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Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
Friday, January 29, 2010
I'm actually kinda surprised they're still making Capcom vs. fighting games; I remember in middle school when we could bring in games to play once in a while on club days, all the anime kids would play Marvel vs. Capcom. I was busy with my tech deck.
Reviewed by
Forrest Boyd
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii)
Granted, I knew them as those guys that made Speed Racer and Samurai Pizza Cats. Unfortunately, neither series makes an appearance in the game. Instead, we got a bunch of superheroes (and villains) that remind us of old-school DC. The "Science Ninja" group, a few lone warriors, a boyfriend-girlfriend double team, and even a couple of the team's villains. Nobody really knew who they were, and even I only knew so many of them...but rest assured, this game's a kept promise on Capcom's end of the field.
Gameplay is very reminiscent of other Vs. Capcom titles. 2-on-2 team battles, complete with assists, tags and Hyper Combos are in, as well as multiple specials that make use of a special bar on the screen. Each character has three super special moves; two that use only one of a max of 5 special bars, and a stronger, more situational special that takes up a whopping three. You can chain up to 3 specials together to make a Hyper Combo (Character 1 special, Character 2 special, Character 1 special), as well.
The roster is a strong point. The game is, thankfully, -not- flooded with Street Fighter characters for the Capcom side. Only Ryu, Chun-Li and Alex make appearances. Joining them are Megaman Volnutt, Roll, Batsu (from a relatively unknown title, Rival Schools), Morrigan, Viewtiful Joe, even Lost Planet's own PTX-40A (which I will talk about here in a bit), as well as a few others including Zero and Frank West, both hidden from the start. Tatsunoko's side features Science Ninja heroes Ken, Joe and Jun (Joe being an unlock), as well as Ippatsuman, Tekkaman, Yatterman-1 (and his girlfriend and partner Yatterman-2 as an unlock), along with other characters you've probably never heard of.
One bit to add about the tag teams is that there are two characters that make for exceptions. You can choose to pick either Lost Planet's PTX-40A mech, or Gold Lightan from the Tatsunoko universe, as one-character teams. They're giant characters, with hefty health bars, and the ability to not be locked into combos of any kind (though they're suspectible to tripping over and getting stunned if hit enough). They serve as arcade mode mini-bosses, as well.
The control schemes are even more varied than in other Wii games such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl that offer multiple ways of playing. The Wii Remote alone is a heavily simplified control scheme for the more casual gamers who don't much care to get into the real details (if this is you, don't worry about having trouble unlocking characters; turn on the easiest settings, Arcade is a breeze in comparison to past Vs Capcom titles). The Wii Remote + Nunchuk configuration adds a little more customization to what moves you throw out, and the game ultimately comes out in full with the Gamecube Controller, though the Classic Controller makes for a reasonable alternative. Of course, if you're willing to spring for that $80 Wii Fight Stick, that's the way to go for the truly dedicated. Wouldn't recommend that, though, seeing as how the Wii has very few other fighters to choose from.
This game is also one of the increasingly numerous titles on the Wii that sports online play. Naturally, it utilizes a Friend Code system, but it also lets you register Rivals that you've played before, that you may want to play again in the future. It uses a ranking system similar to that of Mario Kart Wii that uses a point system to determine skill similarities in players, as well as an icon displaying what kind of player a person is. A fire icon appears for offensive players that use heavy-hitting moves and specials, an ice icon appears for block-and-counter defensive fighters, and a lightning icon appears for people that specialize more in chaining high-number combos. You can also set up an icon, similar to Street Fighter IV.
Overall, this game is the definitive fighting game on the Wii for both casual gamers and more advanced fighter fans alike. Though not quite as hectic as Guilty Gear or other high-speed 2D fighters, Tatsunoko vs Capcom offers just enough pace to its already combo-based fighting formula the Vs Capcom series is known for to make it a definite buy for any fighter fan on the Wii.
5 comments:
January 29, 2010 9:35 AM
Maybe this'll inspire people to branch out and actually look at things that -aren't- made in a Western market.
Then again, pretty much everyone I've seen playing the game is all "RYU X (other common Capcom character) OTP" so maybe I'm just an avid fan of Tatsunoko.
I love my Yatterman-1 and Roll. Kendama + Broom ftw~
January 29, 2010 9:35 PM
I hope so. I personally love branching out into the unknown of video games, though at this point, there is so little "unknown" to me.
My main team is Zero and Frank West, though Morrigan, Batsu, Joe and the Yatterman duo all see a lot of play from me. For some reason, I can't get into the feel for quite a few of the Tatsunoko characters. Probably the main reason I didn't give it a 7. That and no Dante. T_T
January 29, 2010 9:59 PM
I only play as Frank West for the special Zombie move. It's awesome.
Excellent review, by the way. I hope this doesn't flop like most other 3rd party Wii games.
January 29, 2010 11:06 PM
Frank West. He's covered wars, you know.
January 31, 2010 2:11 PM
I should probably note that the Science Ninja team is also called Gatchaman, or in full, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. I should have noted this, since a lot of promotional screens and videos refer to Ken, Joe and Jun as "Gatchaman", and that might confuse people...so yeah.
Frank West's Servbot Helmet special alone is worth the game's full cost, in my honest opinion.