A great fighting game for the short lived Dreamcast with dozens of characters to choose from!
I'll start of by giving a brief introduction of the game. This is a direct sequel from the first Marvel VS Capcom game which was released both on the PSOne and Dreamcast respectively. I've never had a chance to play the original but from what I have heard I sure would like to. Fortunately I have had the pleasure of playing this game however and have not been dissappointed especially at the premise of having up to 56 characters to play as in total! Gameplay?
Capcom have even more fighters to play as in this game.You have Cable added in who people know as the time traveeling mutant and also the son of Cyclops, brand new characters such as pirate Ruby Heart and the living humanoid cactus Amingo and many more. Of course there are returning favourites such as Venom, Spiderman, Captain Amercia, Ryu, M-Bison and Wolverine so fans of the original will not be let down.
The generous wealth of fighters in this game alone make the gameplay worth it. Unlike game's predecessor before it you control a choice of any 3 characters to use fighting against the CPUs chosen 3 which can make for some extremely chatoic and crazy fights. You can unleash some devestating special moves and hyper combos as well as combine all three of your fighter's hyper combos to make one devestaing hyper combo technique which can both look amazing and cause tonnes of damage on your opponent if it manages to hit. Its not just a case of button bashing either. You can pull of techniques such as air combos, aerial raves, high jumps and more which gives the gameplay a sort of tactical feel to it. Since the game also has multiplayer you can have endless fun with your mates ni case you get bored of playing by yourself. In all the gameplay is easily this game's strong point.
Graphics?
While the actual in-game sprites in this game are nowhere near as good as say Gulty Gear X-2 (another great 2D fighter) some may look good visually while others seem like a blatant rehash of used up ones from older Capcom fighters. This is all redeemed however when you look at the terrific 3D backdrops at the game's stages. The circus stage and boat raft levels especially look stunning to mention a few. However if your not into old fashioned mixed with a bit of new or prefer the 3D visuals of the more recent Tekken games then this may not be to your liking.
Controls, Sound and overall verdict?
Well the controls are decent enough if your comfortable using the Dreamcast controller itself. You do however have the option of using an arcade stick which is much more preferable. Just plug any compatible one into your DC and your ready to go. However for anyone who uses the default controller its good to know that if your having trouble pulling off some of the hyper combo techniques all you have to do is hold the two back buttons down and hey presto!
Sound? Well its good, I like the soulful sort of jazz vibe the game has going on. The music in the stages pretty much have that vibe too so if your the sort of person that likes their Nirvana or Korn this probably will not appeal to you. Al the usual character voice-overs are in there too but most are reused from older games just like the sprites.
Overall this is sheer fun and another example of how 2D fighting games are still growing strong after all these years. If your a diehard fan of Capcom fighting games or fighting games in general then this is an essential buy but if you prefer more modern fighting games like Virtua Fighter 5 or Dead Or Alive 4 then it may be best to give this a miss.
Sorry for the long review but if you are reading this I do appreciate it!