mvc22009Since Iron Man returns to theaters this week, this week’s $20 GOTW will take a look back at one of old shellhead’s finest moments. A mysterious orb threatens all life on both the Marvel and Capcom universes, so Ruby Heart unites heroes from the two universes in order to help save it. However, fights keep breaking out, and now that teams are made up of three, things are more chaotic than ever. Marvel Vs Capcom 2 would be the last game Capcom did utilizing the Marvel license, and they decided to go out with a bang. MVC 2 features Iron Man, his buddy War Machine, and several of his fellow Avengers as part of the 50+ fighters on hand.

Capcom made several changes to the Vs formula with MVC2. First of all, the game’s system has been cut down to a 4-button system rather than the 6-button scheme that’s been prevalent throughout many Capcom fighters. Secondly, instead of the sprite-heavy CPS2 and 3 boards, Capcom implemented a new graphical system that used 3D objects to construct background objects. While the character sprites are still in 2D, the rendered 3D backdrops look more vibrant and animated than other Capcom fighters. The most significant change of all however, the already-maniac 2 vs 2 battles have been replaced by 3 on 3 fights, making things even more hectic and crazy.

The Capcom side features several new characters. Guile, Anakaris, and B.B. Hood are among the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers alumni who make their Marvel Universe debut, while Hayato from Star Gladiator makes his 2D fighter debut. Among the non-fighters making their debut were Resident Evil’s Jill Valentine, Tron Bonne from Mega Man Legends, Sonson (a monkey-chick who is the granddaughter of the original, who starred in a Capcom platformer from way back), Ruby Heart, and Amingo, (two all new characters. Meanwhile the Marvel side gets Cable, Marrow (out of all the Marvel heroes who should have gotten a shot, they pick her? Ugggh), and a version of Wolverine with bone claws. While it may seem like the Marvel side got gypped, their side also features every Marvel character who has ever been in a Capcom fighting game (with the obvious exceptions of Apocalypse, Onslaught, and any character who was depicted as a palette swap of another), including guys that haven’t been seen in a while such as Doctor Doom, Thanos, and Silver Samurai. While the case obviously leads to some hilariously unbalanced fights, the MVC games have never been about style of finesse, but more so about balls-to-the wall fun.

This game has been ported to Dreamcast, Xbox, and PS2, but the recent Xbox Live Arcade and PSN re-releases are the ones to get, as they contain both online play and remastered graphics. With MVC 3 having just been announced, now is the perfect time to play this game if you are one of the few who still have yet to do so.

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