Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth playing"

is it all flash with no substance? or is it really a game that's ready to brawl? find out in my somewhat long, yet comprehensive review of umvc3 for vita.


the 3rd iteration of the marvel vs series consists of 48 fighters. 24 for each side of marvel & capcom. with 2 dlc characters namely jill valentine & shuma gorath for $4.99 each. quite frankly i couldn't understand why capcom still opted not to include both dlc characters on vita version from the get go.. but whatever.

the visuals in this game are vivid and crisp. if you take the time to just watch each characters details & the backgrounds, you'll appreciate that not much was compromised in order for the game to run smoothly on the smaller screen. one thing to note though is that some fonts on the game suk balls, particularly the dialog box each time a fight ends as it looks really grainy & extremely low res. i'll give you an example, on heroes & heralds mode, when selecting as heroes & during the fight itself, above the lifebars you will notice the words "defend the earth". what many people haven't noticed is that the word "defend" is actually misspelled as "deffend" lmao. i dunno how capcom could have overlooked a simple grammar check even if this game is a close to console port. but if you can look past that which over 90% of you won't give a sht about anyway.

next stop would be re-playability & enjoyability. despite of what some critics might say (like it doesn't even compare to mvc2 & all that sht) i can personally attest that umvc3 is an incredibly fun brawler to play. crazy combos you've never dreamed possible & almost infinite combination of characters to match up against to test the synergy of your chosen 3. i don't have much people in our house to play with & that's where online mode comes in. in my personal experience, i didn't experience much lag & even if there were, it was so subtle i didn't even noticed it. often times i play at home, at times in cafes, malls & in our office when time permits. when playing online, other players skills range from a real noob that rivals the ai in very easy mode, to totally seasoned fighters that seemed like they were evo champs that can combo you to death before you can even push a button. there is also the X-Factor system that is included in the game, some people view it as a cheap comeback mechanic, comboed with dark phoenix players but I just accept it for what it is & think it's a welcome addition to the series. let me warn you though that there are rage quitters out there and really sore losers that'll bash you with harsh messages after your match. but overall this is what fighters are all about, reduce your opponent down to the last pixel of health & in umvc3's case, beat em down with style usually ending combos with super moves. if I still play the original street fighter 2 to this day, then that speaks for itself they re-playability of this game, especially if you're into the mvc series.

before i end this review, i'd like to raise some questions if umvc3 for vita is a worth addition to your vita collection? are you a fan of the mvc series? or a fighting game aficionado by nature? how does this game stack up against other fighters like mk, blazblue or even the recently released sfxt. if you're both a fan of the series & fighters in general then this is a no brainer. umvc3 on the go is where it's at. while mk (a really awesome game on the vita, worth buying too) is in my opinion a different category than capcom games, it's more accessible & controls are much simpler & noob friendly than mk. not really a fan of blazblue so i can't really comment on that. what i can comment on is sfxt for vita. quite frankly is not worth the purchase & a really poor port imho. so between umvc3 & sfxt for vita, umvc3 is easily the better fighter of the 2.

i do hope my review shed some light if ever you're in the fence of whether getting this or not, or simply you're in the market for a fighting game on your vita. umvc3 is the "assist" to get.