Few developers have a legacy quite like Capcom in the fighting realm – Street Fighter to Power Stone, Darkstalkers, to name just a few. The Japanese heavyweight firm have been the tip of the fighting spear for decades. With so elder titles going extinct in the digital age, Capcom are keeping some classics alive with Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. A mouthful of a title, but also a delicious stomachful of a collection.
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Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics includes Marvel Super Heroes from 1995, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes from 1998, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes from 2000. And, this marks the first time these three titles have been available on a new platform since last seeing action way back on the seventh generation of consoles.
On top of these we also get the first new console versions for X-Men: Children of the Atom from 1994, X-Men vs. Street Fighter from 1996, and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter from 1997 since their initial releases, which is mind blowing in some respects.
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And to top it all off the collection also includes; the first ever faithful console port of the classic arcade beat ’em up – The Punisher from 1993, which to some will be worth the price of admission alone.
Polishing Hidden Gems
To say this is a collection of hidden gems is a massive understatement. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics serves as a true time capsule of when Marvel of was very much a different company than we all know now. It’s a glimpe into an age when Marvel’s bread and butter was still comic books and Saturday morning cartoons. An age before the MCU and seemingly hourly movies.
Better than the quantity is the quality. Obvious and excellent work has gone into each title to make them truly pop on modern tech. These are no mere ports.
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Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics features a host of enhancements like online play, training modes, and even being able to dive deep into frame rates and hit boxes.
There is also an impressive museum/gallery, showing iconic artwork from the games and on top of that all the soundtracks are playable too. So, for long time fans there is a lot of little touches to add value to the complete package.
Marvellous Journey
Newcomers will likely start out with X-Men: Children of the Atom – the first game in the series and a rounded entry to see how things grow from there, to the heady heights of Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes – which is still to this day a staple of the fighting community.
Each game will teach you the ropes and then add new and interesting mechanics like having power-ups mid-fight. The infinity stones add a tag team partner or an assist system.
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Sure, some titles get a little lost in the scrum unless you have a strong nostalgia for them, like Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter which is a great game, it just didn’t really make a mark, given the company behind it.
Regardless of it not quite being a bona fide classic, I would rather have it here for that odd time I want to throw Dan up against Omega Red. I also have to give credit to Capcom, as they could easily have just missed a few titles from the collection. But, here it is, for completionists and for completeness sake.
Punishing
Away from the versus brawlers, The Punisher offers side scrolling beat ‘em up thrills, as you and Nick Fury punch, kick and blast street punks and mobsters working your way to the Kingpin.
Think Streets of Rage or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and you’ll have a good idea of what awaits here.
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is an amazing collection of titles and a must for Capcom, Marvel and fighting fans alike. Even if you just have a passing interest in one of the greatest crossover series’ ever, it’s worth grabbing.
Plus, even better this looks like the start of something very special from Capcom, as Capcom Fighting Collection 2 has also been announced for later this year and it looks to focus on the SNK vs. Capcom era and Power Stone series.