The Incredible Hulk VS Mega Man?

What is not to like about this game? Marvel VS Capcom is the Dreamcast version of the very popular arcade game. It offers matches between the popular Capcom characters against the powerful Marvel characters. Picture the battle of Captain America VS Mega Man, or witness fights between the Incredible Hulk against Ryu from Street Fighter. And only the powerful Dreamcast can handle the amazing game speed, graphics and gameplay that the arcade offered, all stuffed onto the little CD. Experience the most insane battles ever seen on a home console; enter Marvel VS Capcom.

The Objective: The goal of course is to win. Before the matches start, each player chooses two characters from either the Marvel crowd or two of the characters from Capcom. Anytime during the fight you can switch to your other character by pressing the top "L and R buttons". This is particularly handy when your first guy is getting beaten into oblivion. And if you need even more help, you also have a help character which is manually chosen before the match. You'll see Bionic Commando, the Knight from Ghoules and Ghosts series and many other Capcom characters. They may be little, but they can inflict a heck of a lot of damage to your enemy.

Features:

15 selectable characters and earn hidden ones.
100% Arcade Perfect
20 Additional "helper" characters to aid you when in need
5 modes of gameplay
For the first time in a home console, experience four fighters fighting simultaneously on-screen.
4 Player Tag Team


Graphics: Visually, you still can't get any better than Namco's award-winning Soul Caliber, but Capcom knows a thing or two about graphics too; and Marvel VS Capcom holds its own against the best fighters out there. First of all, Marvel VS Capcom is strictly a 2D fighter. There are not multiple camera views and the action is always at the same perspective. But for a game like this, it really doesn't matter, because Capcom has proven that 2D fighting games are just as fun as the 3D fighting ones.

The game is reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons and Marvel Comic books. The characters, while cartoony, look and move realistically around the bright and colorful stages. The classic Capcom characters like Ryu and Zangief look exactly like the do in the Street Fighter series and mix well with the Marvel Characters. Some of the fights look unfair, especially when you face off poor 'ol Strider against the massive Incredible Hulk, but don't let the size of that behemoth scare you. Each character can hold his or her own. The game plays fast and furious and can be adjusted to your liking in the options screen. Even with all the stuff on-screen, there is still zero-slowdown which is quite a feat for such a speedy fighter. In-fact, some players, it may be too fast. Capcom could have easily called this game "Marvel VS Capcom Presents: Turbo 4X Hyper Fighting."

Control: I was concerned about how the control would be with the standard Dreamcast controller. Thankfully, it's not too bad, but a joystick is still recommended. The game supports both the analog stick and the regular gamepad. The moves were pretty basic in the arcade, and since this is an exact translation, things are basic for the Dreamcast too. And people who are familiar with the Street Fighter series should be able to control that group from the start. The Marvel characters have different moves but all are executed identically. Novice players will enjoy just the button pressing aspect of the game that will do the job against other novice players. For novice players, the level of difficulty and the game speed can be altered. Each characters has different strengths and weaknesses. Capcom's own Strider relies more on speed and endurance while the Incredible Hulk is just pure size and power. And just the match-ups alone is an enticing aspect of Marvel VS Capcom. I never thought Mega Man and Ryu would ever go at it; now they can.

Sound: I expect more from the Dreamcast. Although arcade perfect, that doesn't mean the music was perfect in the arcade. There are some catchy tunes but it needs some major refinement. There is some classic Capcom music when certain characters appear. You'll hear tunes from the classic Mega Man and the Street Fighter series. The sound FX is well done. The characters don't chatter during the bouts too much, although Chun Li's Japanese lingo is still annoying.

Final Call: Marvel VS Capcom is a welcome addition to the Dreamcast library. This game is right up there with Soul Caliber in terms of fun-factor. Definitely consider it.

The Good and the Bad:
+ It looks like a cartoon, but it's supposed to, and that's a good thing!
+ The game plays amazingly fast, and there is zero loss in animation or slowdown throughout.
+ Cool match-ups and way cool characters.

- Music is iffy. What do you think?
- Dreamcast controller is still not your best choice for a game of this caliber.


Reviewed by: John