounce around them and enjoy how they look and feel. Considering you can queue for multiple games in the Online mode at the same time, you can also just see what games you get tossed into and enjoy.
If I had one gripe, it’s that the collection features a single quick save across all of its titles instead of having a save for each game. So, if you’re being menaced at high levels near the end of Arcade mode in more than one of the titles at once (or if you have a save in The Punisher), trying to save any other game overwrites it. It’s mildly annoying to be stuck having to finish one game before moving to another, but again, only a minor issue.
As for The Punisher game, it’s such an odd addition, but as far as a beat ‘em up goes, it’s good fun. Making use of guns periodically adds some good variety to punching thugs, and the enemy variety is fairly decent, digging into the character’s odd array of villains and some other weird Marvel bad guys. If you get kicked around by the enemies too much, you can even do a little rewind of the action by holding L and try again. Overall, it feels super out of place in this game, but as a little free addition that can be entertaining, I really can’t complain.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection is just a highly impressive collection of some of the most over-the-top and fun fighting games that have ever been made. By creating easier controls, it allows all of those button-mashing newcomers (like I once was) to hop in and have a great time. With its new practice mode, it allows those of us trying to get serious a means of practicing so we don’t get annihilated by the stone cold killers who’ve been playing the game for decades. It’s just a celebration of some of the greatest titles in the genre.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will be available on Sept 12, 2024 on PS4, the Nintendo Switch, and PC. It will be made available on the Xbox Series X in 2025.
The legendary crossover hits are back! Jump into this collection of arcade classics from the fan-favorite Marvel and Capcom crossover games! Switch version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is a celebration of some of the greatest titles in the genre.
- A fantastic collection of fun, fast, and over-the-top fighting games all in one place.
- One-button supers allow beginners to dive right in while a robust training mode will help them improve for Ranked play.
- The museum offers a wonderful look into the development history of the games.
Published: Sep 9, 2024 11:00 am