I’ve played my fair share of Marvel vs Capcom 3, but I’ve never been particularly good at the game. I'm good enough to hold my own for at least one round, but I can never seem to win a match. It’s no fun for me to play with serious fighting game players, but on the casual side, it's still a blast.
Thus, when I sat down to play the near-final build of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 last week, I wasn’t expecting too much different. The new cast of fighters were comfortably in place, but this is by and large the Marvel vs Capcom 3 you know and love, albeit with new fighters and the new changes to the reoccurring cast.
The most interesting additions to the roster are Phoenix Wright, Rocket Raccoon, and Frank West. Phoenix Wright is special because all of his abilities are tied to his performance as an attorney in a trial. He literally fights by acting out a court trial. Thus, the first “stance” he falls into is the evidence-finding status, where he has limited attacks and needs to manually look for evidence. Once he has all of the evidence, he can switch stances to present the evidence in the form of physical attacks. Finally, he will lay everything out in a massive damage dealing attack presented in the form of a dramatic court speech. All of this pans out in the manner of a trial. It’s crazy, weird, and complicated, but a lot of fun, with attacks based upon his familiar “Objection!” declaration. I don’t know how viable he will be in the long run, as he needs to be built up, but he is fun to play.
Frank West actually shares some of these characteristics of leveling up within a fight. He plays very much like he did in his last fighting game, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, with his mixture of zombie-throwing projectiles and grapples. One new fighting mechanic is his camera. Frank can pull out his camera in the middle of fights to snap a picture of his opponents. Over time he will level up to level four, and as he moves forward he will gain better and more powerful items to us in his fights. Additionally, he can drink alcohol, allowing him to level up much faster, although he will sometimes vomit due to the booze.
Finally, there was Rocket Raccoon. Short and vulgar, Rocket Raccoon is a campy, little scamp with various attacks, projectiles, and traps. He is very good at moving around the screen, with triangle boost jumps and the ability to burrow underground. He has a projectile that can shoot fireballs in various directions, and he has various traps. With an arsenal of nets, log traps, shrapnel bombs, and more, Rocket Raccoon is very good at transforming an arena into a dangerous place for players to maneuver. He looks like a potentially very frustrating player to play against, but one that is very fun to play with.
All in all, it looks like Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 players will have plenty to like in this game. It’s not a full sequel, but there is enough here to more than justify a new purchase. Players should be pleased.
The Amazing Spiderman
