I've always dug Capcom’s fondness
for digging up its old arcade classics and porting them to modern systems.
Games like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Dungeons & Dragons and Darkstalkers 3
are either difficult to come by or their home ports simply weren't good. With
that in mind, I still found it strange that Capcom would do a HD re-release of
Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom. Neither game is very expensive or
hard to come by. In addition, the star attraction, Marvel vs. Capcom, has a
Dreamcast port that’s nearly arcade-perfect. It was an odd cash-grab for Capcom
and the high price tag didn’t make it an appealing purchase when it came out.
However, now that every other Marvel vs. Capcom title has been delisted, I
think it’s worth diving into.
Iron Galaxy does a top notch
porting job once again. Both games are ported nearly flawlessly and if that
weren’t enough, there’s a sizable amount of customizability too. Purists will
absolutely love the ability to turn on scan-lines. There’s clearly a lot of
love put into this port. It’s not just some slapdash porting job even though
Iron Galaxy could have absolutely gotten away with it. Truthfully, the only
flaw is the game’s presentation. Bland, industrial looking borders and menus
accompanied by the same tedious songs are an unfortunate blemish on an
otherwise great port.
As
far as extras go, it’s an Iron Galaxy port. If you’ve played one, you’ve played
them all. In-game achievements, unlockable stock art and the occasional
unlockable character and endings are your rewards. There’s a lot to collect
here and getting it all will require a few run-through the Arcade Modes of both
titles. These are some cool extras but I would have loved to seen some of the
console extras like Onslaught Mega Man make an appearance in this port. It’s
not a huge loss but it’s an unfortunate omission.
The
netcode for both titles is solid. Much like the other Iron Galaxy ports, it
uses GGPO to create the illusion of lagless online play. Unfortunately, it’s doubtful
you’ll be able to find a match. It took several tries over the course of
multiple days before I finally got one match. If you’re the type who only plays
fighting games online, Origins is not for you.
Both
games on the collection are solid, if dated. Time has not exactly been kind to
these two titles as both of them have been outclassed by their successors. A completely dead online community does little to help this. Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins is a worthwhile investment for anyone who loves
Capcom fighters as these games are something special but casual fighting game
or Marvel fans would be wise to spend their money elsewhere.
Final Score: 5.75
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