X-Men Vs. Street Fighter 2 [New Marvel Versus Capcom Game Roster Speculation]

(This is the height of fanboy-ism, I know.)

So, Capcom has said that the response to the North American release of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom could merit the production of a new Versus game. I personally would love to see another Marvel crossover, but in lieu of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, I think an X-Men Vs. Street Fighter 2 would be a nice intermediary step. Sticking to only SF and X-Men properties obviously discludes a lot of favorites, but I think it would be wise to focus on a smaller roster while bringing tag battles up to date.

Marvel Vs. Capcom (1) had an interesting implementation to consolidate the roster. Ken and Akuma weren't included, but Ryu could spend a super bar to change his style (and palette) to something akin to his shoto-clones. I'd really like to see all three in a new crossover game, as differentiated as possible.

Another interesting quirk of X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (1) was that the characters from each side were generally paired up based on similarities. Ryu and Cyclops, Magneto and Dictator, Zangief and Juggernaut, etc. So, I says to myself, I says, "Self, if I were to pick a trilogism of X-Men to align against Ryu, Ken, and Akuma, who would I pick?

The Summers Brothers, natch. Cyclops is a match for Ryu's familiar stoic template, Havok shares the brash, reckless traits of Ken Masters, and Vulcan brings the same dark, mysterious elements to the table as Akuma. This would entail completely new designs for Havok and Vulcan, as they have never appeared in a Capcom fighter, which is a lot of work, but something I think would payout huge dividends with fans and fanboys alike.



That's a good start for a roster, but to expand on this...

Magneto		Dictator
Juggernaut		Zangief
Storm		Chun-Li
Psylocke		Cammy

These eight all have a history in the Crossover games, so they're a pretty solid way to flesh out the sides. And with the exception of Chun-li/Storm, it's in keeping with established pairings. Obviously the Marvel characters would need to be completely modeled, and animated, but their earlier incarnations should provide a framework for revision.

Gambit		C.Viper
Spiral		Dhalsim
Wolverine		Rufus
Sentinel		Sagat
Cable		Charlie

This next batch provides some fun pairings, and would include Rufus and C.Viper in a VS. series installment for the first time. Of the new SFIV characters, I find Ruf and Viper to be the best fit for the high-flying frenetic style of the crossovers. El Fuerte definitely has an exciting fighting stlye, but his reliance on wakeup mixups would not translate too well, I don't think. It would also mark Sagat's first outing against the Marvel universe, which would necessitate some retooling, especially if he is Sentinel's counterpart. Cable (along with Magneto, Storm, and Sentinel) is included due to his popularity and superiority in MvC2 and I've paired him with Charlie just for the hell of it.

Deadpool		Ibuki
Jubilee		Sakura
Polaris		Juri

And then here are some fun characters that aren't exactly necessary for a full game, but would always make great secret or DLC additions. Deadpool is included, of course, due to his immense popularity, and he's across from Ibuki, the best match for him in the SF world. And just as Deadpool rides in on Cable's coattails, Polaris does likewise slipping in with Havok, though I thought her and Juri shared some interesting elements. Jubilee and Sakura aren't characters I'd like to see per se, but they make for a natural pairing.

So yeah, a ton of glaring ommissions, I know. If you need Rogue in there for some reason, swap out Polaris. (It'd be less work that way anyways.) Sabretooth likewise didn't make it, though if you could part with Juggernaut or Sentinel, he makes for another big Marvel character. (Oddly, Sabretooth was paired with Dhalsim in XMvsSF, but for teleportory reasons, I feel Spiral is stronger.) If I felt the urge to include Omega Red, I'd probably make the case that Birdie (with his Murderer's Chain standing in for Red's Carbonadium Coils) should also be included.

And yes, again, this is just rampant fanboy speculation, and I haven't seen data yet on how fast Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is moving. It may be a moot point, but I know I'm not the only one with a jonesing for a modern Marvel crossover.

Go for Baroque [Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Impressions]

I reckon I owe KB more than that last text post...

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is (1) a blast, (2) the first VS. Series game in seven years, (3) chock full of fun, colorful characters, and (4) only the third respectable fighting game for the Wii.

Wtf is a Tatsunoko? Learn to Google. (Though, please, do not confuse with Tsuchinoko, the reptillian cryptid and crown jewel of Snake Eater zoological die hards.) Anyways, now you know Tatsunoko is a Japanese animation studio responsible for many of the nation's iconic characters like Speed Racer, Samurai Pizza Cats, and Gatchaman. They reached a deal with Capcom for a VS fighting game intended only for the domestic market, but the huge North American fanbase eventually tempted Tatsunoko and Capcom, and after a ridonk number of licensing issues were resolved, it has been localized for these United States, and is available on an extremely prolific console.

Besides Smash Brawl, the only other significant source of fighting action on the Wii is Guilty Gear XX ^Core (and GGXX^C+, but who's counting?). I've bought my share of Guilty Gear releases, and it's not for everyone. Even with the foreign characters, I think people will be immediately more inclined to delve into Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

Controls are somewhat of a challenge, though not a dealbreaker. I did not (for once) go out and buy the associated fight stick. I'm sticking it out with the Gamecube controller; the only problem being the joystick and directional pad being woefully inadequate for some of the more technical inputs, like dashes (especially instant air dashes). I've resolved this to some degree by assigning L+M+H to the right trigger simplifying the use of Advancing Guards and Air Dashes. I've got left trigger assigned as L+M+H+P allowing quick use of the Mega Crash (think Guilty Gear's Burst).

The choice of a 2v2 format (instead of MvC2's 3v3) is a better fit for the size of the roster (a respectable 26) and a good place to start for anyone not intimately familiar with tag team fighters. However, if you do know MvC2, you should be able to dive in head first. All you need to pick up are the Baroque cancel, the Variable Aerial Rave, and Mega Crash, and you're up to speed.

So far I've been sticking mostly with Capcom characters, especially Zero and Alex. Jun the Swan, Tekkaman Blade, and Yatterman No.1 have all stood out to me as highlights from Tatsunoko side.

I've unlocked all characters as of Yatterman No.2 last night, and I'll be spending more time in Training and Online before I make another formal post about the merit of this title. But if you ever have or think you may ever pull of an Air Rave, than this is probably a safe buy for you. I know a lot of you out there have Wiis, so seriously consider picking of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom if you have the feeling for the flavor of a fighter. (Oh, and hey, buy it through Killa Blog!)

And I think I heard Shwa got this bad boy... I'll have to hit him up.

Fightathon Generation Results [For Real This Time]

For all six events, first place was awarded two points and second place one point. This, of course, means Lego won with 11 points, and I landed second with 5. As such the secret tiebreaker game was not needed, but we played a few rounds of Virtua Fighter 5 anyways.

The character switch rule was in effect, so that one could not pick the same character during any contest. SFIV and SFA3 were best two of three matches each best of three rounds. SCIV and Tekken 6 were played best two of three matches each best of five rounds. MvC2 was best two of three rounds 3v3.

For Smash, two free-for-all time limit matches were played on random stages, one six minutes and one four minutes. At the end of each, the lowest score was dropped. The final was played as best two out of three four minute matches on Final Destination. As indicated, Lego's Olimar won in Sudden Death against my Snake to end the Smash final.

The [?] before Shwa's Sagat in SFIV indicates that it was randomly selected. For MvC2, I also differentiated between Lego's and Rah's Wolverine (Adamantium and bone claws respectively). Bold and underlined text indicates victory in most instances, and the italicized A in the Alpha character selection indicates A-ism (though only A-ism was selected.)

Street Fighter IV [PS3]
Semifinal 1		KIL	LGO
	Rufus	0	2	Sagat
	Zangief	1	2	Ryu
Semifinal 2		SHW	RAH
	Ken	2	1	Ken
	Fei Long	2	0	Sakura
Final		SHW	LGO
	Ryu	0	2	Sagat
	[?]Sagat	0	2	Ryu

Street Fighter Alpha 3 [MAME]
Semifinal 1		KIL	RAH
	Charlie A	2	0	Ken A
	Birdie A	2	0	Claw A
Semifinal 2		LGO	SHW
	Chun-li A	2	0	Ryu A
	Ryu A	2	0	Dictator A
Final		KIL	LGO
	Birdie A	1	2	Ryu A
	Charlie A	1	2	Chun-Li A

Tekken 6 [PS3]
Semifinal 1		RAH	SHW
	Christie	3	1	Lei
	Eddy	3	2	Hwoarang
Semifinal 2		LGO	KIL
	Bob	3	0	Dragunov
	Baek	3	2	Alisa
Final		LGO	RAH
	Bob	3	1	Christie
	Ganry	0	3	Eddy
	Baek	3	1	Nina

Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Wii]

		KIL	SHW	LGO	RAH
6min		Zelda +3	Luigi -3	Lucas +4	Pikachu -5
4min		Wolf +3	Meta -3	Ike 0	---
Final		KIL		LGO
		Dedede -1		DK +1
		Snake 0		Olimar 0	*SuddenDeath*

Soul Calibur IV [PS3]
Semifinal 1		SHW	KIL
	Kilik	1	3	Cervantes
	Mitsurugi	1	3	Cassandra
Semifinal 2		RAH	LGO
	Seong Mina	0	3	Astaroth
	Hilde	0	3	Maxi
Final		KIL	LGO
	Cassandra	2	3	Astaroth
	Cervantes	3	0	Maxi
	Xianghua	1	3	Kilik

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 [PS2]

Semi 1		SHW	KIL
		Ryu/Hulk/Ken	Spiral/Sentinel/Ken
		Akuma/Jugg/Shuma	Charlie/Venom/Jugg
Semi 2		LGO	RAH
	Adamantium	Wolvie/Akuma/America	Rogue/Iceman/Wolvie	Bone
		Ryu/Cable/Venom	Psy/Akuma/Blackheart
		Iron/Gambit/Col	Storm/Strider/Magneto
Final		LGO	KIL
		Colossus/Venom/Ryu	Spiral/Sentinel/Cammy
		Iceman/Cable/Cyclops	Cable/Akuma/Charlie

Overall, a disappointing but successful tournament. I had been pretty hot lately, but as usual Lego brought it on game day. Tekken and SCIV's results were unexepected. I really would have liked to have won SFIV, but c'est la vie.

I feel this format didn't really try to assess merit after first place, though. Without a loser's bracket or a round robin style, there is really no determination of who is second best.

I'm looking ahead to the end of January and the release of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. Don't really know the direction to take, but I'm thinking about it. Perhaps fewer events with a more comprehensive format. Right now I've got TvC, Tekken 6, Super Turbo, and Smash in mind.

Oh, and my New Year's Resolution?

To get revenge on Legoman.

Fightathon Generation [Fighting Game Tournament]

The next big fightathon is on for tomorrow! AKA the Tekken 6 release tournament, we've had to put this off for a number of reasons, not the least of which was bringing the MAME cabinet back online for Street Fighter Alpha 3. Anyways, we can see clearly now; there are no obstacles in our way.

Lego, Shwa, Rah and I will partake in a vicious sextathlon (sounds dirtier than it is). Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6, Soul Calibur IV, Smash Bros. Brawl, and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 are on the agenda, with a secret tiebreak seventh game held back in case of a tie. Overall it is agreed this is a more well rounded tournament than the original two man challenge or the three man endeavor last time.

Looking forward to anyone dethroning Lego, who has been pretty cocky around Jcasa since the last tournament. (Yes, for the last four months...) I reckon it's gonna have to be me. Place your bets. Results to follow.

Oh, and due to popular demand, we will not be live blogging the event!

Nonathlon

Following Lego's absurdly provocative text message:

Lego: "I want to battle you in a 2 out o 3 match of every fighting game we have in da house."

Oh shit, it was on.

Street Fighter IV - KIL (2-1)
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix - LGO (2-1)
Tekken 5: Dark Ressurrection - KIL (2-0)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - LGO (2-1)
Guilty Gear XX ^Core - KIL (2-0)
Street Fighter III: Third Strike - LGO (2-0)
Soul Calibur IV - LGO (2-0)
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 - KIL (2-0)

And the tie breaker...

Street Fighter Alpha 3 - LGO (2-0)

Damn... You shoulda seen the third Smash match. My Zelda versus his DK, and the random stage was Shadow Moses. Can't believe I let that one get away...

Next time, motherfucker. Next time.

The Spice of Life, Yo

Managed Saturday to get in a few rounds each of MvC2, SFA3, Rival Schools, KOF2K, and SSBB. Of note, the Ryu vs. Charlie match is getting pretty heated; I'm having more luck with V-ism, mostly by using the activation invincibility frame.

Commercial Crossover Equity Crisis

Now there really is a financial crisis with which to be concerned.

Apparently the ESRB has rated Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 for release on XBLA and PSN. This forces one to wonder, what will happen to the value of my PS2 version? A quick check on eBay shows the game valued around $90 USD, though a year or two ago it was not uncommon to see a mint copy for $150. Could the general decline in the fighting genre be to blame?

Oddly enough the Dreamcast version (the only arcade perfect port) is running closer to its original price, in the neighborhood of $50. Perhaps the scarcity of the hardware has impacted the popularity of the superior version... Hmm...

Anyways, should I try to sell my copy of MvC2 now? Poll to the right.