Capcom is no stranger to the fighting game genre, and with their latest Nintendo Wii exclusive, they are at it again! Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars in truly an unlikely and awkward mix up of characters for a fighting game, but Capcom likes to be out of the ordinary. Putting famous Capcom characters against characters from the Japanese animation company Tatsunoko.
Will this awkward match up turn out to be an amazing add-on to the VS series? Or will it simply disappear without being noticed? Let’s take a look at the HOTs and NOTs!
HOT
Characters
Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars has a large variety of characters. The characters from the Capcom universe are expansive, which is a nice change of pace. Normally in a fighting game like this, the majority of characters would be from other famous fighting series such as Street Fighter and Dark Stalkers. However, here we get a large variety from other games. Zero from Mega Man X, Soki from Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, even Frank West from Dead Rising! There is even more variety than that! It is nice to see that Capcom has taken other heroes from many different series to be introduced to the VS series. On the Tatsunoko side, many may be confused. Tatsunoko is a Japanese animation company that has been around since the late 1960’s. The characters range from many of the different television programs such as Yatterman and Gatchaman. Even though many of you may not know these characters, you will soon come to love them! Their fighting styles and special attacks rival that of any other fighting game, and you will have a blast playing as them. Remember, change can be a good thing, so don’t be afraid to try out every character!
Presentation
Let’s just get this out in the open, this game looks gorgeous. The character models are well polished and can easily rival their counterparts from previous games. The new 2D/3D look also helps its cause, giving the characters more depth and a more fluid look. The background environments can sometimes look a tad bland, but if you actually pay attention to them, you will be impressed at what you see! For instance, you will be playing in a food court stage, only to notice that zombies will start walking in and filling in the background. The fact that Capcom included movement in the backyard only helps add to the presentation of the game. The soundtrack is also very upbeat which is nice for a fighter. The audio track is solid as well, using both Japanese and English audio.
Awesome Attacks
As with many of Capcoms fighting games, every character has their own set of super attacks. These can range from large combos, powerful energy beams, all the way to awesome power ups. Every character has their own unique abilities and can be used to counter almost anyone’s play style. Each character has three distinctive attacks. Two of which are super attacks that will take up one energy level, and one ultimate attack that will take up three energy bars. Needless to say the ultimate attacks are the flashiest. Every one of the attacks has their own style, and you will find yourself using the attacks over and over again just to appreciate the fluid animation and awesomeness of the moves.
Online Mode
One thing that the Wii has been known for is neglecting the Wi-Fi capability of the system, especially in fighters. This is probably one of the best online fighting games you will ever play. There is little to no lag in gameplay, and it is easy enough to find an opponent. While playing it is something to note that there is some slight delay in response time from time to time. Nothing that seriously affects gameplay, but serious fighting game veterans will certain is aware of this issue when it does in fact happen.
Endings
I am always a fan of fighting games, and even more so unlocking all the characters endings after beating arcade mode. Tatsunoko VS Capcom is no stranger to this idea. Every time you finish the arcade mode, the character that lands the final blow on the last boss will get their ending artwork unlocked. All of the endings are very delightful in their own ways, and many of them make the character appear in an alternate world. Anyone who is a fan of any of the characters will have great fun with unlocking the endings. It will take you an ample amount of time to unlock all of them, which is great to adding in single player game time.
Simple
The game is extremely simple to play. There are only three attacks buttons which makes it very easier for veterans and new comers alike to join in the fun. Many may think that this will make the game lack depth and combos, but that is where you will be wrong. The game is simple enough for a new comer to get the hang of, but has enough depth to keep even the most seasoned fighting game enthusiasts impressed. From combining super attacks into combos, air combos, all the way to team up attacks will keep you occupied for a long while.
Use any controller
Just like most of the Wii fighting games, the Wii remote and nunchuck certainly is not the way to go with this game. You can choose to use this set up, just the Wii remote, a classic controller, or a Gamecube controller. The Gamecube controller is by far the best choice for fighting game fans, but new comers may want to stick with the Wii remote simply because that is the simplest control scheme to use attacks.
NOT
Button Masher
This game has a lot of combos to master, but it can simply boil down to a button masher. There will be players who will be extremely skilled, but can easily be toppled by a common button masher. Stringing random combos together with super moves will come simply to almost anyone who mashes away at buttons. This may turn many people off to the game, but keep in mind you don’t always have to button mash!
Japanese Endings Gone
Yes, as I said the endings of this game are very cool, however, the Japanese endings were much better. It seems that Capcom took the easy way out and instead of translating the original, fully animated endings, they created the panel endings. This isn’t a horrible thing, but of course the original animated endings just had a lot more character to them, and it would’ve been nice if they at least subbed the endings as bonus content.
Balancing Issues
This game is not as unbalanced as Marvel VS Capcom, but there are still of course some issues. Most people who play online will simply pick the two giant characters (Gold Lightan and PTX-40A) that can defeat almost any player combination with random attacks. Again, this is not a terrible thing, but many players will simply take advantage of this in order to boost their rank. Keep in mind though, any character can be beat, just keep trying!
VERDICT
To put it simply, Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is an incredible game. The character models are fluid, the attacks are amazing, the online play is great, and a fighter can’t get much better than this. It of course is not perfect, but any fighting game fan will be highly pleased with the game, as it makes a great addition to any fighting game collection. Even new comers will love that they can jump right in and pull off dazzling moves right from the get go. If you want to play one of the best fighters around, go out and pick this game up. Capcom has done it again and of course shows they can make some of the best fighters around.
