Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Update- New character reveal

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is the Japanese developer’s upcoming fighting mash-up that pits classic Capcom characters against characters from the popular Japanese animation house. Although the game was released in Japan at the end of last year, the US version is still being worked on to accommodate new features, which include online play and a tweaked roster. To help fans keep tabs on who’s in and who’s out in the US game, we’ll run through the confirmed fighters and introduce you to the newest addition to the roster.

So who’s confirmed to be in the US version of the game? Thankfully, it’s most of the fighters seen in the Japanese game. On the Capcom side: Ryu, Chun Li, and Alex from the Street Fighter series are in; Batsu from Rival Schools and Morrigan from the Darkstalkers series are also on board; Soki from Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams; Mega Man Voltnutt and Roll from the Mega Man series; Viewtiful Joe from the Viewtiful Joe series; PTX-40A from Lost Planet; and Saki from Quiz Nanairo Dreams, which is a quiz/dating game that could only come from Japan. On the Tatsunoko side, importers should recognize most of the roster: Ken the Eagle and Jun the Swan are in from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman; Yatterman-1 and Doronjo are in from Yatterman; Casshan from Neo-Human Casshern; Polimar from Hurricane Polymar; Karas from Karas; Gold Lightan from Golden Warrior Gold Lightan; Ippatsuman from Gyakuten! Ippatsuman; and Tekkaman from Tekkaman: The Space Knight.

The new roster addition comes in from the Tatsunoko side: Tekkaman Blade from the Tekkaman Blade series. While most of the Tatsunoko characters may not be familiar to many stateside players, Tekkaman Blade might be familiar because the anime series made it to the US under the name Teknoman on UPN Kids. In Japan, the series aired in the 1990s and was a reboot of Tekkaman: The Space Knight. In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Tekkaman Blade will fight alongside his predecessor.

Although we haven’t had the chance to try him out in the game, Capcom has given us some information on what to expect from the armored hero. While similar in appearance to Tekkaman, Tekkaman Blade has a unique set of moves and hyper combos. He’ll use his teklancer and tekwire for regular and special attacks. His balancing appears to make him proficient at midair strikes and combo attacks for close-quarters combat. His shamshir special move is similar in execution to Chun-Li’s lightning kicks and triggered by rapidly pressing the attack buttons. When triggered, the attack executes a flurry of slashes using his teklancer that doles out some damage even when blocked. The katzbalger attack is a charged antiair special move that uses the teklancer. When initiated, the attack performs a blade spin above his head, offering coverage from incoming jump kicks. If the move is triggered with a strong attack button, it finishes with a forward thrust.

Tekkaman Blade will be able to perform two hyper combos: the voltekka and the crash intrude. The voltekka uses his rifle of the same name to fire a beam diagonally up and forward, which is handy when dealing with airborne opponents. The crash intrude hyper combo can be performed on the ground or in the air and kicks off with a forward rush, ending in a quick strike. If the strike hits, the opponent is launched into the air and pummeled with a series of quick midair strikes

Look for more on the roster additions to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom at this year’s Tokyo Game Show later this month and in the months to come until its winter release.