Just last week, the entire world witnessed the reveal of a Marvel vs Capcom collection on the Nintendo Direct. The collection includes X-Men Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, and The Punisher. Many of these games are loved by millions of people across the globe, especially Marvel vs Capcom 2. Seeing this game be in the limelight again has caused many fans to lose their minds across the internet. But what is it about this game that caused this sort of reaction? Why is the Marvel vs Capcom collection announcement such a big deal? There’s a lot to discuss with this particular topic, so get comfortable and join us on this ride!
Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes – Why Do People Love It So Much?
Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes was first released in Japanese arcades on March 23, 2000. Capcom then released it worldwide sporadically on the Dreamcast throughout the year. This was the fourth game in the Marvel vs Capcom fighting game franchise, featuring an extensive roster of 56 characters. This was a huge selling point for players because this was the largest fighting game roster at the time. Some of your favorite Marvel and Capcom characters, such as Cable, Jill Valentine, and Hayato, could fight it out in intense matches. Of course, this meant that many new players would be trying the game out on Dreamcast, and Capcom was aware.
According to the director of MvC2, Tatsuya Nakae, the game changed from a 6-button control scheme to a 4-button control scheme, which is different from what the previous games were known for. The reasoning for this is because Nakae played the Dreamcast port of Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes and quickly realized that it was tough to play a 6-button control scheme on a controller. “That’s when I came up with the idea of leaning into controller-style input—I figured that if I could unify the play feel, then home players would have an easier time playing in arcades.”, Nakae said in an interview. This made the game easier for newcomers, allowing for a pick-up-and-play approach.
Also, an appealing part of MvC2 for a lot of people is the combat system. Marvel vs Capcom 2 is the first fighting game to introduce a 3v3 tag system where players can pick a team consisting of 3 fighters. This allowed fans to play most of their favorite characters and make them work in a team strategy. Additionally, MvC2 introduced the Delayed Hyper Combo (DHC) mechanic. This system allowed you to string together super attacks by all three characters on your team. This is such a beloved mechanic that all 3v3 and 2v2 fighting games in the future adopted it. Overall, much of the casual player base appreciated these additions to MvC2, including the competitive fighting game community.
A Driving Force for the Fighting Game Community
We can’t really talk about Marvel vs Capcom 2 without talking about the competitive fighting game community. The Marvel vs Capcom franchise has been a huge part of EVO‘s history since MvC2’s release in 2000. From 2000 to 2010, the game saw extraordinary competition, with pro player Justin Wong taking 6 EVO titles and making it to 8 Grand Finals. However, things started to shake up when an up-and-coming player at the time, IFC Yipes, eliminated him from the bracket in 2005. It was a splendid showcase of how hard work and determination can take you far.
From there, things started to get shaky for Justin Wong, as many players started improving rapidly. IFC Yipes ended up winning EVO 2007 over Justin, beating him two times in the bracket. But don’t get it twisted; Justin put up an amazing fight. In fact, his battle against IFC Yipes displayed one of the best comebacks in fighting game history.
All in all, Marvel vs Capcom 2 was a great game for spectators watching the competitive scene. You get to see engaging storylines in the fighting game community and watch your favorite characters fight against each other. Audiences were filled with so much hype watching MvC2 that it’s hard not to feel like you want to be a part of it! Unfortunately, MvC2 was removed from the EVO main game lineup in 2011 to make way for Marvel vs. Capcom 3. This was an understandable decision on EVO’s part, but 2 years later, things turned for the worse.
Another Title Lost to the Aether
For those who don’t know, MvC2 was released on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in 2009. This allowed many gamers to experience the game on the PS3 and Xbox 360 console generation. Additionally, the port included online connectivity so that players could fight against each other worldwide using rollback netcode. However, Capcom removed MvC2 from the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network stores in December 2013, four years after its release. This delisting was due to Capcom’s licensing contracts with Marvel Comics expiring. There was also an iOS version of the game that was delisted from the Apple App Store.
This wasn’t the first video game to be delisted from PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Games such as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron are some of the biggest victims of this. This is a huge problem because, after a game’s delisting, there’s no way to legally play it unless you get a physical copy. It’s worth mentioning that some games don’t even have physical copies! Thankfully, Marvel vs Capcom 2 has physical copies on Dreamcast, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. However, sellers will almost always have them at hundreds of dollars because of the demand. I mean, the PlayStation 2 version of Marvel vs Capcom 2 costs $300 on Amazon; it’s absolutely insane.
Looking back on it now, it’s been almost 11 years since Marvel vs Capcom 2‘s disappearance. Unfortunately, while Marvel vs Capcom 3 had a fantastic run throughout its lifespan, I can’t say the same about its successor, Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite. Despite having a strong competitive community, critics condemned MvCi heavily for its lackluster launch roster, horrific visuals, and boring story mode. After the game’s failure, it was hard to feel hopeful for a new Marvel vs Capcom game…….until recently.
The Important Message to Capcom About Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Coming Back
Somewhere around November 2020, famous actor Michael B. Jordan went on Instagram to say these words: “We gotta figure out how to bring back Marvel vs. Capcom 2.”. It was exciting to see someone with a bigger audience say something like this. This gave the community enough motivation to push harder for Marvel vs Capcom 2 to return. In 2021, popular fighting game content creator Maximillian Dood started a hashtag campaign called #FREEMVC2. The goal was to gather enough voices from different people worldwide so that Marvel and Capcom could come together to re-release MvC2 on modern consoles. The world no longer wanted to sit idly by as MvC2 remained delisted; something had to be done.
Eventually, the enormous online movement reached the developers of the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, Digital Eclipse. In an interview with Polygon, Digital Eclipse expressed interest in re-releasing the game after seeing Maximillian Dood and everyone else express their love for MvC2. “Max led the rally cry and all of the fans — all of us — joined in … it is remarkable to see so many passionate and positive people. With all of the toxic things that have been flying around in relation to gaming, it is a breath of fresh air to see everyone come together.”, stated Digital Eclipse. Furthermore, Arcade1Up announced a Marvel vs Capcom 2 arcade cabinet that would have online multiplayer in 2022. From this point forward, it was clear that officials were listening to the fans’ cries. Still, the job wasn’t done yet, as the goal was to make sure MvC2 returned to modern consoles.
IT’S MAHVEL BABY!
Lo and behold, history was made on June 18, 2024, as Capcom officially announced Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. That’s right, Marvel vs Capcom 2 is offically saved from delisting hell! But now that MvC2 is back, fans question the future of the franchise. If the collection reaches a vast amount of sales, could that mean Capcom and Marvel will consider working on MvC4? Are both companies working on the title already? I don’t have all the answers, but I do know one thing: Marvel is back, baby!
