Trying Tatsunoko vs. Capcom at Gameplay

Thursday, the week was coming to a close, and I had finally finished the presentations that had been weighing on my mind for the past month. I head for the Sunset lounge at the USU and crack open my laptop with my friends when one of them asks if I want to come with them to Gameplay, down Spring street. Reluctantly, I tag along for their little shopping trip at a mildly-used game store near campus.

What awaited me at Gameplay was a pleasant surprise. A working Japanese copy of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom--Capcom's newest Versus series game. For the uninitiated, Capcom, the company responsible for Street Fighter, has made a long running series of games pitting their Street Fighter characters against various popular franchises. First it was X-men, then it was rival company SNK (responsible for games like King of Fighters), then the most popular characters of the Marvel franchise, and now they're duking it out with Tatsunoko. Western gamers most likely aren't familiar with Tatsunoko; but anime fans (like our own Jonathan Oyama here at the 49er) may recognize a few names, as Tatsunoko is a company responsible for many classic animes such as Tekkaman and Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.

"Remember us?"

But how was it? Let me give you a comparison. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is fast, frenetic, and hectic while Capcom vs. SNK 2 is slower but TvC is a weird mash up between the two. It is somehow fast and chaotic yet controlled and paced at the same time. There's a subtle sense of strategy and speed involved with choosing a partner and switching them out from time to time. Because you can call out your partner for an assist attack, much like MvC2, there are unique opportunities to stop your opponent's offense cold in it's tracks while your point character busts out a risky attack that has a lot of start up frames. TvC also throws in a lot of fighting options that aren't all that common in Capcom games, but are in Arc System Works (who made Guilty Gear and my current favorite, Blazblue). The fighting system moves away from common Capcom conventions and closer to Arc System mechanics, such as canceling attack animations, counter attacks, and breaking out of your opponent's attack mid-combo.

It's just a shame this game is a Wii-only affair. Apparently, the tournament scene never got a good start, due to the reputation the Wii has for the games it caters to (mostly little kids and old people). It's only an image that has built up, but it's enough to keep the competitive scene on TvC from blossoming. Hopefully, when the American version comes out we can start a good competitive community alive with it. With characters like Karas, Viewtiful Joe, Ryu, Morrigan, and Ken the Eagle, a game of this caliber deserves to be recognized.