By Omar Castellon
Staff Writer
When the original “Marvel vs. Capcom 3” was announced, members of the franchise’s more dedicated fanbase were soon chanting “10 more years,” a reference to “Marvel vs. Capcom 2’s” longevity. Unfortunately, their sentiments were cut short because a few months after “MvC3’s” release, Capcom announced a follow up called “Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.” Those same fans were soon chanting “10 more months” in jest. Nevertheless, it seems that most are excited for this new iteration of “Marvel vs. Capcom,” which brings a number of drastic changes.
The most obvious of these changes is the roster increase, with 12 new fighters added, bringing the total number of playable characters to 50. Given that the game features three-on-three combat, there are 117,600 possible team combinations. Needless to say, there is room to experiment. Of the new characters, the Capcom fighters are mostly recognizable, but the Marvel side delves into more obscure characters, such as Nova, Rocket Raccoon and Iron Fist.
Undoubtedly, some would have preferred for Capcom to use Marvel characters from previous versions of “Marvel vs. Capcom,” such as Gambit or Cyclops, but I appreciate that the developers took the initiative to create entirely new characters.
The expanded roster aside, “Ultimate” also contains a number of changes to the core gameplay and character balance in general. The most prominent of these changes is the fact that X-Factor (a universal ability that momentarily increases power and speed) can now be performed while in the air. This proves beneficial to the entire cast, but it’s particularly helpful to characters that had poor aerial options in the previous “Marvel vs. Capcom 3.” X-Factor was also toned down so the boosts it provides aren’t as significant as they were in the previous game.
In an attempt to hamper the importance of pure offense, Capcom also made it impossible to block while air-dashing. This change alone makes zoning and keep-away tactics far more viable, though in keeping with “Marvel vs. Capcom” tradition, offense is still the favorable play style. A few other tweaks will be made evident as the game is played, but those are exemplary ones.
Overall though, the gameplay is essentially the same. The four-button layout (along with two assist buttons) is easy to gasp and combos are incredibly simple to perform. This is a point of contention among players, as some feel the game is catered too much to casual audiences (though characters like Jill and C. Viper do require a high degree of finesse and technical skill). Nevertheless, the gameplay is fun, if somewhat overblown. It’s also frighteningly addicting and becomes a time sink when playing with friends.
The older members of the cast underwent surgery in order to rectify common complaints regarding certain characters. In the prequel, for example, Wolverine and Phoenix bordered on overpowered. Many of the attributes that made such characters needlessly difficult to deal with were hindered. They’re still amazingly capable, but now gamers have to actually think when using them. Weaker members of the cast were also improved. Based on early impression, “Ultimate” appears to have superior balance, but it remains to be seen if that opinion will stand in the long run.
One of the largest faults of the original “Marvel vs. Capcom 3” was its limited online functionality. The netcode suffered and the lobby system was a joke. Fortunately, “Ultimate” includes a much needed spectator mode and the user interface received a welcome facelift. The online play seems to run smoother, as well, but there have been reports of faulty connections and miscellaneous errors. Capcom is looking to resolve these problems, however.
In every conceivable way, “Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3” is a more polished and finely honed product. It’s apparent that the developers took care to weigh the fanbase’s considerations while still maintaining their own creative vision. Hopefully, the chants of “10 more years” won’t be premature this time.
