Dreamcast Playstation 2 Playstation 3 - Playstation Network Xbox Xbox 360 - Live Arcade
8.0 out of 10
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was one of the best fighters available on the system, so when the Dreamcast ceased production, it only seemed natural for Capcom to port over the popular fighter to other systems. The only problem with this was that the game was made for the Dreamcast, so by creating an exact port of it over to Playstation 2 and Xbox, some of the magic was lost. Even with its faults, is it a worthwhile game worthy of its hefty price tag? Well, read on and find out.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is a slightly different take on the formula set in the first Marvel vs. Capcom...Rather than have the fighting take place in teams of two versus two, Capcom turned it up a notch and made it three versus three. This makes the fighting a little more frantic and leaves the door open for some absolutely devastating tag team combo moves. On Dreamcast, those combo moves, and everything else for that matter, seemed to be done a bit more smoothly, which is probably because it was made specifically for that hardware. On Playstation 2 and Xbox versions, there are some noticeable lag times and a few glitches not found on the Dreamcast original...I’m not sure if this is because they did a direct port to these consoles without modifying the code a little to make it run smoother on the new hardware or if they just plain rushed the ports without doing a lot of debugging, but if you’ve played the original, you can easily tell that these ports are inferior. Now, in fairness, even with all of the glitches and occasional slowdown, this is still a very fun game...And people who have never played the Dreamcast original may not be as bothered by these things as much as someone who played it all the time would.
Back to the actual fighting, you start out with a handful of characters from both the Capcom and Marvel universes with the ability to unlock characters and alternate costumes as you go. This really adds to the replay value, as you’ll have a reason to play through the game over and over and over again just to unlock every character. Some characters people may groan at, like the Servbot, but each and every character is unique with their own moves, combos, and the like...And just about everyone is fun to play as. You can play as Zangief, Servbot, Captain America, or Venom and have just as much fun playing as any of them once you learn their moves.
The only real downside to the game, aside from the port issues, is the length of battles. Since the battles are three on three, you’re either fighting until you defeat all three members of the other teams or until the time limit expires...And unless you modify the time limit in the options, you’ll likely see a lot of time limits expire. Some folks will love the fact that battles last so long, but other folks won’t. I, myself, enjoy the fighting engine a lot...But feel that the matches just go on a little too long. Granted, as you play the game more and perfect the movesets of a few characters, the matches will noticeably get shorter due to your gameplay skills...However, for a someone like myself, who is just used to a match in a fighting game usually lasting no more than thirty seconds, it just feels like it takes forever to beat arcade mode when you’re averaging two minutes or more per match. However, that’s more of a preference gripe...Just like I prefer shorter matches, I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there who prefer the longer ones. If you like longer fights, then you’ll adore this game.
Graphically, the ports of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are alright. However, in the time since it had come out on Dreamcast, Guilty Gear X arrived on the Playstation 2 scene and wowed everyone with its spectacular 2D graphics engine. In comparison to Guilty Gear X, the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 ports don’t really look that good. They’re kind of pixelated and not very smooth. They’re not awful graphics, but you could tell that they were behind the times. A little graphical touch-up in the ports probably would have been a good thing. This little comparison in graphics won’t alter your enjoyment of the game, but it does kind of prevent the game from having that ‘polished’ feel to it, especially when combined with the port-related glitches. The audio is terrible. The soundtrack to the Dreamcast original was of good quality...But the music itself was just bad. The ports are even worse. It almost sounds as if they emulated the audio rather than used the original tracks and soundbytes. If you’ve never played the original Dreamcast game, then you may not really notice some of the distorted audio...You may just assume that it’s how it should be, and won’t likely be bothered as much by it. But if you’ve played the Dreamcast original a lot, then you’ll likely cringe a bit while listening to the various pieces of audio throughout the game. Xbox owners have a saving grace called custom soundtracks, where they can import their own music into the game, which give it the ever-so-slight edge if you’re planning on buying one or the other and can’t decide which. Anyway, if you’ve never played the original, none of the cosmetic stuff will likely bother you...But if you have, you’ll likely be a bit disappointed.
Overall, what you’ve got is a pair of ports that are inferior to the Dreamcast original, but are still very fun to play. While some glitches and slowdown issues prevent the fighting to be exactly the same quality as it was on the Dreamcast, it’s still a solid fighting game for Playstation 2 and Xbox owners. If you’ve never played the original, you probably won’t notice some of the little problems in the port...Which is a good thing, since you can just enjoy it for what it is. However, with its hefty price tag these days, often going for over seventy dollars used, you may be better off just buying it for Dreamcast for about half the price. The ports do have a few extras tossed in, but nothing really worthwhile unless you’re a diehard fan of the game, so if you want to experience Marvel vs. Capcom 2, I suggest getting the Dreamcast original...However, if you can somehow manage to obtain a copy for Playstation 2 or Xbox for cheap, then go for it. It’s still an enjoyable experience, even with the port issues, it’s just not worth that seventy dollar price tag that it likes to wear. - Ape
November 18, 2002
September 19, 2002
November 29, 2002
