Wildcat’s Fifteen Favorite Wii Games

I know, I’ve been cranking these out lately. XD  But, with yet ANOTHER anniversary rolling by (Wii’s fifth year), it’s a good time to share what games I’ve enjoyed the most for the Wii.  It’s a weird little system, that it is.  There may be some shifts in it over time, as Zelda: Skyward Sword, Rayman Origins, The Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles (wish me luck on the latter two) have not joined my collection, but as of right now these are my favorites.

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Capcom)

Cheat, foul, you say – you JUST talked about RE4 for the ‘Cube!  Well, yes, but this port is the BEST version of the game, thus it’s the greatest game the Wii has, so I can’t fault the game so being that good, now, can I?

New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo)

In terms of 2D Mario adventures, this wondrous romp is second best (not much can top the glories of Super Mario 3 for me).  The game has splendid level design, so many great resurrections of Mario lore, and is a hoot to play through.  Best original game the Wii offers.

A Boy & His Blob (Majesco/Wayforward)

This may surprise you a bit, but Wayforward’s gorgeous reinvention of a dusty NES concept exceeds its source and breezes past nearly every other game the console features.  It’s lush visually, stuns aurally, and features some grand puzzling that I adored.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)

Galaxy was a great way to redeem Sunshine’s mediocre outing for the ‘Cube, putting Mario back on track with success.  However, Galaxy 2 refines and polishes Galaxy’s concepts and levels so well that it blows it out of the water (or stratosphere – a little more appropriate).  Mario came back in a big way on the Wii, and this is another solid reason why.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Ignition/Vanillaware)

Aye, color me shocked I loved Muramasa so much after the bitter sting of Odin Sphere’s disappointment.  The gameplay is smoother, more action-driven and friendlier to the player, and the world is beautiful, gripping and intense.  Easily the best pure action game on the Wii.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo/Good Feel/HAL Labs)

I haven’t dug a Kirby game this much in years, and it’s curious that it took a drastic revision of what makes Kirby platforming work to do it.  Incredible visual design combines with mellow yet engaging gameplay (that ramps up nicely along the way), melding into a fantastic gem of a platformer.  May I say the Wii made platforming awesome again?

Dead Space Extraction (EA/Visceral)

The game that launched my interest in Dead Space, Extraction is a very well designed rail shooter that, while not up to the high standards of its PS3/360 cousins, is a gripping, tense and enjoyable thrill ride to experience.

Little King’s Story (XSEED/Marvelous/CiNG/Town Factory)

This kooky strategy-action game smacks of Pikmin (combat), Ogre Battle 64 (soldier customization) and Sim City (town management) rolled into one…and it’s very good!  It has some cheap enemies that annoyed me enough to take a break, but on the whole Little King’s Story has deserved the praise it garnered.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo/HAL Labs/GameArts)

Brawl is the best in the series of chaotic…brawlers starring Nintendo’s wide array of characters, and it’s the large roster, dynamic setpieces and pure insanity that does it for me.  Some prefer the first or Melee, but Brawl’s by far my choice.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (Capcom)

Capcom made a valiant effort to revive point-and-click style adventure games with Zack & Wiki.  It’s charming as hell and is very rewarding to tinker around in, although failing at the nigh-end of a stage is a massive downer.  Still, an underrated gem.

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (Capcom)

Way before ULTIMATE Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 earned my ire, I was fairly enamored with the revival of the Vs. tag games with the Tatsunoko anime legends tangling with Capcom’s overall “less popular” lineup.  It still is a fun game, but I need some competition to truly know where I stand with it, and I have none.

Deadly Creatures (THQ/Rainbow Studios)

THQ made a gamble and let Rainbow Studios create a unique insect-driven action/platformer, which ultimately tanked and the studio lost its identity.  It’s quite a shame, as Deadly Creatures is a very well-made game that utilizes its concept quite well.  It has a confusing moment here and there (the perspective can just mess with your mind), but it deserved success.

Monster Hunter Tri (Capcom)

Tri was my first taste of Monster Hunter, and while I’m not 100% certain this type of game is my thing, it is remarkably fun tussling with all these gigantic beasts and thrilling to conquer a tough foe.  I think I’d like it more if I had a Classic Controller…

Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)

The original Galaxy is no longer in my possession (having traded it), but it’s worthy of a spot on my favorite Wii games because it was a genuinely great game.  It just got so outclassed by its sequel that I had no interest in playing it more.

Wii Sports (Nintendo)

Lastly, the launch game that started it all off.  I don’t really feel super enthused about the game, but it is entertaining (bowling in particular), and there’s nothing else for me to put here, so…

Contenders:

Um…there aren’t any, really. XD  I’ve yet to play No More Heroes or Sakura Wars, Silent Hill Shattered Memories was a MASSIVE disappointment, and I sold off We Love Golf! and Madworld.  I’m not counting Data East Arcade Classics because it’s a comp…let’s just call it like this, yes?

Wildcat’s Favorite Franchises – Capcom Vs. Fighters

Sometimes there’s a game that just seizes upon you, and you become so taken with it that you need more to satisfy some inner longing built from its excellence.  In these cases, there’s been plenty of ample sequels or prequels to fulfill that itch for me.  These are the franchises I have been following the closest over my gaming existence, the ones that I hold the highest standards to and anticipate the greatest.  They are not in any real order, because that would be agonizing to determine what I love more.  It’s hard enough with individual games – uniting them all would be a nightmare.  However, I will go into what game left the impact and which of the series I adore the most, as well as discuss each game I have (or have not, and explain why) played and its furthering impact upon my feelings.  There’s nine that I consider the finest – let’s examine my second.

Capcom Vs. Games (Capcom)

Game That Left the Impact – Marvel Vs. Capcom  (Arcade/Dreamcast)

The Game I Adore – Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (Wii)

This one is a little broader than my other choices.  Capcom merging up with another company for a fighter mash-up seems to be a formula of success, and it works especially well on me, as I have adored the majority of these crossovers.  With Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 out this week, I felt it was a good time to share why I am infatuated with these more than any other fighting franchise (outside of Street Fighter, which I will cover later).

What I’ve Tried

Marvel Crossovers

X-Men Vs. Street Fighter – A good beginning to the insanity of the Marvel/Tatsunoko branches of the Capcom Vs. tree, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter brought together some of the most popular mutants of the ’90′s (including the awesome Gambit, who I already miss from MvC3) with the latest Alpha spritework of Street Fighter’s elite (plus the introduction of Cammy’s Shadoloo look), and while it feels a bit rudimentary compared to later chapters, it’s a very solid game that deserves its praise.

Marvel Vs. Capcom – The first game I played remains special to me.  Opening up both company’s full catalogs of characters was a brilliant stroke, enabling Mega Man, Strider and Morrigan to tangle with Capt. America, Venom and the Hulk (granted, Hulk and Cap were in Marvel Vs. Street Fighter…but I digress.  Venom really was the only new Marvel face in this game beyond Onslaught).  It amped up the craziness to awe-inspiring levels with its crossover madness, giving both fighters the chance to call in their teammate and control them both in a sprite orgy later chapters have shied away from.  Despite the three-on-three matchups and a focus on visual overload of the sequels, I don’t know if they’ve quite recaptured the brazenness of the original.  That’s not a bad thing, of course…

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 – I owe a lot to MvC2.  It got me hyped up like few other games have, and also sparked the interest in writing about games.  The game itself was also significant, as it was the one that refined my Capcom fighter knowhow into something more than a scrub rookie (well, I may still be scrubby, but at least I’m a competent scrub!).  It led to some of the finest matchups I’ve engaged in fighter-wise, and despite its massive roster that had obvious tiers, I’ve always lived it up with low to mid-tier characters and have refused to assist.  Despite that, I did fairly well!  I’ll always cherish my time with MvC2, although it’s not my favorite title in the pack.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 – Returning to the Marvel series after a ten year break was probably a wise decision on Capcom’s part – it feels fresh, and with a lot of character mix-ups, that may be a major reason.  However, before I could really get into it, they announced ULTIMATE Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, which sapped any interest I would have had in continuing to learn this one, so I sold it off.  Eh.  When I get ULTIMATE (used down the road), I’ll tell you what I think of it.

SNK Crossovers

Capcom Vs. SNK - The combination of two of fighting’s greatest companies was an incredible thing back in the early 2000′s, and the first game tried to mix things up by instituting a forced tier system to its combatants, which was an unfortunately bad idea in the end. Being a much more restrained game than MvC, this felt much more like a standard Street Fighter game, but with some of SNK’s greats along for the ride…which was perfectly fine, I assure you!  Capcom did justice with their new SNK spritework, making them the star of the show (thanks to Capcom lazily reusing a lot of their Street Fighter Alpha sprites for their side, excluding Ryu, Ken, Akuma and Bison XD ).  However, the tier restrictions made the game more cumbersome than necessary, and the sequel fixed nearly every issue this game had, so I sold this off.  I will admit that I liked the backgrounds and music much more here, as they were an actual celebration of the two company’s past compared to the sequel’s.  Random cameos do not equate to actual locations from these universes.

Capcom Vs. SNK 2 – Capcom corrected all of the design errors of the original here – the tiers could be assigned to any character, or could be ignored completely.  The roster opened up for some non-Street Fighter and King of Fighters entries, and also bulged to a impressive 40+ selections of some of the best both companies had to offer (although fans could think of plenty of missed opportunities), and the gameplay systems expanded from two systems to six, giving some variety to the proceedings.  I would say that this is among my absolute favorite fighters, no question.

Tatsunoko Crossovers

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom – Not sure what exactly happened; perhaps the nine year impasse between Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom did wonders, as TvC is the most balanced fighter in the tag-based series (outside of Zero, who is really easy to dominate with here), and despite the roster being less than half the size of MvC2, it manages to feel fresher thanks to the kooky Tatsunoko cast and their very unique gameplay aspects.  Capcom mixed up their roster as well, foregoing the majority of their pre-established fighters from MvC’s cast (Ryu, Chun-Li and Morrigan are it) and throwing in some of their more eclectic heroes (Kaijin no Soki, Saki, Mega Man Volnutt, Alex, and Batsu, for starters). As of right now, I consider this one of Capcom’s finest efforts in this line of fighting history.

What Haven’t I Played?

Marvel Vs. Street Fighter – Not for lack of trying, but for lack of seeing a cabinet of it.  Although, it’s sort of an awkward transition between X-Men Vs. Street Fighter and Marvel Vs. Capcom, with some of its creative spark stripped out and a roster that barely mixed things up (only Sakura and Dan were new, and that’s a stretch).  I don’t think I’m missing much.

ULTIMATE Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 – I’m not double dipping and paying Capcom twice for the game I should have gotten the first time.  If it’s cheap and used, I’ll get it then.

SNK Vs. Capcom Chaos – SNK developed their own crossover title, but its release for the Xbox alone has made it impossible for me to try.  It’s been reviewed harshly, but I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot.

Capcom Fighting Evolution – Capcom tried to do their own mash-up with their own franchises, which failed miserably as a game thanks to its laziness and poor implementation.  I don’t think I feel compelled enough to pick this up, personally.

What Makes It One of the Best?

Insanity – Not so much for Capcom Vs. SNK, which is much more constrained, but Marvel and Tatsunoko crossovers set out to stun you with an array of chaos.  With huge combos, jaw-dropping supers and a playfield filled to the brim with effects, beams and bodies, it’s a spectacle that has rarely been topped.  And that’s part of the fun.

Rich Rosters Full of History – All three Vs. series have had great lineups to try out.  While the first Capcom Vs. SNK played it relatively safe, its sequel brought in several surprises (Eagle from SF1?  Maki from Final Fight 2?  Todo from Art of Fighting?  Hibiki from Last Blade II?), and balanced out the stellar cast nicely.  The Marvel series has had revolving lineups all the way to its latest chapter, utilizing spritework from prior games over creating new faces (up to MvC3, which, as a polygonal game, had to redo everyone :p ).  Despite the recycling, though, each game has been full of  legends and obscurities on both sides, making each game a pleasure to explore.  MvC2 tops all with 56 characters (which admittedly are not all true individual characters – two Wolverines, the nigh-identical Iron Man and War Machine, and the shoto bunch of Ryu/Ken/Dan/Akuma/Sakura [sort of, she does do some things differently]), but despite that, it’s still a lot of fun tangling with them all (shame the tiers have made that aspect a bit null, though).  Tatsunoko may have a smaller lineup than the others, it manages to feel incredibly deep and complex, and the tricks that the Tatsunoko side bring into the gameplay are pleasantly different from Marvel’s heroes and villains.  In short, I love the diversity!

Teamwork – Capcom Vs. fighters rely on team building, and piecing together fighters to form said teams is a gigantic part of the strategy.  You need comrades that work together well, and even the tag-less Capcom Vs. SNK series requires some thought to having a group that can overcome others in case one man or woman gets K.O.’ed.  I’m STILL debating my Tatsunoko team. XD

Playing with Friends – This aspect has diminished over the years as I rarely see my old fighter allies these days, but one reason Marvel Vs. Capcom 1/2 and Capcom Vs. SNK 2 mean so much to me is the memories of engaging my buddies to test out my skills and learn new ones.  Maybe I’ll get fortunate and find them online for MvC3.

Fighting at its Finest – I won’t say that the gameplay is flawless or perfect in any of these, but after getting used to either the combo craziness of the Marvel/Tatsunoko lines or the technical grace of the SNK titles, something clicks and the experience becomes fascinating.  I love these games and get so excited about sequels to them, and it’s because of both the fondness of the past and the great fun they provide me.  It’s a major reason I consider Capcom as a premiere developer and as one of my favorites of all time, and they are games I look forward to coming back to as much as looking ahead.

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom ranking glitch has been destroyed. Huzzah!

As Nester reported quite some time ago, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom had some online ranking issues.  It would reset the number of battle points the player had earned, forcing them back to square one.  Well, Capcom announced today via their blog that the issue has been resolved.  Seth Killian goes on to explain:

It was apparently a very tricky problem that took a while to isolate, but the team worked really hard together with Nintendo and fixed things on the server side, and were able to confirm that the glitch is really gone.  The team is very relieved that they were able to fix it, and apologies that it took a long time.  They send their thanks to Nintendo and everybody who worked on it.

While I know points issues don’t prevent anyone from still enjoying the game online, I’m really glad we were able to solve this.  Thanks to everyone who has supported the game, let us know about the issue, and stuck by us while we worked to solve it.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Online Ranking Glitch

If you’ve been playing Capcom’s Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars online, you might have noticed problems with your (or someone else’s) Battle Points being reset.  This is a glitch that was noticed on April 2nd, and Capcom has only recently issued a statement (in Japanese) on the matter.

Capcom’s Seth Killian was kind enough to relay a translation of the message at Capcom-Unity.  It reads as follows:

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Data Glitch  (Update)

There was a data glitch that was discovered on April  2nd, and after a thorough investigation we have confirmed that the  following data may be reset through participation in a network  battle.

・ Number of Wins (Total, Monthly, Weekly)

・ Number of Draws (Total, Monthly,  Weekly)

・ Number of Losses (Total, Monthly,  Weekly)

・ Number of Matches (Total, Monthly,  Weekly)

・ Battle Points (Total, Monthly,  Weekly)

・ Stats

We regret to inform you that, as the issue has yet to  be resolved, participation in a network battle on or after May 1st may  cause this glitch to occur, resetting the above data.   Players who have not yet experienced this glitch are also at risk to  have their data reset.

※Data not included in the list above, as well battles themselves,  will not be affected by the glitch.

We would like to deeply apologize for the  inconvenience this has caused to the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom community, as  well as for our delayed response to the matter.

We will continue to search for the cause of the problem, as well  as a solution to it.  We would greatly appreciate your continued  patience and support as we search for an adequate solution.

Seth Killian talks both MvC3 and Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom with D-Toid

Destructoid has some choice bits from an upcoming podcast interview with Capcom’s Seth Killian regarding the Vs. series.  Here’s the deal with TvC’s sales:

[Tatsunoko Vs Capcom] certainly beat the initial expectations. It didn’t set any land speed records, but it was a success. And that’s really saying something considering that we’re talking about a game that was not only never coming out, but has a title that most people can’t even pronounce.

And how about those characters in MvC3?

Yeah, I’ve played a lot of the game. Right now, there are about 30 characters (in Marvel Vs Capcom 3). I get upset because I keep hearing people say ‘Oh, so there’s 30 characters in the game?’ Well, yes, but they’re also going to keep adding characters until we’re done with the game… There are 30 characters right now. They’re not all done. They’re at various stages. Some are pretty far along, some have a long way to go.

Also, in a separate post, he pretty much confirms Frank West is in MvC3, or at least gives a damn good hint about West’s high appearance rate:

For better or for worse, (Capcom of) Japan has understood that ‘the West’ likes Frank. So maybe that’s why he’s called Frank West? I don’t know… Rightly or wrongly (Capcom of) Japan is convinced that Joe Six pack here in America love God d*mn Frank West. He will be making appearances in as many games as they can get him into.

I’m glad Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom did better than expected.  It’s an awesome game, and I’m glad Capcom wasn’t burned on it.  Perhaps we’ll see a sequel, too! ^_^  More as it comes!

Artistic Discussion: The Good and Bad of Gaming Box Art – 3/31/2010

Good – Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Wii, Capcom)

This is hands-down the best fighter cover Capcom’s ever put out.  Shinkiro is an amazing artist, and Capcom’s choice to let him make a brand new piece of art for the NA release of TvC was brilliant.  It’s epic, it features 25 of the 26 fighters (alas, Yatterman-2 continued to be MIA) on it, I already mentioned his talent, and it succeeds in capturing the eye.  If I were Capcom’s art director, I’d let Shinkiro take creative control of more of their boxes.  They’d be all the better for it.

Bad – Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon (GBA, Atlus)

My god, this is atrocious.  Gaudy colors, terrible use of the game’s character art, and an overall lack of any sort of direction doom this cover into the “RIP OUT MY EYES!” bin.  The character art itself is fine, but has been horribly used here.  Lens Flare via Photoshop, anyone?  I’m betting the Dark Dragon was doodled by an Atlus intern at the last moment, and the rippling lightning effect isn’t doing anything to improve the situation.  And what is that blue streak behind our creepy dragon?  Wings?  A patch of blue sky cutting through the gloomy red?  Nothing at all?  Who knows!  And thanks to my blowing this up extra big, I can spot a tiny winged man between the SF logo and the subtitle.  Way to sneak that one in!  He didn’t help improve things, that’s for sure.  Atlus can do solid covers, but this is certainly one of their worst.

Opinion: Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (Wii)

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (Wii)
Pub: Capcom/Dev:Capcom/Eighting
ESRB: T/Players: 1 – 2/Wi-Fi: Online Battles!

Admin Note – This is the first of several Impression updates to make them Opinions.  I’ve taken what I’ve originally wrote, expanded the content for each section, removed unnecessary bits, added in newer revelations, and generally tightened up the entire piece to be a more thorough expression of how I feel.  Hope you like it!

What Capcom has done with Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom tops all of the other Versus titles, hands down. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so giddy about a fighter of this variety.  Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 came out seven years ago, and despite its larger roster, I find myself digging this a whole lot more.  And that’s quite an accomplishment!

TvC’s roster is extremely rich with depth, and I truly feel that all the characters can hold their own in the right hands. Unlike earlier Vs. titles, where there were very obvious tiers and anyone who tried to play outside of them would be having the fight heavily stacked against them, TvC’s 26 fighters manage to all feel balanced.  For example, I REALLY suck with Saki, Mega Man Volnutt, Doronjo and Polimar, but I can see how someone can dominate a match with them.  It’s just that they clash with my personal style.  Even since my Impression piece, I’ve had trouble deciding on which two characters are my absolute favorites, because the balance is top-notch.  The developers definitely took their time and crafted these characters exquisitely.  Most importantly, they’re fun to use, even the ones I am terrible with.

Onto the roster itself – the Capcom choices are incredibly varied, easily the best overall roster they’ve thrown out in a Vs. title.  Seeing old favorites like Batsu, MMX Zero and Alex in a new game is a welcome treat, and later Capcom heroes like Viewtiful Joe, Kaijin no Soki and Frank West slide right in without a hitch.  And Tatsunoko’s cast provide a ton of new tricks, techniques and strategies compared to the Marvel heroes of old.  Expect to be playing around with them a bit to familiarize yourself to their tactics.  Another massive plus – no clones!  Every character feels unique, and not one feels like a carbon copy of another character. No Ryu/Ken/Dan/Akuma/Sakura Shoto silliness this time, or any Bone Claw Wolverines to waste roster space.  Even characters that you’d expect to have some similarities, like Yatterman-1 and Yatterman-2, feel vastly different from each other, beyond their common costumes.  Massive props to the dev team for this amazingly awesome line-up.

The stages themselves are adequate, although a few more familiar Capcom locales would have been welcome.  The Mega Man Legends stages and Dead Rising’s Williamette Mall are the only ones that are blatantly obvious to me – I’m aware that there’s a Darkstalkers and Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams stage (or two), but maybe it’s my lack of exposure to those franchises that makes them not scream out CAPCOM! to me.  The Tatsunoko side’s locales somehow seem more pronounced and noticeable.  But anyway, they are serviceable.  Low-poly models will make an appearance in many of the stages, but the on-screen action is so frantic, I doubt anyone would really notice outside of the unlockable stage viewer.

The game’s graphics excel for a Wii fighter (outside of the aforementioned BG issues).  The effects are among the most stunning and colorful in the Vs. line, and outside of a few modeling issues on a handful of characters, they animate very well and look great.  The remixed music is, in my opinion, some of the best in the franchise, but I’m not big on the music for the endings – a little more spice there would have been nice.  The controls take a little readjustment to get used to, but I think the scheme actually works better. The three button scheme makes comboing easier and harder – while you can stream hits together easier, it takes some practice to figure out the best way to link moves together to deliver heavy damage.  Tagging has been the hardest thing to wrap my head around, but I’ve mostly gotten a hold on the new command.  It’s a little hard to remember to hold back while pressing the partner button, but it’s sinking in.  Baroque combos are an interesting addition to the series, but I’ve rarely used them as of now.  I’m still learning combo strings without Baroque, and adding that component in hasn’t quite fit in with my fighting style yet.  Cross-Over Air Raids are also nice, but the timing to land your partner’s combo following yours requires settling on a dedicated team, and I haven’t gotten that quite nailed down yet.

The Ultimate All-Shooters game is a fun distraction, and I’m sure shooter fans get a greater kick out of it than I do.  I felt that the gameplay is technically solid, but I’m not all that big into this particular genre, so it does little for me, alas.

Haven’t tested the Wi-Fi battles or engaged anyone in a proper duel yet, so that aspect will have to wait a bit.

My only gripes with the game…are really minute details that relate to the shop.  I think the second opening movie with the scant change of adding in Yatterman-2 to it was a terrible rip-off of my hard-earned Zenny. XD  The extra movie was well worth it, though (it’s the original anime clip that opened Cross Generation of Heroes).  The shop also seems to price things a little high, but playing the Doronjo/Roll mini-game after beating arcade mode offers up a chance to triple your payload, so it’s worth sitting through.  Both of those songs for the credits are of awesomeness.

I’ve come away EXTREMELY impressed with TvC.  The passionate dev team, the energetic Capcom USA staffers that helped make it happen, and the fans who garnered enough attention to get the game stateside – it was well worth the effort spent.  A fantastic revival of the Vs. franchise and one of the finest fighters Capcom’s ever made await you here.

Ingrid, Phoenix and Arthur – the story behind these TvC cuts

Andriasang has a nice translation of a Dengeki interview with Ryota Niitsuma (spelled Nizuma here, which I believe to be wrong :p ) and two Eighting dev members about some of the cuts made to TvC:UAS.  In regards to the characters, Ingrid was the first test model for Capcom’s side, it would appear, but she was removed later on.  Phoenix had more than his OBJECTION! translation causing headaches for the dev team – they weren’t sure how to animate his legs, so they considered attaching Phoenix’s desk to his character (with wheels! XD ) for a bit before abandoning him.  And Arthur, the hero of Ghosts N Goblins, was also cut from the game, as well as a special GnG stage shown in the TvC secret file.  However, they say that they would consider resurrecting Ingrid and Phoenix for a sequel (and hopefully Arthur, too!).  Beyond that, there’s some info on the reduction of minigames (localization nightmares, basically) and Ultimate All Shooters.  Interesting stuff.

Remember that TvC Secret File? Here it is yet again, but BETTER!

Destructoid has the full scoop on the Secret File page Capcom teased us with a while back.  Phoenix Wright and Ingrid were indeed the Capcom fighters on the bottom right corner, but a closer look shows that a Ghosts N Goblins stage was in the works.  Looked pretty cool, too.  *sigh*

However, there’s more!  Two characters from Tatsunoko anime Rollerblade Hero, Muteking and Komugi, were also cut from the game.

There’s a chance that these fighters can be put in the game, though!  Producer Ryota Niitsuma is keen on DLC, provided that the game does well enough to warrant it.  So, if you want to potentially see these characters brawling it out, buy the game!

Impressions: Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (Wii)

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (Wii)
Pub: Capcom/Dev:Capcom/Eighting
ESRB: T/Players: 1 – 2/Wi-Fi: Online Battles!

I was probably the first person to buy Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom at my local Target Tuesday.  It was completely an accident – I asked if they had any, their shipment wasn’t in yet, and I was ready to walk off without it (I had a $40 gift card to use, after all, and I had a few other possibilities I wanted to ponder).  A few minutes later, the guy I talked to waves a copy in my face and I couldn’t resist.

So, I’ve put in about…5 – 8 hours into the thing thus far.  I’ve unlocked Frank, Zero, Joe the Condor, Tekkaman Blade and Yatterman-2, and I’m in the process of purchasing all the Gallery goodies for the characters.

But what you’re here for I’m sure is what I think about the game, not my progress or my purchasing of the game. :p  So, here goes:

What Capcom has done here tops all the other Versus titles, hands down.

The roster is extremely rich with depth, and I truly feel that all the characters can hold their own in the right hands.  I suck with Saki, Mega Man Volnutt, Doronjo and Polimar, for example, but I can see how someone can dominate with them.  They just clash with my personal style.  So far, I’ve had trouble deciding on which two characters are my favorites, because the balance of these fighters is top-notch.  The developers definitely took their time and crafted these characters exquisitely.  Most importantly, they’re fun to use.

The Capcom choices are incredibly varied, and is easily the best overall roster they’ve thrown out in a Vs. title.  Seeing old favorites like Batsu, MMX Zero and Alex in a new game is a welcome treat, and the later Capcom heroes like Viewtiful Joe, Kaijin no Soki and Frank West slide right in without a hitch.  And Tatsunoko’s cast provide a ton of new tricks, techniques and strategies compared to the Marvel heroes of old.  And each character feels unique  – no one feels like a carbon copy of another character.  Even characters you’d expect to have some similarities, like Yatterman-1 and Yatterman-2, feel vastly different from each other, beyond their common costumes.  Massive props to the dev team for this amazingly awesome line-up.

The stages themselves are adequate, although a few more familiar Capcom locales would have been welcome.  The Mega Man Legends stages and Williamette Mall are the only ones that are blatantly obvious to me – I’m aware that there’s a Darkstalkers and Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams stage (or two), but maybe it’s my lack of exposure to those titles that makes them not scream out CAPCOM!  The Tatsunoko side’s locales somehow seem more pronounced and noticable.  But anyway, they are solid enough.  Favorite has to be the Burning Wasteland – I’ve always liked stages on fire. XD

The game’s graphics excel for a Wii fighter.  The effects are among the most stunning and colorful in the Vs. line, and outside of a few modeling issues on a handful of characters, they animate very well and look great.  The remixed music is, in my opinion, some of the best in the franchise, but I’m not big on the music for the endings – a little more spice there would have been nice.  The controls take a little readjustment to get used to, but I think the scheme actually works better.  Tagging has been the hardest thing to wrap my head around, but I’ve mostly gotten a hold on the new command.  It’s a little hard to remember to hold back while pressing the partner button, but it’s sinking in.  I’ve not really grappled with the newer aspects to the gameplay engine, as I’ve been mostly focusing on which characters I want to specialize as and which ones don’t click with my style, so I can’t really comment much on Baroque, Mega Crash and the Cross-Over Air Raid techniques yet.  From what I’ve seen, they seem to be solid additions to the series, though.

Anything to nag about?  Well, beyond the things I’ve mentioned already, I think the second opening movie with the scant change of adding in Yatterman-2 to it was a rip-off of my hard-earned Zenny. XD  The extra movie was well worth it, though (it’s the original anime clip that opened Cross Generation of Heroes).  The shop also seems to price things a little high, but that may just be me.  But yeah, that’s about it, really.

So far, I’ve come away EXTREMELY impressed with TvC.  Big thanks to everyone at Capcom USA who made this gem of a fighter make its way west – know that the effort was well worth it.  I’m adoring this game, and really hope it sells well enough to see more Vs. titles come down the pipeline.