History
Capcom is credited with the creation of the modern fighting game after the introduction of Street Fighter II: The World Warrior in 1991 (surprisingly, the first Street Fighter was far different in concept). This genre became extremely popular and set the stage for the type of competition that lined up players at their local arcades.
In 1994, Capcom made it's first fighting game with Marvel characters in this format: X-Men: Children of the Atom, also referred to as COTA. The game included a roster of the X-Men (Colossus, Cyclops, Iceman, Psylocke, Storm and Wolverine) and their villains (Omega Red, Sentinel, Silver Samurai and Spiral) with Juggernaut and Magneto as the games end bosses.
This would be the beginning of the VS series, with Capcom's Akuma making an appearance in the game as a secret character.
The next year, Capcom released Marvel Super Heroes, a game with a similar concept, only this time with characters outside of the X-Men franchise. Popular heroes such as Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Psylocke, Spider-Man and Wolverine joined Marvel villains Blackheart, Juggernaut, Magneto and Shuma-Gorath against Doctor Doom and Thanos, who was in possession of the Infinity Gems. With so many Marvel characters already developed and the ever growing roster of Capcom's Street Fighter series, the time had finally come for a crossover.
Birth of the VS Series
X-Men vs Street Fighter was released in 1996, becoming the first crossover fighting game as well as introducing team combat by selecting multiple fighters. This also introduced the concept of characters working together, and teams with both universes characters were possible, further uniting the companies. The villain of the game was Apocalypse.
The sequel was released the next year with Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter. This game introduced the character assist - calling in the other member of your team to attack on screen. The game brought back Apocalypse as a sub-boss with Cyber-Akuma as the boss.
Marvel vs Capcom
Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Super-Heroes
The first Marvel vs Capcom was released in 1998. While there were a minimum of selectable characters compared to the growing rosters on both sides, many characters retured as assist only characters. Marvel vs Capcom was essentially an amalgam of previous games, continuing as a sequel to Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, although this time including characters from the entire Capcom library instead of just Street Fighter. Marvel villain Onslaught made his debut as end boss.
Marvel | Capcom |
---|
Captain America | Captain Commando |
Gambit | Chun-Li |
Hulk | Jin |
Spider-Man | Mega Man |
Venom | Morrigan |
War Machine | Ryu |
Wolverine | Strider Hiryu |
Zangief |
Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
The second Marvel vs Capcom was released in 2000 with much anticipation from fans. The game introduced the selection of three fighters instead of two as well as more hyper combos and team hypers. The game also had improved mechanics and a massive roster compared to previous games. The game's end boss is Abyss, a villain created specifically for the game.
Marvel vs Capcom 2 was a massive success and is beloved by fans. It was re-released for next generation systems in 2009, available on the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.
Marvel | Marvel | Capcom | Capcom |
---|
Blackheart | Psylocke | Akuma | Jin |
Cable | Rogue | Amingo | Ken |
Captain America | Sabretooth | Anakaris | M. Bison |
Colossus | Sentinel | B.B. Hood | Mega Man |
Cyclops | Shuma-Gorath | Cammy | Morrigan |
Doctor Doom | Silver Samurai | Captain Commando | Roll |
Gambit | Spider-Man | Charlie | Ruby Heart |
Hulk | Spiral | Chun-Li | Ryu |
Iceman | Storm | Dan | Sakura |
Iron Man | Thanos | Dhalsim | Servbot |
Juggernaut | Venom | Felicia | SonSon |
Magneto | War Machine | Guile | Strider Hiryu |
Marrow | Wolverine | Hayato | Tron Bonne |
Omega Red | Jill Valentine | Zangief |
Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
In 2011, Capcom finally released a long awaited sequel to the game, completely revamping the character graphics to 3D while still fighting in a 2D environment as with previous games. The game had an impressive roster with many new faces to the franchise. The game changed it's controls, favoring a simplified combat system as compared to all the previous games. The world devourer Galactus makes an appearance as the end boss.
Marvel | Marvel | Capcom | Capcom |
---|
Captain America | Sentinel | Akuma | Hsien-Ko |
Deadpool | She-Hulk | Amaterasu | Morrigan |
Doctor Doom | Spider-Man | Arthur | Ryu |
Dormammu | Storm | Chris Redfield | Spencer |
Hulk | Super Skrull | Chun-Li | Trish |
Iron Man | Taskmaster | C. Viper | Tron Bonne |
Magneto | Thor | Dante | Viewtiful Joe |
M.O.D.O.K. | Wolverine | Felicia | Wesker |
Phoenix | X-23 | Haggar | Zero |
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Not even a year later, Capcom released Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 at a discounted price. The game included 12 new characters, additional stages and modes, and various tweaks and fixes to the original.
Marvel | Capcom |
---|
Doctor Strange | Firebrand |
Ghost Rider | Frank West |
Hawkeye | Nemesis T-Type |
Iron Fist | Phoenix Wright |
Nova | Strider Hiryu |
Rocket Raccoon | Vergil |
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