StarSoldier1's Full Review: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for Dreamcast
The Sega Dreamcast sure had a hard time selling systems back in the year 2000 but they sure had some awesome 2D fighting games. One of the best out there was the jam packed Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. The game is famous for having cool secrets to unlock and over 50 different characters to play as from both the Capcom and Marvel worlds. Unlike other lame Capcom fighters like Red Earth (I bet nobody reading this remembers that one) see why this game might be worth picking up.
This game starts off with 24 default playable characters from both the Capcom and Marvel universes and it's a fairly impressive list too. If you're an Marvel Comics fan then maybe some of these names ring a bell for ya? The Incredible Hulk, Cable, Spider Man, 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 wrackjobs characters you normally wouldn't find in a one on one fighter like this. For example there is Jill Valentine; the female cop found in Resident Evil who can use Zombies for special attacks. Next there is the cute but very 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 fraction 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. Sure most of the characters are actually recycled from past titles but having all these fighters definitely 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 just like in the SNK's King of 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 looping music in the background. It helps with the replay value though.
Maybe the best part about this game is the easy to learn controls. If you are familiar with other Capcom fighting games you will feel right at home here. I had no problems pulling off any of the special moves, tag team attacks, and even some combos after only a few plays and you can't say that with all beat em ups out there. The commands can be awkward on a standard DC controller but overall this game can be quite user friendly.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2's graphics are not too bad for a DC title. The few 3D backgrounds in this game look fairly impressive and the characters are well represented with a nice selection of flashy moves. What isn't so good though the creators just ported over the game and didn't make any effort to improve the sometimes stiff animation and blurry sprite based characters. You could easily put this and the other PS2 and Xbox versions side by side and not tell the difference between them.
Although the graphics had some issues with the detail, at least they were good. 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 combination between Jazz and Cherry Pop to form a new type of crap. Imagine hearing "AND I'LL NEVER LET YOU GOOoohoo!" while tough guys like Spider Man and his arch rival Venom are beating the living hell out of one another? This is a Teen Rated game too, butch it up and put in some Metal! The sound effects weren't much better either. I know Capcom likes to do this sort of thing but it's stupid when fighters have to pronounce their special moves. "Who does that in a fight?" I don't see guys like Anderson Silva say 'Knee to the F'N head' when he fights in the cage.
OK, the music stinks but Part 2 is a great step up from the previous edition. Despite its old age though, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is still an excellent 2D fighter with amazing anime style graphics, one of largest line up of fighters you'll every witness, and great arcade action. This game is also available other machines but they are just ports of this awesome game. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is definitely one of best games for the system if you can manage to find it, eh?
MARVEL vs. CAPCOM 2 overall rating: 88/100
For 1 or 2 players
Rated (T) for Teen
graphics: 7/10
sound: 2/10
gameplay: 8/10
replay: 9/10
This review is also on the former porno site:
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