Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Arcade, 1998)

 

Time for the fifth game in the series, Marvel Vs Capcom 1. This is where these games went mainstream as Capcom took things up to the next level. They're still holding out on the roster, though. Who cares though, we finally have MEGAMAN. This post is gonna be ALL MEGAMAN ALL THE TIME.

What's really weird is that Thor isn't playable in this OR the sequel. I hope he at least shows up in MVC3. Getting a feeling that, Avenger (and actual deity) or not, Thor wasn't actually a huge deal in the Marvel-verse until the 2010's MCU.

Steve "Mongo" McMichael: "Folks we're in for a show tonight because when you got Marvel on one side and you got Capcom on the other side well that's a hell of a lotta action tonight my friend!"

No Thor but they certainly had room for both of Morrigan's big, flopping titties. The ultimate tag team! I'm going to call them "Betty and Veronica"

This game features a huge roster of "assist characters" who can be summoned to do one attack and then sod off. Thor's one of these, as are a bunch of characters who I really wish were just playable instead. I see the Ghouls n' Ghosts dude there with the lance. Doesn't he know that you gotta get the knife?

Enjoy Psylocke arching her back and raising her nipples towards God, because that's all the Psylocke you're getting in this one. Hard to believe Magneto is reduced to a mere summon. Looks like the only X-Men to make the cut were Wolverine and Gambit.

As for the actual playable characters... the gang is mostly here. This game is really known for one thing: MEGAMAN MEGAMAN!!

There are also other non-Megaman characters but NOBODY CARES, WE GOT MEGAMAN FOLKS.

This roster...is smaller than I expected for the big mashup. There are some solid new additions like Venom. They're STILL shortchanging Psylocke, and now Rogue* is out too. No Iron Man, but we've got War Machine. He was great in Hotel Rwanda. Kinda shocking that what is ostensibly the Avengers game doesn't have Iron Man or Thor. Only three Street Fighter II representatives, too.

* - Worth noting that I went and watched X-Men and X2 and now know who Rogue is and what the deal is with the kissing and whatnot. Her being played by Sookie from True Blood kinda threw me off though. Very good movies and it was good to get some X-Men context.

"Look at my butt!" says Morrigan.

Morrigan ruffles her hair and pokes her boobs out. A man could lose an eye around her!

Megaman on the other hand is all wholesome and doesn't notice Morrigan or her firm-ass haunches.

Of course I'm playing as Megaman. However I pressed the wrong button so it started me as the wrong color. The main "choose" button really needs to be for the default color, rather than the Weak Punch button.

As Dr. Wily runs back and forth screaming, I unleash Megaman's Fierce Punch: An actual Mega Buster blast. The coolest part is that if time permits you can hold down Fierce Punch to charge it up and there are 3 levels of it altogether.

Here's the strongest charged Fierce Punch.

Mega Man can also run away from foes (rather than back away slowly while facing them) and feels completely different to play than the rest of the cast. He's more like a Super Smash Bros character, jumping all over the place and spamming moves.

Win a fight and Morrigan changes into street clothes sometimes. It was hot when Rogue did it, it's hot now. Wonder what triggers this.

"LET'S SEE YOU DAAAAANCE SUCKA YOU GOT NOTHIN' ON ME!"

Mega Man has several supers. One is Rush Drill, where he just drives into his foe and racks up a huge combo. It's similar to Apocalypse's big move.

Running over Morrigan with construction equipment, instead of making sweet love to her, is pretty dumb. It's the kind of thing Megaman would do.

Next up is Captain Commando, from the 1991 Capcom arcade game Captain Commando. It's a beat 'em up and one they're definitely proud of because not only is it a headline act for the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Collection, but he's also prominently featured in this game as the main Capcom fighter.

I should take a look at CC next out of curiosity and find out what this guy is all about.

One fun thing to do with Megaman is the jumping charged shot, just like in his games. It would be cooler if it weren't for the fact that everyone in this series can do special moves while jumping and it's been like that for a few games now, but yeah.

Megaman does super lame poses and squeaks at his defeated foes about how they're not his enemies. You take that Grandpa Genkaku peacenik talk and git out!

Well, I'll take this Megaman over the late-series version of Megaman X, who calls people "MAVERICK" between clenched teeth, other-izes everyone he fights, and would probably herd people he disagrees with into camps with the full approval of his own conscience. He was perfectly set up to turn into a future genocidal dictator if Capcom hadn't wimped out and gone with "Copy X" and "Dr. Weil" instead to keep from getting sued by themselves.

Megaman throws lame, dainty kicks at Captain America's neussen. Block low, Cap! Block low! ...or don't bother, it isn't like he can even feel these dainty kicks.

Megaman has several supers. The biggest and most devastating is "Hyper Megaman", where he transforms into a giant version of himself armed to the teeth with weaponry and UNLEASHES HELL.

"I can teach you a few new powers" says Morrigan while licking her fingers.

Wolverine is a character I haven't paid enough attention to in this series. He's been in all of the games so far (he might be the ONLY character to be in all of them, come to think of it) and I haven't really played as him at all. I bet he was the most popular / played character in the arcades and that's why they kept him onboard for all of these.

When Morrigan launches a projectile, she does the most ridiculous back-arch I've ever seen. Is she trying to touch the ceiling with her nipples? That's Psylocke's job!

She then heaves forward with this...fireball?

Well, I can't argue with game artists who appreciate a good back-arch. The animation in this entire series is across-the-board excellent.

Megaman dishes out small, meager uppercuts! He probably goes "eeehh!" each time too. Really questioning my life choices here, having spent so much time covering every last corner of the Megaverse.

"Hutu power! Hutu power!" says War Machine while trying to escape in his car.

...are there skeletons listening to music in the background?

The charged buster shot is sort of a combination of the Mega Man 4 long-variant (seen here) and the wide buster seen in most of the series. It flashes between both as it flies through the air.

I see why Ryu has giant Hadokens now. They have to look like they can credibly block Mega Man's mega buster blasts.

Megaman follows with a flying kick!

"Was it kick? I will show you how!" says Ryu before Hurricane Kicking Megaman right out of his comically large boots.

Since I'm all Megaman'd out, here's one more shot of Morrigan being all sassy with noted Cajun man Remy Lebeau before we go on to the final boss. Not sure if they fought or just left to go get drinks. Megaman can deal with calling all his foes Mavericks or whatever, everyone's done with all his shit.

Wait, who? This is somebody called Onslaught. Never heard of him. They might be scraping the bottom of the Marvel villain barrel at this point. I'll look into this real quick.

Alright, I looked into it. Onslaught may be a less-known character, but he's a big deal in the X-Men verse. He's an entity formed from the combined psychic powers of Magneto and Professor Xavier. It sounds like a sort of Dark Quickening event took place in the comics where Xavier telepathically attempted to shut down Magneto's dark powers and instead got afflicted with them. Then the psychic abilities of both guys formed into a sentient being, Onslaught.

Megaman assumes that this thing is the latest Dr. Wily creation.

Onslaught lives up to his name, attacking with a brutal array of giant dash-strikes.

He then FRIES BEAT with a death-laser.

NO! NOT BEAT!

Megaman then TOTALLY LOSES HIS SHIT and breaks out his super transformation.

"THIS ONE'S FOR BEAT, MOTHERFUCKER!"

WHOA. I did NOT see that coming!

Onslaught has a second form that's a lot like the Apocalypse fights in the previous two games. He can only be damaged with attacks to the head.

Luckily, Mega Man is basically designed for this fight with his jumping and shooting. The only tough part is that this fight is part two of the previous fight, so you have to defeat both of them inside of one round.

Win, and Manhattan is saved! What's weird is that the World Trade Center isn't in the background, despite this being a game from 1998. Maybe it was digitally removed.

We're now closer to 2050 than we are to when this game ('s sequel) came out.

Megaman's ending is just him getting Onslaught's weapon. I like how it's a combination of Magneto power and Professor X power.

You only see the ending for the character you strike the final hit with. I reload and win with Morrigan to get her ending, where she laments that no one has the skills needed to thoroughly please her.

Ryu is here to handle all of her womanly needs. And what she needs is...

...someone to play Super Puzzle Fighter 2 with. Well, that was a twist.

The end credits show us some of the summons, reminding us of all the characters that aren't playable. Would be awesome to play as the machine gun toting sexy redhead. Or better yet, Arthur and his lance-throwing. He should be at the top of the list for Capcom characters.

I usually play through all of these a couple of times, so I run it back with The Hulkster. Looks like he and Zangief are about the same size.

Zangief with the sit-out piledriver! It's better when Psylocke does it. Where the hell is Psylocke?

Hulk does something I've been wanting to do all game: BACKHANDS MEGAMAN.

Megaman then screeches for an entire minute, like in that one Mega Man 8 cutscene.

We also have Venom on deck. Been a fan of this guy since Maximum Carnage. Bring Venom and Knull to the MCU, damn it!

Wolverine continues to be sold short, as he makes a brief appearance to be blasted by Venom's super.

Well, maybe in MVC3 I'll Wolverine it up.

Strider Hiryu is another Capcom character, from the titular Strider. One of the more well-liked Genesis platformers. Never got around to that one...maybe I should.

Strider has these awesome blade slashes. One of the best-looking moves in the game.

Spider-Man shows up and gets SPARTA KICKED.

Speaking of kicks, Chun-Li's super:

LIGHTNING KICK

Beat the game with Venom, and he decides to go on a crusade to rid the world of evil. Basically the same thing from the end of The Punisher. This unattainable goal would result in millions of deaths as Venom endlessly purged increasingly-questionable groups of "bad guys". Have a nice day.

Beat the game with Hulk, and we get a Professor X appearance! He has a golden chair now for some reason. Oh yeah, and Captain America sacrificed himself to stop Onslaught. Way to just steal all of Hulk's heat, brother!

Beat the game as Ryu... well, it was more of a double-KO at the end there, Onslaught is no joke...

...and we get a shot of Ryu training Sean, part of Street Fighter 3's new generation. I think this game pre-dated SF3 by a year, so this looks like an early preview of a new character.

Ken then sods off to hang out with women. That's what Ken does, sods off and doesn't take training or life seriously. If this universe was realistic, Ryu would be WAY ahead of him by SF4.

Next up: The really big one, MVC2

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