No one gets fighting games like Capcom, the company behind some of the most prolific fighters of all time, namely Street Fighter. But Capcom is also responsible for giving us some of the best video game versions we’ve ever seen of iconic Marvel heroes. That’s what the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection is all about, celebrating a rich legacy of Marvel games that played a pivotal role in the fighting genre’s history. It’s an immense package that brings seven seminal games to modern audiences. Considering how hard most of these games were to find, having them all in one place, with some extra bells and whistles to boot, feels incredible. Whether you grew up playing the likes of Marvel vs Capcom in arcades, or have never touched these games entirely — this is one release no self-respecting fighting fan should miss.
The Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection packs together seven Marvel-themed games, six fighters, and one beat-em-up. The shortlist is X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and The Punisher. It’s been nearly 12 years since any of these games have seen an official release, meaning this is the best opportunity to experience the classics to date.
To get the obvious out of the way, the star of this show is Marvel vs. Capcom 2, undoubtedly one of the greatest fighting games in existence. There’s a kind of timelessness to MvC 2, with the game feeling just as thrilling and satisfying as it was over two decades ago. It was a vitally important fighting game that helped solidify the idea of stringing together lengthy combos, air juggles, and finding a dynamic team that works well together.
There’s a massive roster of 56 different characters in MvC 2, all of which play remarkably differently. Wolverine is a brutal fighter who relishes staying on the offensive, while Mega Man is best played a bit defensively, trying to keep your opponent at a distance. Testing out the game’s massive roster and finding your perfect team, or teams, is an absolute joy, only made even better by the fact that the minute-to-minute fighting feels so good.
While MvC 2 might be the star, the rest of the games in the package bring their own interesting wrinkles. The first Marvel vs Capcom is fascinating from a historical standpoint but also has a different roster and secret characters to uncover. Children of the Atom has a smaller roster but highly unique characters and a focus on one-on-one matches, Marvel Super Heroes sports a unique Infinity Stone mechanic that shakes things up, and X-Men vs. Street Fighter served as the basis for all of Capcom’s tag-team fighters. The Punisher is one of the most interesting games of the bunch, as a Streets of Rage-esque beat-em-up that has Frank Castle demolishing hordes of enemies with a grab bag of weapons.
The sheer variety across the Fighting Collection is one of its best features, but Capcom has also added a few extra bells and whistles. A museum feature lets you peruse hundreds of art pieces and design documents, a quick save means you can stop in the middle of playing through any mode, and beginner-friendly control options can help you execute dazzling combos with ease. The entire collection also features rollback netcode, a feature that typically makes for smoother online play. We had at least a smooth half-dozen matches in a quick test.
The Marvel vs Capcom collection is like a time capsule, giving you a glimpse at a pivotal moment in the history of superhero games. That historical context is half of what makes this collection so great, while the other half is the fact nearly every game still holds up by modern standards.
There aren’t a ton of changes or improvements in this collection, but that’s largely intentional. Capcom didn’t need to do much but preserve the original experiences and make them playable on modern systems, and in that regard, the Fighting Collection knocks it out of the park.
