Capcom seems to favor the first quarter of the year for its biggest releases and this 2010 is no exception with the next entry in its VS. fighting series, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. This cinderella story of game almost didn’t make it over to our shores, but the Gods that be or what have you saw fit to bring this gem stateside and I for one am grateful. Featuring a new simplified control system, odd characters, and crazy combos, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is an amazing game that fans of obscure anime or Capcom’s library of 2D fighters should definitely pick up.
Fans of Capcoms previous Vs. series fighting games should feel right at home here, but for those that haven’t heard of them, it doesn’t really matter. I wasn’t familiar with any of anime characters from publisher Tastunoko before playing this game and I fell in love with its absolute craziness. Expect to see characters wielding yo-yos and brooms, massive screen filling combos, and capes aplenty. Nothing about Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is normal, but all of it is awesome.
Returning here are the cross-over attacks, assists, air combos, and hyper combos from Marvel VS. Capcom 2. I found that I was able to pull off the same air combos with Morrigan that I had been able to perform several years ago. The tag team system from the previous Vs. games returns here as well with players choosing two characters from either side and switching them out during play with a press of a button. Gold Lightan and PTX-40A don’t apply by these rules and once you select them as your primary character, you’ll know why they don’t.
Players initially choose between 20 characters in the beginning but will be able to unlock five more by playing through the Arcade mode multiple times with characters from each side. The inclusion of some of Capcom’s more recent mascot characters was an incredible idea and should give this series more longevity if they decide to make a sequel. Playing as Zero, Mega Man Volnutt, and Viewtiful Joe are a real treat. The inclusion of Frank West from Dead Rising was by far the biggest surprise for me and he quickly became one of my favorite characters. I would have liked to have seen more characters from the Darkstalkers games, but I can hope for that in a sequel.
Get used to seeing special moves like this.
The standard modes in most fighters return here with arcade mode being the meat of the game. It runs eight stages with the final one being Yami, an Orb-like creature that is extremely easy despite being incredibly cheap. Once complete you’ll receive the ending for the primary character you chose. None of the endings show off any real story except Karas, and the rest just poke fun at the Tatsunoko and Capcom universe created by the game. For winning you also receive a currency called “Zenny” which can be used in the shop to purchase alternate colors for the characters along with artwork galleries. This is a nice reward for replaying the game several times.
Online play is incredibly easy to set up with you creating your online name, location and icon. Once complete, you have the option of a ranked battle, free battle, friend battle, or a rival battle. Ranked fights grant you battle points that increase your rank. Although the game states that ranked matches are against players of similar rank, my very first match was against a master ranked player who had already won 100 matches. Despite the “matching”, the fights I played ran without hiccups or lag. What I missed most in the online experience here was the ability to talk to my online opponent like with Xbox Live or PSN. Asking a player how they pulled off a combo or trick was something I loved with Street Fighter IV. The ability to add players to a friend roster or rival roster with a code helps, but I missed the ability to learn from my opponents by talking with them.
Highlights
Controls are a highlight of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. The six button configuration of the previous games is replaced with a light, medium, and hard attack setup. It works very well with basic combos and special moves being pulled off in a similar fashion for most of the characters. Wii mote controls are even easier with the 1 button covering the standard attacks and 2 button covering the special moves. It’s extremely easy for a noob to button mash their way to victory using the Wii mote which can make matches fairer against seasoned players. Capcom has also added classic and gamecube controller support. Most of my time playing this was spent using the Hori brand licensed Wii arcade stick and I fully recommend that one. It’s less bulky than the new Mad Catz one and runs about $30 less. Buy it here.
Instead of the 2D character art from the previous Vs. games, we are treated to cell-shaded 3D characters against 3D backgrounds. It’s incredibly stylized and Hadokens and fireballs look amazing with this newly added depth. Characters look equally awesome and with most of the classics making the transition to 3D very well. Classic characters like Ryu and Morrigan look better than their previous 2D counterparts. Frank is the only fighter that looks a little out of place among the rest of the animated roster, but it’s only minor. Levels look equally awesome with only a few bad eggs like Willamette Parkview Mall and Les Vagas looking poor compared to the rest.
The graphics and effects are amazing.
Gamers can press A once the credits start running to play another mini game with Doronjo and her boys as they ride a bike. Jump to collect all the yellow letters to unlock the message after the credits finish rolling. Once you’ve completed that you’ll unlock the “Extra Game” choice among the other main game selections. This game, called “Tatsunoko VS. Capcom Ultimate All-Shooters,” is a top-down shooter similar to Capcom’s classic games like Gun Smoke and 1942. You choose between Ryu, Ken the Eagle, PTX-40A, and Tekkaman Blade, with all of them attacking differently. I found myself returning here repeatedly in between matches as this became just about as addicting to play as the main game. Better still, It supports four-player multiplayer, alternate pathways, and some screen-filling bosses to battle at the end of the levels.
My only minor gripe with Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is some minor balance issues among the fighters. Characters like Ryu, Chun Li, and Morrigan remain unchanged from MVsC2 with the light, medium, and hard attacks producing different speed fireballs while the new characters have expanded move sets with the different attack buttons performing completely different versions of the special moves altogether. This expansion makes choosing the new fighters a higher priority. It’s also incredibly easy to crush and opponent with someone like Roll, and Viewtiful Joe, while it takes a lot of takes a lot of patience and timing to win against another good player with someone like Gold Lightan.
Overall
Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom a very fun, frantic fighter with a host of great characters. It controls perfectly and it’s easy to get into and hard to put down. Originally this title wasn’t even going to make it over to the States, but thankfully Capcom saw the potential over here and I’m hoping it pays off for them. I can’t wait for a sequel.
ComicsOnline gives Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom for Nintendo Wii 4.5 out of 5 hyper combo finishes.
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