Marvel vs. Capcom

This article is about the series. For the game, see Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.
Marvel vs. Capcom

Current Marvel vs. Capcom logo
Genres Fighting
Developers Capcom,
Rutubo Games (Saturn Children of the Atom),
Probe Entertainment (PS Children of the Atom),
Eighting (Marvel vs Capcom 3)
Publishers Capcom,
Acclaim Entertainment (Children of the Atom home port)
Platform of origin Arcade
First release X-Men vs. Street Fighter
1996
Latest release Marvel vs. Capcom Origins
2012

Marvel vs. Capcom (マーヴルVSカプコン Māburu bāsasu Kapukon) is a series of crossover fighting games developed and published by Capcom featuring characters from Marvel Comics and Capcom's own video game franchises. It was the first Vs. series involving Capcom, who would later produce other Vs. series with SNK Playmore (SNK vs. Capcom) and Tatsunoko Production (Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars).

The Marvel characters depicted in the earlier games were often based on their appearances in various 1990s animated series, particularly X-Men, and were often voiced by the same voice actors. Similarly, the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 cast bear similarities to and share voice actors with their late 2000s animated incarnations, such as those seen in Wolverine and the X-Men, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Titles

Video games

Overview of all titles and versions in the Marvel vs. Capcom series
Title Release Original platform(s) Ports
X-Men vs. Street Fighter 1996 Arcade Sega Saturn (1997); PlayStation (1998)
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter 1997 Arcade Sega Saturn (1998); PlayStation (1999)
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes 1998 Arcade Dreamcast (1999), PlayStation (2000); PSN, XBLA (2012)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes 2000 Arcade Dreamcast (2000); PlayStation 2 (2002); Xbox (2003); PSN, XBLA (2009); iOS (2012)
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds 2011 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 N/A
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 2011 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 PlayStation Vita (2011)
Marvel vs. Capcom Origins 2012 PSN, XBLA N/A

Capcom's partnership with Marvel began in 1993 with the release of The Punisher, an arcade beat 'em up based on the comics.[1] Capcom then created their first Marvel-based fighting game, X-Men: Children of the Atom, in 1994. Marvel Super Heroes soon followed in 1995.[1] Many of the gameplay mechanics used in the Marvel vs. Capcom series were first developed and refined in these two fighting games, serving as precursors to the series. Former Capcom USA Strategic Marketing Director of Online and Community, Seth Killian, stated that many fighting game aficionados, including himself, consider them to have laid the foundation for the Versus series.[2]

X-Men vs. Street Fighter was released for arcades in 1996, introducing the series' signature tag team action by combining Street Fighter-style combat with tag team features.[1] The game was succeeded by Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter in 1997, expanding the character roster to the larger Marvel universe. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes later debuted in 1998, including characters from numerous Capcom video game franchises. The sprite-based games culminated in 2000 with the arrival of Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, which featured a cast of 56 playable characters.[1]

Shortly after the release of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox ports for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom lost the use of the Marvel license after a string of legal issues put the series on hold.[3] After a decade-long hiatus, the franchise was revived with the 2011 release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. The series' traditional sprites transitioned into 3D character models while retaining the 2D-style combat. An updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, was released later in the same year with additional characters, stages, modes, and other gameplay enhancements.[4][5] A compilation of Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, called Marvel vs. Capcom Origins, was released on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in 2012, featuring high-definition visuals, online multiplayer, challenges, and unlockables.[6]

Related media

On July 2, 2012, Udon Entertainment announced the release of Marvel vs. Capcom: Official Complete Works, an art book consisting of promotional artwork, sketches, and bonus material from the many video game collaborations between Marvel and Capcom, from the 1993 arcade game The Punisher to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The book made its international debut at San Diego Comic-Con on July 11, 2012, in an exclusive hardcover edition. A standard-format softcover was released in October 2012 by Diamond Comics.[7]

Gameplay

The conventions and controls for the Marvel vs. Capcom series have evolved over its near two decade-long run. Following the same gameplay mechanics from Street Fighter II, the series initially began with the standard one-on-one, best-two-out-of-three rounds format as seen in X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes. Players would select a character to use in battle and use various attacks to exhaust their opponent's health meter or have the most cumulative health when time ran out. X-Men vs. Street Fighter limited each match to one round, but added two-on-two tag team features. Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter later introduced the concept of the "assist" by allowing the player to summon their offscreen partner to perform a special move without switching characters. The feature was tweaked in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, which allowed you to select an assist character before each match and only allowed the player to use their assist a limited number of times. The assist features from Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter were used instead in the following sequel, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, once again granting players the ability to call in their offscreen characters at any time during the match without constraint. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 also increased the number of characters per team by one, providing the series' current three-on-three battle format.

As Capcom's design philosophy for the series changed to expand their user base and reach a wider audience, the control scheme has been repeatedly modified to accommodate people unfamiliar with fighting games.[8] The first five games utilized the same configuration of an eight-directional joystick and six attack buttons that was previously established by Street Fighter II. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, the controls were cut down to four attack buttons and two assist buttons in order to make the game more accessible. The control scheme was further simplified with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, which included three attack buttons, two assist buttons, and a "launcher" button.[9] In addition, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 included two different control scheme options: Normal Mode and Simple Mode. Simple Mode, tailored to casual players, allowed players to perform combos and special moves more easily at the expense of limiting a character's available moveset.[10]

Playable characters

Marvel

Character XvSF MvSF MvC MvC2 MvC3 UMvC3 Debut
Apocalypse Green tick[Note 1] Green tick[Note 1] Red X Red X Red X Red X X-Factor #5 (1986)
Blackheart Red X Green tick[Note 2] Red X Green tick Red X Red X Daredevil #270 (1989)
Cable Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Uncanny X-Men #201 (1986)
Captain America Red X Green tick[Note 2] Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Captain America Comics #1 (1941)
Colossus Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)
Cyclops Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X The X-Men #1 (1963)
Deadpool Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick New Mutants #98 (1991)
Doctor Doom Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Fantastic Four #5 (1962)
Doctor Strange Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Strange Tales #110 (1963)
Dormammu Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Strange Tales #126 (1964)
Galactus Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick[Note 3] Fantastic Four #48 (1966)
Gambit Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (1990)
Ghost Rider Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Marvel Spotlight #5 (1972)
Hawkeye Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Tales of Suspense #57 (1964)
Hulk Red X Green tick Green tick[Note 4] Green tick Green tick Green tick The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962)
Iceman Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X The X-Men #1 (1963)
Iron Fist Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Marvel Premiere #15 (1974)
Iron Man Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Tales of Suspense #39 (1963)
Juggernaut Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X The X-Men #12 (1965)
Magneto Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick The X-Men #1 (1963)
Marrow Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Cable #15 (1994)
MODOK Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Tales of Suspense #93 (1967)
Nova Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Nova #1 (1976)
Omega Red Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X X-Men Vol. 2 #4 (1992)
Onslaught Red X Red X Green tick[Note 5] Red X Red X Red X X-Man #15 (1996)
Phoenix Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick The X-Men #1 (1963)
Psylocke Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Captain Britain #8 (1976)
Rocket Raccoon Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Marvel Preview #7 (1976)
Rogue Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Avengers Annual #10 (1981)
Sabretooth Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Iron Fist #14 (1977)
Sentinel Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick The X-Men #14 (1965)
She-Hulk Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Savage She-Hulk #1 (1980)
Shuma-Gorath Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick[Note 6] Green tick[Note 6] Marvel Premiere #10 (1973)
Silver Samurai Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Daredevil #111 (1974)
Spider-Man Red X Green tick[Note 2] Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)
Spiral Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Longshot #1 (1985)
Storm Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)
Super-Skrull Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Fantastic Four #18 (1963)
Taskmaster Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Avengers #195 (1980)
Thanos Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Iron Man #55 (1973)
Thor Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Journey into Mystery #83 (1962)
Venom Red X Red X Green tick[Note 4] Green tick Red X Red X The Amazing Spider-Man #299 (1988)
War Machine Red X Red X Green tick[Note 4] Green tick Red X Red X Iron Man #118 (1979)
Wolverine Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick[Note 7] Green tick Green tick The Incredible Hulk #180 (1974)
X-23 Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick X-Men: Evolution, S03 E11 (2003)
Notes
  1. 1 2 In X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, the player can fight as the game's final boss, Apocalypse, against waves of enemies in "Boss Mode."
  2. 1 2 3 In Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, alternate versions of Spider-Man (Armored Spider-Man), Captain America (U.S. Agent) and Blackheart (Mephisto) appear as playable characters.
  3. ↑ In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the player can fight as the game's final boss, Galactus, against waves of enemies in "Galactus Mode."
  4. 1 2 3 In Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Superheroes, alternate versions of Hulk (Orange Hulk), War Machine (Gold War Machine) and Venom (Red Venom) appear as playable characters.
  5. ↑ In the PlayStation version of Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Superheroes, the player can fight as the game's final boss, Onslaught, against waves of enemies in "Boss Mode."
  6. 1 2 In the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 titles, Shuma-Gorath is available as downloadable content.
  7. ↑ In Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, an alternate version of Wolverine, with bone claws instead of adamantium claws, appears as a separate playable character.

Capcom

Character XvSF MvSF MvC MvC2 MvC3 UMvC3 Debut
Akuma Green tick Green tick[Note 1] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994)
Albert Wesker Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Resident Evil (1996)
Amaterasu Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Ōkami (2006)
Amingo Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000)
Anakaris Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (1994)
Arthur Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985)
B.B. Hood Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Darkstalkers 3 (1997)
Cammy White Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (1993)
Captain Commando Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Captain Commando Challenge Series (1986)
Charlie Nash Green tick Green tick[Note 2] Red X Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (1995)
Chris Redfield Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Resident Evil (1996)
Chun-Li Green tick Green tick Green tick[Note 3] Green tick Green tick Green tick Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
Crimson Viper Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Street Fighter IV (2008)
Dan Hibiki Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter Alpha (1995)
Dante Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Devil May Cry (2001)
Dhalsim Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
Felicia Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (1994)
Firebrand Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985)
Frank West Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Dead Rising (2006)
Guile Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
Hayato Kanzaki Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Star Gladiator Episode I: Final Crusade (1996)
Hsien-Ko Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (1995)
Jill Valentine Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick[Note 4] Green tick[Note 4] Resident Evil (1996)
Jin Saotome Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (1995)
Ken Masters Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter (1987)
M. Bison Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
Mega Man Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Mega Man (1987)
Mike Haggar Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Final Fight (1989)
Morrigan Aensland Red X Red X Green tick[Note 3] Green tick Green tick Green tick Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (1994)
Nathan Spencer Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Bionic Commando (1987)
Nemesis T-Type Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999)
Norimaro Red X Green tick[Note 5] Red X Red X Red X Red X Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997)
Phoenix Wright Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001)
Roll Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Mega Man (1987)
Ruby Heart Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000)
Ryu Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Street Fighter (1987)
Sakura Kasugano Red X Green tick[Note 6] Red X Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996)
Servbot Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Mega Man Legends (1997)
Sonson Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X SonSon (1984)
Strider Hiryu Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Comic Computique (1988)
Trish Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Devil May Cry (2001)
Tron Bonne Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Mega Man Legends (1997)
Vergil Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (2005)
Viewtiful Joe Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Viewtiful Joe (2003)
Zangief Green tick Green tick[Note 6] Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
Zero Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Mega Man X (1993)
Notes
  1. ↑ In Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, the player can fight as the game's final boss, Cyber Akuma, against waves of enemies in "Boss Mode."
  2. ↑ In Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Charlie appears playable only as a robotic version of himself called Shadow.
  3. 1 2 In Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Superheroes, alternate versions of Chun-Li (Shadow Lady) and Morrigan (Lilith) appear as playable characters.
  4. 1 2 In the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 titles, Jill Valentine is available as downloadable content.
  5. ↑ Norimaro is exclusive to the Japanese arcade and console versions of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
  6. 1 2 In Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, alternate versions of Zangief (Mech-Zangief) and Sakura (Dark Sakura) appear as playable characters.

Reception

In 2012, Complex ranked Marvel vs. Capcom at number 37 on the list of the best video game franchises, commenting that "a frenetic pace and over the top effects work together to make this franchise stand the test of time."[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 UDON Entertainment (2012). Marvel vs. Capcom: Official Complete Works. Hong Kong: Diamond Comics. p. 2. ISBN 9781926778495.
  2. ↑ Killian, Seth (2011-02-11). Marvel vs Capcom: a history of the Vs fighting series. GamesRadar. Event occurs at 00:17-00:52. Retrieved 2011-02-28. Seth Killian: So the history of the Versus series technically starts with X-Men vs. Street Fighter, but many fighting aficionados including myself really date some of the origins back to games called X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes which introduced things like chain combo and aerial rave [...] all of that lead us eventually into X-Men vs. Street Fighter...
  3. ↑ Klepek, Patrick (2010-04-20). "Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds First Impressions". G4TV. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  4. ↑ Baxter, Shawn (2011-07-20). "Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 Announced". Capcom-Unity. Retrieved 2011-07-24.
  5. ↑ Robison, Seth (2011-08-30). "PAX 2011: Why You Need ULTIMATE MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3". Newsarama. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
  6. ↑ Elston, Brett (2012-07-05). "Marvel vs Capcom Origins coming to XBLA and PSN in September". Capcom-Unity. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  7. ↑ "Get Marvel vs. Capcom: Official Complete Works". Marvel Entertainment. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  8. ↑ Klepek, Patrick (2010-04-20). "Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds First Impressions". G4TV. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  9. ↑ "Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Preview". Game Informer (GameStop Corporation) (206). June 2010.
  10. ↑ Brudvig, Erik (2010-09-16). "TGS: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Gets Simple - Xbox 360 News at IGN". Uk.xbox360.ign.com. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
  11. ↑ Jones, Elton; Brittany Vincent; Larry Hester (2012-09-25). "The 50 Best Video Game Franchises". Complex. Retrieved 2012-12-08.

External links

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