VIDEO GAME REVIEW

Clash of the Titans

It has probably always been every comic geek’s dream to witness a battle between Venom and Gambit, or maybe even Gambit vs., say, Mega Man. So Capcom’s newest fighter isn’t just out of this world – it’s a dream come true for fantasy aficionados.

From the strength of the Hulk to the lightning-fast kicks of Street Fighter’s Chun-Li, nearly every combo, every throw and every possible method of killing an opponent is represented in Marvel vs. Capcom. Moreover, this close-to-perfection arcade transfer is truly fluent in movement, supplying enough gracefully smooth animation that the production team was probably propositioned to choreograph a Broadway musical.

Following the trend of most action-oriented games, this wicked fighter offers four various styles of play – "Arcade," "Versus," "Training" and "Cross Over" – and a special "Gallery" section that showcases the drawings of characters with which you’ve conquered the game.

Yet this fighter is not merely a clash of superheroes, but an escape from the drudgery that other companies have tried to market as better than the king (the "king," in this case, being Street Fighter). Marvel vs. Capcom comes from the studio that invented Street Fighter. Sure, Mortal Kombat added ultraviolence to the best-of-three-rounds mix, but the engineers at Capcom supplied the soul of the fighting genre.

Even though, after repetitive play, this title does begin to wear and tear, it still has allure. The only tragic aspect of the game is the cheesy, underdramatic credit sequences. "Disappointing" might be a compliment to the truly horrible party favor that the Capcom team provides for those who, after defending the world from the likes of supervillains and mastering a dozen different combos, are tough enough to battle to the end. Capcom has already mastered the 2-D fighter, so a stint in an "Endings 101" workshop might be time well spent.

Jon M. Gibson writes about video games for Metro Times.