SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (Neo Geo, 2003)

 

This is the much lesser-known SNK version of the mashup. That's right, SNK did this one instead of Capcom, so it's considerably stiffer and more difficult than the two previous games from Capcom.

I think Mai and Chun-Li might be about to kiss.

Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 (Arcade, 2001)

 

In Japan, this game is called "Millionaire Battle 2001". Weird, most of these characters don't seem like millionaires. I'd be surprised if Terry Bogard is a thousand-aire, guy seems like he's barely scraping by. Released a year after the other one, this is a huge improvement much like Marvel vs Capcom 2 was over the previous game.

Capcom Vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 (Arcade, 2000)

 

The turn of the century was a pinnacle time for fighting games, at least from Capcom and SNK. You had Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, and this game right here, for starters.

Best of all, it's available on the Switch now via Capcom Fighting Collection 2, so you can play it on the go when your wife's boyfriend wants the TV, or when they kick you out of the house.

Capcom Fighting Evolution (Arcade, 2004)

 

Interesting mash-up of a bunch of different Capcom games here, as CAPCOMANIA continues. Just mash-ups upon mash-ups this past month. Sometimes Capcom mashes up with Marvel, sometimes Capcom mashes up with SNK. Sometimes Capcom mashes up with both of them! Marvel isn't allowed to mash up with SNK on their own though, Capcom would fly off the handle. This despite that Capcom would mash up with LJN if the money was right 'cause Capcom's a total slut. So you can do it but I can't, huh??

As usual, I don't really know what's going on or what I'm doing with these fighting games. So this is a mash-up of a bunch of things I don't get, creating a vortex of "I don't get it" inception. Playing this on Capcom Fighting Collection 2.

Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite (Playstation 4, 2017)

 

The final game in this series, this one is a step back in a lot of ways. Ultimate MVC3 is the way to go if you want a modern one, and MVC2 is the way to go for the retro series.

This one reminds me of Mario Kart World taking a step back in most ways from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (another "Ultimate" version, too). That game changed too much for its own good, like adding highways leading up to the actual courses. Well, this game also changes too much for its own good, like going back to two-character teams despite trios working so well.

Presumably this game will involve the Infinity Stones, given the name and the fact that it came out during the leadup to the Thanos movies.

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Playstation 3/XBox 360, 2011)

 

Here's the back half of MVC3. The finished version. Seriously though, two game releases in one year, with one being an incomplete version of the other? MVC2 was definitely the high point of this series. This here is probably the second highest point, and an effort to capitalize on the popularity surge of the MCU. Either way, MVC2 was the pinnacle, they let it languish a while, and then they brought it back to make some money. It is what it is.

All in all this was a really fun series to do, so I regret nothin'. Two left. Also, right now this game is $4.99 on PSN. Why the hell are things still .99? We got rid of pennies so retailers would stop inconveniencing people with the deceptive pricing of putting a .99 at the end of everything. Apparently none of them got the memo. Regardless, this game normally goes for five times as much as it's on sale for right now, so that's a steal.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Playstation 3/XBox 360, 2011)

 

This game took some work to get ahold of and a lot more work to get shots of. Sony REALLY didn't want people recording any clips of the PS3 for the new sensation Youtube. That would let people promote their games by showing off the gameplay!

This is the top-selling game in the series (though to be precise, the ultimate edition is, with this version in second place...if you combine the two on sales, "3" is even further ahead of the rest) and the one that launched with a wave of hype: This was the era of Avengers mania, with the MCU in full swing. Plus there was a decade since the last game for the legend of MVC2 to grow. That second game pretty much never stopped being a thing; I remember playing it a lot with friends in the late 2000's, even.

This one finally adds Thor, after all this time. They kinda had to at this point with him being one of the big four MCU heroes. Psylocke is still missing though. I think she's gone...or maybe she's one of the many characters they add for the ultimate edition. That version is practically a new game so I'm going to look at that too. With both of them released in 2011 (February and November, I believe) it seems to me like this version was just an incomplete version that they put out early to meet deadlines - deadlines which were probably hot and heavy at the time with MCU's movie schedule triggering spikes in consumer interest. Far as I can tell, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is the real MVC3.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Arcade, 2000)

 

It's Marvel Vs Capcom 2, the sixth Marvel Vs Capcom game! Well, it's safe to say this is the best of the lot by a mile. It's like the first five all Megazord-Combined and formed this one. It's got everything the others had, all thrown together in a big tornado of craziness. Like getting all of your favorite significant others from the past together for a big party on a waterbed, which is what I'm personally hoping for in the afterlife.

As for the game, this is it, the high point of the series. No more holding out on us. This one has everybody. Except Thor probably lol.

Watched the first trilogy of X-Men movies this week. They were all fun enough, and now I know who more of these characters are. I should have done that a few weeks ago before I played these. The X-Men are probably the most important superheroes, in the "it's okay to be different, you don't need to kill yourself" sense. Teenagers particularly need that sort of thing.

Best thing about the movies was Magneto, what a fantastic villain. Both he and Professor X make intelligence look cool...something else teenagers in particular needed to see more of. When I was in high school it was generally a requirement to "dumb yourself down" or hide intelligence. Being smart was NOT cool at the time. I used the word "theoretically" in class one time and it prompted guys acting like that was some sort of big word for the rest of the semester and saying stuff like "THEORETICALLY, DA FUMIGATOR OF DA PROPAGATOR" when I'd walk by. Well, at least none of them tried to stab me, that was some other guy.

And now... the Cheetamen.

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.

Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter (Arcade, 1997)

 

It kinda feels like they were holding out on us with the previous game. This one goes beyond the confines of X-Men and delivers a more stacked roster. I kinda think of it like the X-Men couldn't take on the World Warriors in the previous game, so they brought in other Marvel reinforcements to regain the upper hand here.

This would then prompt the 'Warriors to go and get more forces from the Capcom contingent for the next game to even things out again. They see Marvel's Hulk and raise him...Servbots or some shit! In the meantime, here's the sequel to Marvel Super Heroes. It's the 4th game in the series and it's the sequel to the second, but also the third.

X-Men Vs Street Fighter (Arcade, 1996)

 

The third game in the eight-game (eventually) MVC series, we finally get some company crossover starting now. It's the X-Men battling the World Warriors, though people would have to wait a bit longer to get the rest of Marvel onboard. Dammit, we had Hulk for ONE GAME and they've taken him away again!

The big innovation for this game is that it gives us tag team battles; you control a team of two characters and can switch between them. First player to lose both their characters loses the fight (one round). I really like the tag mechanic in fighting games; it varies things up when you can tag another character in and out.

Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (Arcade, 1995)

 

I have a theory that this game was intended to be a replacement for Street Fighter 1. Every generation of this series has gotten a distinct "era" with multiple revisions...except the first one, which is a bit of a lost game and lost era. The project head for Street Fighter 1 left the company soon after to work on SNK's Fatal Fury, and the new showrunners made Street Fighter 2. I think that said showrunners wanted to make their own "origin gen" to replace SF1, and thus Street Fighter Alpha (or Street Fighter Zero in Japan) was born.

As a result, this game is pretty interesting to me, as a re-creation of the genesis of the series. Much like SF1, Ryu's story mode in this game is his journey to defeat Sagat (and along the way, his understudy Adon). We also get SF1 characters like Birdie. It's basically them going back and making a "Street Fighter Generation 1" that actually meets its potential.

Street Fighter II (Game Boy, 1995)

 

I'm reading that this version only contains six of the original eight fighters. Much like the portable versions of Mortal Kombat, someone had to get the axe. Who would they pick? Normally I'd guess Blanka and Dhalsim; The latter would probably be harder to program than the other characters due to his long reach, while the former never struck me as a particularly popular character. I've never heard anyone talk about how much they love Blanka, or seen anyone playing as Blanka. ...he's on the box, though, so it was probably E-Honda and Dhalsim that got dropped due to their unconventional proportions. Well, let's find out.