I suppose I owe this game a belated review, especially since I've played it so much. A couple other games are gonna get some belated reviews soon, too; just a few titles I've sunk too many hours into that deserve reviews as a result. Anyway, when "Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds" came out in 2011, it was a pretty major moment...and it also happened to be one that flew all the way over my head. There was an employee at what used to be my local GameStop (before it closed in 2014) that was always encouraging my brother and I to preorder "Marvel vs. Capcom 3," under the guise that it was wildly important, but as a 12-year-old kid, I didn't get it at the time. It wasn't until several years later that I realized it was the follow-up to "Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes," one of the most beloved fighters of all time...and one that had come out a whopping ELEVEN years prior. Yeah, it's easy to see why there'd be excitement for a third one to finally come along. I played this new game a bit with friends in my youth, both in its original form and its "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3" re-release, and once that re-release hit the PlayStation 4 in 2016, I pounced at the chance to finally own it myself. I'm glad I did because I love the game.
"Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3" is an engaging, captivating fighting game that immediately grabbed me. The fights themselves are intense and exciting but fall perfectly into that boat of being accessible and easy to get into, but extremely challenging to master. The controls feel fluid and the speed of combat is fantastic, and I really appreciated the roster. Not only did it feel pretty well balanced, but I appreciated how the game pulled in a very diverse set of choices from both the Marvel and Capcom universes. The developers didn't just throw in a bunch of characters from one series each; they pulled as much as possible from a variety of franchises and crafted them faithfully to their original source material. The visuals still hold up to this day with some impressive, smooth animations, and the voice work is pretty memorable stuff. Furthermore, while the Arcade Mode is pretty short, I think it's handled very well: I like how each character has their own unique ending, and I think the mode wraps with an extremely satisfying final boss.
The only issue I have with the game is that I do think the "Ultimate" edition could've added a few new modes. I get that in 2011, fighting games probably weren't doing many big "Story Modes," and it probably wouldn't have been added to what was pretty much a reissue, but if you already owned the original version of the game, it was valid enough reason to pause before re-buying the new version. These days, though, with how the game was re-released, I don't think that's too much of an issue; the "Ultimate" version is probably the one you'll run across first.
Overall, though, "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3" is a fighter I've gotten plenty of mileage out of. While I've always grown up with "Super Smash Bros.," I've definitely enjoyed some 2D fighters (even if I suck at them), and "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3" is the perfect example of that. It's a fantastic fighter that I think will give you a lot of bang for your buck, and with the game being available for modern platforms, there's no better time to experience this gem if you haven't done it yet.
Final rating: 10 out of 10 "Fantastic"