Marvel Vs. Street Fighter

I'm a pretty big fan of Capcom's Vs. series, despite the fact that it centers mostly on flashy graphics and exaggerated, "spazzy" play (which seems to offend Street Fighter purists, for some strange reason). Even though X-Men vs. Street Fighter was a major dud on the PS, Capcom has bounced back nicely with Marvel Super Fleroes vs. Street Fighter. Still, it's hardly perfect. You still can't play regular tag team matches like the arcade game (which sucks), but it's not like that wasn't expected. The PS simply can't handle it. What's nice is that Capcom went out of their way to make up for this by including two extra modes of play (Hero Battle and Cross Over), as well as some other little extras. In Cross Over Mode, you can actually play tag-team matches so long as both teams choose the same two fighters--a nice feature that was in XMvSF, but hidden. As far as graphics and animation go, MSHvSF looks surprisingly good, and the massive slowdown that plagued XMvSF has been greatly reduced. This is the best thing about MSHvSF, because it actually makes the game playable, even if it isn't exactly like the arcade. The whole game just seems much more polished. I do wish there was an option to turn off super cancels, though, but oh well. If you liked XMvSF, you . should definitely check this out.

"I don't expect an arcade-exact, characterswapping, animation-perfect translation. I just want a good ol' 2D fighter with a lot of flash." If you stick with this philosophy, you'll enjoy any of Capcom's PS Vs. games. While I consider MSH vs. SF to be merely a rest stop on my way to Marvel vs. Capcom, it's still an enjoyable title in its own way. Thankfully, the slowdown is less noticeable and the frame-rate's improved over X-Men vs. SF.

These Capcom Vs. games will never be arcade-perfect on the PlayStation, but they do seem to be getting better. Marvel vs. SF has faster graphics and plenty more play modes than the disappointing X-Men vs. SF. There's more than enough stuff here to keep two players busy for a long time. Above all, the flashy, easy gameplay is just plain fun. Still, you may want to wait for the truly excellent Street Fighter Alpha 3.

White I wasn't crazy about the Vs. fighting thing, it's starting to grow on me. Capcom is starting to nail 2D fighters on the PS, and the action is almost perfect. Big characters like the Hulk and Blackheart don't play as well as the smaller guys, but it's acceptable. The Cross Over Mode finally allows true vs. action, like the arcade. The Ending Collection and hidden artwork are nice incentives for beating the game repeatedly.