Capcom has had no trouble celebrating its fighting legacy over the past few years. Street Fighter V continues to carry on a lineage of the series, with old and new faces alike; Ultra Street Fighter II has done well on the Switch, bringing back one of the company’s most iconic hits; and soon, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will be upon us, and we’re also celebrating the return of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom to boot.
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So while Capcom is on this nostalgic kick and bringing back a number of its classics in new form – like next week’s forthcoming Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 and the previously released Disney Afternoon Collection – I can’t help but wonder if maybe it’s time to really dig in to one of the company’s biggest franchises on the fighting circuit. I’m talking about Marvel vs. Capcom.
Well, really, it didn’t start that way – it started all the way back with the old-school favorite X-Men vs. Street Fighter, and eventually grew into something much bigger involving the Marvel and Capcom collective universes. And, with that, I think it’s time for a collection that celebrates this legacy front to back, starting with X-Men vs. SF and going all the way through Marvel vs. Capcom 3, since we have the Ultimate version already.
And before you say, “Fox is gonna put up a fight with the rights,” not necessarily. After all, Capcom had no trouble re-releasing Ultimate with its X-Men characters, so it could easily do the same for other games. And here’s why I believe it’s beneficial that Capcom bring out this little anthology.
Classic Games Always Seem To Do Well For Capcom
If the publishing team at Capcom has proven anything, it’s that it can take a classic and make it new again with ease. Just look at any of the company’s Resident Evil remakes, and even lesser stuff like Okami HD, which looks absolutely stunning on the PlayStation 3. Capcom’s treatment of the classics has been nothing short of great, and we’re seeing new possibilities with each new release, like Mega Man Legacy Collection 2. That could mean, somewhere down the road, the return of a Mega Man X package, similar to that of the Mega Man X Collection that came out for PlayStation 2 and GameCube a while back.
A Marvel vs. Capcom package would do the same thing, reinvigorating the idea of 2-on-2 combat while, at the same time, introducing players to games that they might have missed out on a while ago. And it could always be a fun favorite to bring along to fighting events, like the Capcom Cup and EVO. We’d certainly be down.
The Marvel vs. Capcom Series Is Enriched In History
To say that the Versus games didn’t do as well as the Street Fighter games would be a gross understatement. They struck out on their own accord with the fighting community, creating masters of the partner switch out and double team super move with ease. Bringing these games back would not only remind players of how great the games used to be, but how great they can be again – especially if Capcom brought in someone like Iron Galaxy (who’s working on Killer Instinct at the moment) to improve net coding.
We did get a quick history lesson with the games in the past, as both Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins got a release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 awhile back. And the games are still quite popular today, even if they’re not available for download. So introducing them to new hardware – the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – would really get fans into it all over again. And, with online play, again, it’s be glorious.
It’d Give X-Men Vs. Street Fighter Its Proper Due With A Home Release
Let’s be honest here – X-Men Vs. Street Fighter got completely gipped when it comes to home releases. On the one hand, there was the PlayStation version, which was kinda sloppy without the ability to swap out characters (limitations of the hardware prevented the arcade coding from being ported over to perfection). But then there was the Sega Saturn version with its 4MB card, assuring that it ran just as perfectly as the arcade version – but, sadly, it never got a U.S. release, mainly because the console was on its way out the door on our shores.
Re-releasing XMVSF as part of the Marvel vs. Capcom package would guarantee the game’s return to the spotlight – and give it the proper home release that it rightfully deserves. In fact, I’m kind of interested in hunting down an import Sega Saturn version right now. Feeling that itch…
It’d Be Quite A Worthwhile Package With The Right Pricing
So what games would we want to see in the Marvel vs. Capcom Anthology? Well, something along the lines of X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Superheroes Vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3. That’d be about right, though some of you would probably want the Capcom vs. SNK games thrown in for good measure. (Not a bad idea, even if they wouldn’t quite be a proper fit.)
Now imagine if Capcom could throw all that together for a pretty reasonable price, like around $30 or $40. That’d mean like a value of about $8 a game, and that would pretty much pay for itself in a matter of sessions.
Capcom’s proven that it could cram a great deal of value in a package before – The Disney Afternoon Collection is a steal at $20, considering two very rare NES games are included – so it could easily release this package at a killer price, and make a good deal of money for itself and for Marvel (and for Fox, if they insist on those rights).
It’d Be A Good Tie-In With Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
Finally, let’s not forget the key reason why a Marvel vs. Capcom Anthology would kill on the market right now – value with the other property that’s coming out. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a big deal to Capcom, as it’s no doubt invested a good deal of money in the Marvel license, and is trying to make its characters as close to the MCU as it can (even if it means alienating some die-hard fans that want to see some X-Men in there). Throwing Marvel vs. Capcom Anthology into the mix would be a win, getting people excited for the franchise again, while at the same time providing the return of older favorites to the series, like Venom, Wolverine, Magneto and, of course, the Mango Sentinel.
And before you say, “Wouldn’t that conflict in sales?” Not really. Die-hard fighting fans would probably pick up both games and then play them like crazy, and there’d be something to satisfy the retro fans that can’t quite get into the rhythm of Infinite just yet. It’s an easy win-win.
Keep those fingers crossed – a Marvel vs. Capcom Anthology would soooooo hit the spot.
