Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Final Justice Review

So good, my thumbs are bleeding

Eleven Years.  Eleven Years ago I was playing Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on arcade cabinet deep within the recesses of the USF student union.  Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was largely to blame for me failing out of college that semester (that and extreme laziness).  Why on earth did they have to put that game so damn close to my stupid Urban Geography class?

Eleven years is a long time to wait for anything, especially the sequel to a video game.  Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 will forever be regarded as video game royalty, and is widely considered to be the best fighting game of all time.  So how does MVC3 stack up? Quite well.

MVC3 is quite possibly the most fun I’ve ever had playing a fighting game.  Let’s take a look at why this game is so incredibly Nerd Appropriate.

• Nerd Appropriate

Graphics and Visuals – Capcom’s MT Framework engine renders the characters in beautiful detail.  You have honestly never seen better versions of Wolverine, Morrigan, and Ryu.  While not quite as stylized at Street Fighter 4 the game definitely has its own unique vision that lends itself well to both franchises.  The characters do not seem out of place fighting one another, which is sort of important.

Voice Acting – Amazing voice talent from the best voice actors in the business.  Check this out ! X-23 voiced by Tara Strong (Raven :Teen Titans), Magneto voiced by Tom Kane (Batman: BTAS), Phoenix voiced by Jennifer  Hale (Commander Shepard: Mass Effect), Deadpool voiced by Nolan North (Drake: Uncharted) .. pretty remarkable.

Game play – It took me a while to get used to the new controls.  There are effectively only 3 attacks; light, medium and hard.  You also now have a “launch” button that can be used to … well… launch people for some easy air combos. You still get to pick a team of three characters, and can build three teams of your choice for quick and easy selection.  I for one am awaiting the Jill Valentine DLC so I can build my Chris, Jill, Wesker S.T.A.R.S dream team.

Music – Auditory bliss.  Remastered tracks from MVC2 sneak their way into MVC3 along with a bevy of solid new tunes.  The first level that really blew my mind was the first stage of Ghosts and Goblins, complete with the legendary level start music… you remember it well.

The Characters –  What a strange and interesting selection.  On the Marvel side we get all the classics from Spider Man to Hulk, along with a wide variety of little known B players.  Characters such as Taskmaster and M.O.D.O.K really mix things up.  Some obvious selections were left out in the cold.

Now for the bad news..

• Not Nerd Appropriate

The Story – There really is none.  Each character does get their own ending after defeating the end boss, but the ending is a 1980s style still frame with some 8 bit text.  Would it have killed them to just give us a few frames of animation taken from the in game assets? The real meat of the story lies in the character banter.  Jean Grey will call out to Wolverine ” I wish it weren’t you Logan” when forced to fight.  Characters recognize eachother within the arena and typically have something cool to say.  Awesome attention to detail. .. I guess that should be in the above category.

The Learning Curve – Pulling off moves and combos is a breeze.  Pulling off incredibly specific combos (such as the ones in challenge mode) are very difficult.  At least for my slow hands.

Number of Characters – MVC 2 had a staggering 56 characters, whicle MVC3 has 38 (after the March 1st DLC).  However, i’m a firm believer in quality over quantity.

March 1st DLC you say? – character costume packs are on the way, as are new characters availiable for download starting March 1st.  Are you the type that hates to fork up extra cash for content?  Well then this info probably just pissed you off.

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Final Justice – An absolute and total blast.  few games are this fun and this polished.  If you’ve ever wanted to pit some of Marvel’s most amazing heroes against Capcom’s eccentric roster of Japanese misfits, than this is the game for you.  It’s really good.  Can i go back to playing now?