There are plenty of reasons to really dig Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 over its predecessor. The shaded art style, the tightened character balance as a result of the more selective roster, the promise that it'll be a blend of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
My number one reason to not look back on MvC2 is the music.
When Capcom revealed Arthur and Nathan Spencer as their newest representatives to the Capcom side, I realized some of Capcom's most memorable and classic themes will finally be getting revived.
Take for example the original Viewtiful Joe and his main theme, Joe the Hero. It was a good song, don't get me wrong, but it never made me want to get up and pump my fist. In his reveal trailer though, Joe's song is getting updated with all sorts of additional beats and melodies playing alongside the original beat. There's a lot more energy in Joe the Hero that makes it a great song to play when Joe comes out to fight in MvC3.
While Joe the Hero is being imbued with new life in MvC3, Nathan Spencer's appearance from Bionic Commando makes me really turn around and think, “Has Bionic Commando always had cool music like this?”
I never played the original Bionic Commando. My first game of the series was Rearmed. The good points about its main theme seemed buried under all sorts of techno additions and extra notes. And I admit I never took a risk on playing the modern reboot from 2009. But when Nathan Spencer came swinging in for MvC3, I wasn't just surprised at Nathan's inclusion but also at the music playing behind him. Had it always sounded this epic? The new theme in MvC3 sounds like the ultimate super soldier theme, playing with a sort of patriotic reverence and there's an almost James Bond-like quality to it. Sure enough, exploring the previous versions of Bionic Commando's main theme I can still hear this strange sense of an epic, duty bound soldier.
There's game music that I felt could use improvement and music that gets improved in such a way that makes me feel like I've been missing out on their games. Even if I still have no preference for the character’s music, MvC3 is still a gateway that helps introduce new players to that character's source game and their music. Case in point, Amaterasu.
Amaterasu’s theme in her trailer didn't wow me too much. Even after exploring her theme on YouTube, she still hadn't hooked me. Then another song caught my eye on the related videos: True Susanoo.
Honestly, I don't think I'll ever hear a grander sounding Japanese flute. I can picture the flute player just standing at the cliff of a huge, majestic valley, with all those picturesque, foliage-covered mountains that were popular in Dragonball Z. The trees seemed to whisper in the wind and the occasional wildlife would stand up to survey their surroundings. I feel like I'm standing in the majesty of nature just from listening to it.
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is more than just a fighting game that brings a bunch of random, mismatched dream fights together. It's a trophy of what we loved in our past as geeks. These were the characters from the comics we read and from the games we loved. This is the music we'll forever remember them by, long after we've forgotten the muscle memory of the controller in our hands while playing them. People who know nothing about games or hate games can watch us playing Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and hear the music and ask, “What's the name of that sound? Why is it so catchy? I need to youtube it.”
This, my friends, is not just a big game. It’s a way to understand our history, visually and audibly.
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