Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is the fourth game in Capcom's beloved Vs. series, which pits Capcom characters against Marvel comic book heroes and villains in a luscious 2D fighting environment. With beautiful 3D backgrounds and effects so flashy they could probably cause seizures, it's probably the second best looking 2D fighter in existence (behind the gorgeous Guilty Gear X).

The character list in MvC2 is the most expansive in any 2D fighter, with a mind-blowing 56 characters. Every character from the previous Vs. games is represented here, plus a number of new faces, such as Resident Evil's Jill Valentine and Kobun, a little jellybean-lookin' fella from God knows where. Unlike some previous 2D fighters, in which characters were just carbon-copies of one another (e.g., Ken and Ryu in the original Street Fighter 2), each character in MvC2 is fairly unique, sporting his or her own strengths and weaknesses. There are characters for all tastes: Cable for the scrubs, Dan for the jokers, Ryu for the traditionalists, and Gambit for us pimpin' fools who enjoy playing with style. Furthermore, each character varies in how he or she is used in a match based on the "assist mode" you select for them at the character selection screen. Each character has three modes: alpha, beta, and gamma. When called for during a match, characters will come on-screen and do either a normal move or special move, depending on what mode you chose for them. (For instance, Ken can do a hadoken, a dragon punch, or a hurricane kick, corresponding to alpha, beta, and gamma.) This can lead to immensely sophisticated strategies dependent on teams of fighters whose assists complement each other perfectly.

From a control standpoint, MvC2 was the first game to be caught up in Capcom's short-lived flirtation with a four-button attack system. (This also appeared in CvS, but disappeared in the sequel.) While there are six buttons physically present, only four buttons are used to control the main character onscreen; the other two buttons are used to call for assists. Most moves are executed using the tried-and-true "quarter circle forward" and "quarter circle back" methods, which have existed all the way since the original Street Fighter. Unlike other 2D Capcom fighters, which occassionally through a curve-ball at the players when it comes to super moves (Ken's super dragon punch is a quarter circle forward, then an eighth circle forward, of all things), virtually all of the super moves in the game are executed using single quarter rolls while hitting two punches or two kick buttons. This makes execution much easier, and it turn takes focus away from merely getting a super off, but rather doing it at the ideal strategic moment. Also separating MvC2 from traditional Street Fighters are the "aerial raves," combos which can be done after launching your poor opponent into the air. No longer is it enough to gradually chip away at your opponent with medium kicks for the whole match; now the game is won or lost in 10-hit chains which combo into 30-hit supers. To be fair, this has been more or less true throughout the Vs. series, though one might say it is getting even more pronounced in the latest title.

Oh yeah, and this is the one Street Fighter game at which the all-powerful Japanese are inferior to the not-so-powerful Americans. Probably has something to do with the seizure thing. The present unofficial MvC2 champion is a fellow named Justin Wong, who defeated all comers at the B5 tournament held in Folsom, California in August of last year.

There are 56 characters in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 28 from Capcom games and 28 from the Marvel Uninverse

Capcom

From the street Street Fighter series

Akuma/Gouki(JP)
Cammy
Charlie
Chun-Li
Dan
Dhalsim
Guile
Ken
M. Bison/Vega(JP)
Ryu
Sakura
Zangief

Dark Stalkers/Vampire Savior(JP)

Anakaris
B.B Hood/Buletta(JP)
Felicia
Morrigan

Mega Man series

Mega Man
Roll
Servbot/Kobun(JP)
Tron Bonne

Misc.

Amingo from Buster Bros.
Hayato from Star Gladiator
Jin Saotome from Cyberbots
Jill from Resident Evil
Ruby Heart created by Capcom for this game.
Captain Commando title character from Captain Commando.
Son Son another title character.
Strider once again a title chacter.

Marvel

Characters from the X-Men series

Cable
Colossus
Cyclops
Gambit
Iceman
Juggernaut
Magneto
Marrow
Omega Red
Psylocke
Rogue
Sabretooth
Silver Samurai
Sentinel
Spiral
Storm
Wolverine with bone claws or with adamantium claws

Misc

Blackheart
Captain America
Dr. Doom
Hulk
Iron Man
Shuma-Gorath introduced in Marvel Premiere #6
Spider-Man duhh...
Venom also from Spider-Man
War Machine
Thanos

9:00 or so PM. I was just exiting the movie theater (We'd caught Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within for the nth time) with Adam when I spotted it. A Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 machine, inexplicably loaded with four credits and abandoned in the middle of a Versus match. Being the 2d Fighter-junkie I am, I glanced around to ensure no one had dibs on the game before heading over. Sure enough, the machine was good to go, with a nice 70 seconds left on the clock. I grabbed a joystick and called Adam over, giving the active character a couple of experimental punches to see what kind of speed she had.

By the time the match was up, I had been floored. I landed not a single hit on Adam, who beat me with a hideous grin affixed to his face. Shocked, I glanced down to see what kind of horrendous things he was doing to the machine's controls to beat me so handily. And then I saw it.

Adam was merely pressing all of the buttons at once, extremely quickly.

I was stunned. All of my m4d l337 5k1ll5 were rendered absolutely worthless by this one random tactic. Incensed, I punched the start button again, determined to try with a set of familiar characters.

It happened again.

Now I was disbelieving. Adam stepped back from the machine, ready to go, but I stopped him. This madness had worked at defeating a human, true. But would it succeed at beating the game itself?

It did. Match after match went by, and now I was trading places with Adam when his arm got sore. We were beaten a couple of times, using the opportunity to switch to characters more receptive to this kind of treatment (ie, those with big guns). The new characters prevailed. Fifteen minutes after we began, we had beaten the game in it's entirety doing nothing more than randomly hitting the buttons.

The ending to the game was rather disappointing, but I've tried the technique many times since at that particular arcade game, and it has never failed me. Of course, it's also a good way to get your ass kicked at the arcade, so now I have to avoid the game entirely, because I just can't concentrate on beating my opponent with skill bearing the knowledge that victory is just a few cheap button-mashes away.

A lot of my opponents think they're playing it safe when they come at me with beam-intensive characters, like Iceman or Iron Man. And they might be right. Living Howitzers like that can seriously jack me up with a single attack.

They hang out downtown at the far side of the screen, gleefully beaming flak across the entire width of the arena instantly. They typically snag me 6 times per beam, ripping through my hapless body with psychopathic indifference. Even if I defend, the attack still chips at my life bar with each hit. If I was reckless enough to fight as one of the pixies, like Psylocke, a series of well-placed lasers will do a fair amount of damage in no time whether I block or not.

It's so easy to win with Iron Man. Anybody can win that way.

But as a foolhardy braggart who is definitely reckless enough to fight with pixies, like Psylocke, I've had a lot of practice not getting hit at all. Evasive maneuvers demand more than mere reflexes. I already know you're going to lay a 3-foot high layer of flak over the ground at all times. I have to predict and intuit my way around it, and by now I've gotten pretty graceful at that.

You'll see me weave artfully up and down around your flak, Yossarian-style. I'll end up right in front of you; your jaw agape with frustration and incredulity; me so quick to bust with my modest 10-hit air combo and a taunt for good measure (I win half my battles on intimidation alone). You'll have to take my word for it, but really, it's fucking spectacular.

The flip side of my strategy is that since an isolated hit from Psylocke won't do shit, I have to chain every single hit into a vigorous combo on my opponent. It's so easy to lose if you blow even a single chance to smack that Iron bitch around a few times. He must not be allowed to fire off another fatal Proton Cannon.

Anybody can lose that way.