Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii) Review

Posted by Chris Lansdell on 02.23.2010

Capcom attempts to make a fighter for all seasons...do they succeed? Find out inside!



Title: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All-Stars
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Fighter
Players: 2
Rated: T for Teen


Of all the Capcom vs. games that could have seen a physical release on the Wii, this would have been at the bottom of my list. I mean, how many people in the Wii’s target demographic have ever heard of Tatsunoko? I would have though Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would have been a better bet, but that’s neither here nor there. What we have here is a fighting game that sets out to be easy to pick up and play for neophytes, but with enough intricacies to keep more seasoned fighters coming back. Believe me when I say that despite some early snaggles, the game succeeds at that task quite resoundingly.

I’ve long wondered how the Wii would bridge that oh-so-large and yet oh-so-important gulf between the people who buy the console for Wii Sports and Wii Fit, and the people who buy it for No More Heroes and Red Steel. Although TvC is a third-party game, I think it lays an excellent keystone for that bridge. As with most 2D Capcom fighters the stages and characters are beautifully drawn, with the special moves seeming to pop out of the screen at you in a vivid explosion (sometimes literally!) of colour. None of your often bland realism here; the graphics are over the top and gaudy, and it fits the style of the game beautifully. When triggering the Super moves, the whole screen fills with the graphic for your attack, again a hallmark or Capcom games and one that I always appreciate. Beating your opponent is good, but beating your opponent with an entire screen full of his beatdown in glorious Technicolor is far better. One particular character, a giant robot named Gold Lightan, fills a good quarter of the screen and looks good doing it. No there’s no hi-tech stuff here or mind-blowing realism, because the game doesn’t call for it.

The selection of characters was a little strange. I recognised precisely 4 people from the Tatsunoko side of things, and that was only because I watched an obscure anime called G-Force when I was a kid. Heroes in bird costumes who flew “the amazing rocketship Phoenix” which could spontaneously combust. Yes it was as cheesy and as awesome as it sounds. Capcom fans could be disappointed too, as there’s a lack of some popular characters: Ken from Street Fighter 2, for example. The 4 endings I unlocked before writing this review were consequently a bit off…Ryu’s and Chun Li’s made sense since I know the characters, but Tekkaman Blade and Doronjo seemed like an inside joke that I was missing. Now no fighting game was ever accused of having a deep storyline (They all come together to beat each other up. Some fight for pride, some for revenge…), so the lack of end movies is forgivable, but I think I expected more than a couple of pictures with text at the bottom. It’s like beating Street Fighter 2 all over again!

I was a little disappointed with the character voices. With the exception of Dead Rising’s Frank West, they were all Japanese. Revoicing all the characters probably would have added months to the development time though, so there's a compromise to be made and really, English voices wouldn't have added a great deal. The music is what you'd expect from a Capcom fighter, all energetic and light.


If your armpit does that, Old Spice ain't gonna cut it.

TvC tries to present you with a wealth of control options, but in all likelihood you'll stick with the Classic controller or the Game Cube one. Wiimote/Nunchuk and Wiimote alone are also options. With only 3 attack buttons plus the Partner button, there's not a lot to learn. The special attacks will work with any button, although with differing damage, range and so on. Combos, which are the backbone of any good fighting game and also my arch-nemesis (because I suck at them) are fairly easy to pull off, with even the beginning player being able to pull off 3- and 4-hitters by button-mashing. More experienced players will be able to go far higher. One of the big surprises for me was how deep the combo system was with so few attack buttons. Practice will enable you to string together moves at differing distances with the same button, chaining together some truly devastating combs. There are also air combos, which look awesome. There's just something about hanging in the air while delivering a beating. Pressing the Partner button will either bring your partner in for an attack or “tag out”. You can't control which attack your partner does, but I didn't find that to be a big drawback. Tagging out will happen when there is distance between you and the opponent, and the inactive fighter will slowly refill the red portion of their life bar. I found early on that this made for some very long fights, but once you get the hang of that strategy element you can prevent a tag.

Probably the best place to start is the training mode, even if you are a veteran of fighting games. I don't know a single experienced brawler who doesn't have a favourite button configuration, and it's rarely the default one. The training mode lets you get used to that and determine what layout works for you, as well as introducing you to the characters. One touch I really liked, which won't mean much to those new to the genre, is that the total damage for each combo is displayed on the screen...in billions. It makes for a more epic feel to the game and let's face it – dealing 6 billion damage sounds a while lot more impressive than 60 damage. The standard Survival (beat as many as you can without dying), time attack (beat people up in a hurry), versus and online play are present, although the online seemed a little laggy to me. My Xbox is on the same connection and has no issues, and my son never has trouble with Mario Kart, so I can only assume it was the game itself. Either that or I just chose a bad time to hit the servers. However, the online play is very deep and offers both ranked and unranked play, battles outside your region and a ladder system that rewards you for beating people above your level.



Pros

• Easy to pick up, but enough depth to keep you coming back
  
• Great intro to fighting games
  
• Looks great without trying to be realistic
  
• Rewards you quickly and tangibly
  
• Variety of control options
  

Cons

• Hardcore fighter fans may not stick around to see the depth
  
• Obscure characters
  
• Lack of English voiceovers
  
• Ending movies feel like 16-bit throwbacks
  
• Could do with a couple more game modes
  

The 411

If you're new to fighting games, or if you're an old hand, or if you're looking to introduce someone to the genre...you can't go wrong with Ultimate All-Stars. Pretty graphics, simple controls and a roster that is new to everyone hide a surprisingly deep and intelligent fighting system. Rare is the game that is accessible and deep at the same time, but this game delivers. You need to own this game.

Graphics	8.0	Bearing in mind that this is the Wii, the graphics here are luscious. Explosions for ultra moves, vivid special moves, 3D characters on active 2D backgrounds...it all looks good to me!
Gameplay	9.0	As with any fighting game, it lives and dies by its gameplay. Here, it very much lives. You can be competitive within 10 minutes of starting to play, and you'll be motivated to keep going.
Sound	7.0	A bit of a let-down to be honest, with the Japanese voices and the average music.
Lasting Appeal	7.5	It keeps you coming back until you master the controls and can compete with the best, but the lack of game modes beyond the basics means this won't be sitting in your disc drive in 3 or 4 months.
Fun Factor	8.5	Ultimately it's all about enjoying the game, and I am. It provides enough of a challenge that you feel special completing a difficulty level or finding a new combo, but doesn't make you tear your hair out in the process.
Overall	8.5   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 13 Tatsunoko vs Capcom Screenshots