Review | Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Sometimes being a gamer can get a little confusing. Holding together the strands of the Assassin’s Creed series over its many releases or going back to a half-completed Final Fantasy and trying to remember just exactly what the hell you were doing are just two of the joys gamers get to experience through the years.

But above almost all other confusing conundrums thrown at aficionados of the gaming variety are Ultra/Special/Arcade/Super editions. These weird little releases that fall exclusively into the fighting genre are the bane of the hardcore; the heroin of the completest; the same game, but better! Cheaper! And COOLER!

The number one perpetrators, guilty of crimes against gamers are Capcom. Pioneers of the Super system of repackaging games in the arcade with Super Street Fighter II, Capcom has long tweaked its titles to address balance issues, introduce new characters and generally improve on the initial release. In PC terms, Capcom loves to patch, and while patches are free in the PC world, upon console it’s another story.

So with a release that surprised virtually no one, Capcom comes back with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 which is sure to be surpassed next year with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 Ultimate Ultra Super Ultimate Edition. And it wouldn’t be so annoying if the game wasn’t so damn good.

The first release of Marvel vs Capcom 3 back in February was one of the most polished and sheer fun fighting games of the current generation and rightly earned it’s place in the classic pantheon of Capcom titles. Building upon that success, this Ultimate version adds in 12 more fighters (plus two downloadable), more stages and balances out the existing characters.

These newcomers equally represent Marvel (Iron Fist, Nova, Doc Strange, Ghost Rider, Hawkeye and Rocket Raccoon) and Capcom (Strider, Phoenix Wright, Vergil, Frank West, Firebrand and Nemesis) respectively and, aside from some odd choices (umm Frank West and Rocket Raccoon???) add unique play styles and abilities to comprehensive roster.

Alongside the new characters, the existing ones also see some subtle changes and move adjustments from the first game. These tweaks are mainly for highly level players, but some, like Wolverine’s Chun-LI style button-mashing claw attack will be welcome additions for novices and experts alike. These player-driven changes make the game even more competitive and fluid when playing online.

The online play was already one of the more compelling reasons to pick up a Capcom fighting game, but with Ultimate prepare to get your ass handed to you in all new and inventive ways. These guys are plain good. Online is what separates the men from the boys and makes a good offline player feel like a one-legged donkey.

Despite the new stages and characters, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 doesn’t really add to much more to the equation. The seemingly perfect game for a massive Mortal Kombat style Krypt of treasures to unlock, Ultimate seems to be merely content to just be an amazing fighting game but with little additional content for those that tire of three-on-three fighting.

That being said, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is still one of the best, most polished and simply fun fighting games around. Eye-popping visually and with a cast of characters that annihilates any other fighters on the market, pick it up, prepare your thumbs and get ready for the ultimate fighting game this Christmas.   [8]