Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Review (360, PS3)

Posted by John De Large on 12.01.2011

Does Christmas come early with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or is it too soon to be thinking about a re-release? Click the link to find out.



Earlier this year, Capcom released their long awaited and much anticipated third game in their crossover series, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. While it wasn't without it's fair share of haters, MVC3 was well received by many and was praised for its pick up and play-ability. Then, only a few months later, ULTIMATE Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was announced. Some rejoiced upon hearing that there'd be 8 new stages and 12 new characters (including Phoenix Wright, whose identity as a playable character was revealed early on), but many complained that it was too soon for another Marvel vs. Capcom game.

Well, was it too soon after all? Here comes the breakdown.

THE GOOD
A much needed balance: Good news, everyone! Are you tired of 80 hit Dante combos that can start from the other end of the screen? Tired of playing Zero only to have him fall apart after a good swift kick? Sick of Tron's assist invincibility? Capcom heard you whining, so they nerfed some characters and made others stronger. Adjustments were made to hitboxes, move priority and even the speed at which moves are executed. Phoenix players will be disappointed to learn that they won't be able use multiple aerial TK Shots without activating a certain mode first. Another disappointing bit of news is that TK Trap crests will disappear if Phoenix is hit. Speaking of crests, Trish can only activate Hopscotch and Peekaboo once per jump -- same rule applies to her Round Trip maneuver.

New moves were added to several characters, but the most significant moves that come to mind are Magneto's "Fatal Attraction," which pulls an an enemy towards him, "Repulsion," which pushes the enemy away from him, and "Reverse Polarity," a move that pulls an enemy out of the air. Not to be outdone, Storm has moves that function the same way, "Fair Wind," and "Foul Wind." Spencer has an aerial knee drop, Bionic Bomber that picks opponents up off the ground and my favorite character Ryu was given two new projectiles, a rapid fire short range Hadouken burst and an invisible Hadouken as well as a buffing move that powers up his Hyper Combos. While buffed, Shinkuu Hadoukens can be reflected off walls and Shinkuu Tatsus become stronger.

What's more is that several normal moves were even changed. For example, Sentinel's standing S has less armor and She Hulk's sliding kick only covers about half the distance it used to. On the plus side, Dr. Doom's aerial S bounces the opponent off the ground now allowing for more combo options.

And the best change of all? Most attacks can do more damage and more hits by jamming on the buttons, just like in Marvel vs. Capcom 2!



The new Capcom characters: The new characters are all welcome additions to the roster as each one brings a new playstyle to Marvel vs. Capcom (although overall, it seems like the developmental team had a lot of fun implementing rules and systems with the new characters).

Firebrand is basically Wolverine with a projectile and wings tacked on. He does a lot of damage and he does it quickly. Firebrand can also move around stages quickly and while he doesn't have a standard air dash, he has several command inputs that'll help him get where he needs to go. As a drawback, Firebrand can't handle a lot of damage, but he's got more health than Wolvie, who he's compared to.

Nemesis is another story though, he's big, clunky and some might find him awkward to play as, but he does massive damage and one of his normal moves cuts off 3/4's of the screen, plus it can start an air combo if used properly. Nemesis also comes with a truckload of HP and a rocket launcher can be used to combat some long range opponents (although the rockets tend to sail over most opponents). The drawback to Nemesis is his recovery time -- if he misses with certain attacks, he'll be left wide open for punishment.

Strider Hiryu was a character that many players clamored for, but aside from being a really good assist character, I don't really have too much fun playing as him. He's fast, but without an assist character to bounce an opponent off the ground or three hyper combo bars, he doesn't really do the kind of staggering damage I'm used to doing with other characters. I wouldn't recommend him to beginners or casual players.

Vergil focuses less on 40 and 50 hit combos than his half brother Dante and more on heavy hitting attacks and long range normal attacks. He has some version of Dante's attacks available as less effective normal moves, he can even teleport and he has a Devil Trigger mode too, which has it's own exclusive (and incredibly damaging) three meter hyper combo, but he only has one OTG attack and can't perform longer combos. Whether or not he needs to, is the player's call though.

Frank West uses a leveling up system that involves his trademark camera. After performing a combo, Frank can take a picture of his downed opponent (or he can do this mid-combo). Each hit is worth one experience point, so if you land an 8-hit combo and then take a picture (which also counts as a hit), you get 9 experience points. Each new level allows Frank to use different jury-rigged weapons that cause more damage, ground bounce or even attack with enhanced range. Players can also unlock new moves upon leveling up. Even at Level 1 (out of 5), Frank's a decent fighter, but it requires a lot of combos to reach that final level.

Phoenix Wright is probably the character that been generating the most buzz. Alternating between two stances, one for gathering evidence and one for presenting evidence, as well as delivering Phoenix Wright's trademark "Objection!", Phoenix Wright is a difficult character to use, but really satisfying to play with once the player gets used to him. As Phoenix, players collect evidence in the Investigation stance, which gets filed into an onscreen slot. "Good," evidence is highlighted and can be used offensively as projectiles in the Courtroom stance. Collect 3 pieces of evidence, nail the opponent with the aforementioned "Objection!" and Phoenix enters Turnabout Mode. In this mode, Phoenix can attack with powered up normal moves and has access to a staggering Level 3 Hyper Combo that does almost twice as much damage as the other Level 3 Hyper Combos. If players tag out while Phoenix is still locked in Turnabout Mode, he becomes an undamage-able assist character, which is useful since one of his assists involving him moving in a straight line, effectively keeping the opponent from getting to you.

But what about the Marvel characters?



The new Marvel characters: I've focused less on playing in depth with the new Marvel characters, since only two of them felt comfortable to me, but based on the performance of friends who use them, I can see how the new Marvel characters accommodate the play-styles of others.

Iron Fist is probably my favorite new Marvel character. He's a Rekka-character whose special moves chain into each other, but he can also buff his attack, defense and hyper combo meter gain with a special move. Iron Fist also has a normal move that can put opponents into a crumpled state and it's really easy to weave into combos, extending them for a few more hits, which leads to an OTG and a Hyper Combo (or two). Iron Fist lacks both range and mobility, but with a decent assist covering him, he should have no problem traversing stages.

Nova comes with a bevy of useful moves that come in handy. He can chain together long combos using only normal moves, he comes with his own OTG that extends his combos and he has an arcing aerial projectile, plus a shield projectile that nullifies other projectiles. Versatile much? Nova also come with the ability to buff his some of his own specials and a hyper combo depending on the amount of red life he has left. I wouldn't recommend sacrificing red life for damage output and range, but that's just me.

Ghost Rider is capable of long range offense using his chain and has been described as a fast and hard hitting version of Dhalsim, an analogy that feels accurate. His jumping S covers a lot of the screen and paired with a good, horizontal ground assist, it's an easy way to keep opponents at bay and do lots of chip damage. It's also sort of cheap. Aside from the jumping S/call assist combo and fighting long range with his chain whip, Ghost Rider also has two really damaging Level 1 Hyper Combos, one of which involves him riding his trademark motorcycle into or over a standing or downed opponent.

Hawkeye is probably my least favorite out of all the new characters. He comes with a lot of arrows, but I've had a hard time chaining together longer combos with him. One good thing I can say about Hawkeye is that his main hyper combo is an omni-directional arrow that auto tracks the opponent and hits them no matter what. It's fast and can punish a lot of whiffed or blocked attacks.

Doctor Strange uses a variety of projectiles and fights similar to Dormammu with less of an emphasis on power and more of an emphasis on versatility, but plays like a zoning character like Dormammu does. Using projectiles that track the opponent, moves that lock opponents into place, and moves that alter projectile properties, Strange is quite a cerebral character. Strangely, Strange's special moves and hyper combos seem to be inversions of Dormammu's specials and hypers. For example, Dormammu requires one Hyper Combo bar to perform his Stalking Flare, Strange can perform a similar less damaging move as a special, The Eye of Agamotto. Like Nemesis, if Strange misses with his normal moves, he'll be left wide open to punishment.

Rocket Raccoon has one of the lowest hit point totals in the game (and why not, since he's a raccoon) but he's incredibly difficult to hit, due to his size (again, HE'S A RACCOON). Besides his side, he's incredibly maneuverable, he packs a tunneling maneuver that's even more versatile than the other characters teleportation moves and he has some trap moves and projectiles to keep the enemy far away. Rocky's hard to combo with, since one of his aerial normal moves involves him plowing through an opponent, disrupting the combo. However, if you take the time to master him, Rocky is a first round draft pick for craftier players.



New content: Lots of character endings have been tweaked or changed completely. Take Ryu's ending for example -- his old ending featured him squaring off against Iron Fist, but his new ending has him tapping into Iron Fist's power to use an Iron Shoryuken to decimate Akuma. Taskmaster's ending remains intact and mostly unchanged, except his infomercial doesn't feature Capcom girls cheering him on anymore but obscure Marvel characters instead, all of them beefy and/or beast-like, a little bit of fan disservice if you will.

New online mode: Tired of watching cards hump in lobbies instead of watching actual matches? Of course you are! That's why Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 lets players watch matches instead of the dreaded dancing license cards.

Sick of running into rage quitters? You are? You're in luck! Badges appear on all license cards now, each one lets you know if an opponent can be trusted to stick it out to the end of a match. There's a skull badge that lets you know your opponent is a rage-quitting dick, a silver badge to let you know your opponent might be a rage-quitting dick and a gold star badge that lets you know that your opponent is at the very least, a fair player.

Going up against the same opponent time after time in player matches? Sick of having to play opponents sight unseen? When engaging in player matches in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, players can either search for other players looking to go a few rounds, or set up the match themselves and wait for the player to find them. What's more is that they can see the gamer tag of the player they'll be facing, then decide if they want to square off. So, if you've run into that jerk you've already beat 24 - 1 and he's looking to bug you with one more match, you can exit quietly and search again.

THE BAD
Damn you, muscle memory!: There are a few old combos from Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Classic that won't work as well in Ultimate (if at all). One shining example is that it's almost impossible to chain Sentinel's Rocket Punch into his Hyper Sentinel Force. It CAN be done, but whether or not the Hyper Sentinel Force will always connect is uncertain. Even if it does connect, only the topmost Sentinels will actually hit and do very little damage. Instead, Rocket Punch into a Plasma Storm should be the go-to combo. If you're used to doing the first combo though, re-training your hands to do this new motion might be a little annoying. I haven't tried every combo with every character (I've come close though), but chances are your pet combo might not be as easy to hit anymore.

THE 411
Great new characters and improved online options easily justify the purchase of Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Some people are complaining that the new characters and stages should've been released as DLC characters, but at $5 a pop (the price for Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath), purchasing all the characters separately ALONE would've cost gamers $60. Compare that to Ultimate Marvel's modest $40 price tag, and you've got a worthy upgraded version of everyone's favorite fighting game. Too soon? Not soon enough, I say.

Graphics	8.0	Everything looks ship-shape! New stages look great and the new characters look good too, even if Frank West resembles Mel Gibson.
Gameplay	9.0	UMVC3 requires a little more precision to nail some combos, but it's still the easy-to-learn, hard-to-master game everyone loves.
Sound	9.0	Hawkeye's theme and Frank West's theme for the win.
Lasting Appeal	9.0	With enhanced online features, plus the upcoming Heroes and Heralds Mode, gamers will be playing this version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for a long time!
Fun Factor	9.0	The learning curve is a bit steeper this time around, but that won't stop anyone from enjoying Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Overall	8.8   [ Very Good ]