Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Rating: Teen
In February 2011, Capcom released the highly anticipated Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Nine months later, Capcom released Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. With new stages to fight in, 6 new characters to fight with, and new online modes, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 looks to deliver more action at a lower price. Charge up the bar for a super combo, here’s the review.
Why, Capcom? Why?
In what seems to be the standard for Capcom releases, another fighting game has been released within a year of its original version. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 doesn’t separate itself from the original Marvel vs Capcom 3 as far as gameplay and graphics are concerned. Marvel vs Capcom 3 was a great fighting game and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is the same game for all intents and purposes. It’s everything you love about the original Marvel vs Capcom 3 but with a few minor refinements.
With 12 new fighters – 6 Capcom characters and 6 Marvel characters – the initial Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 roster has expanded. Newcomers to the series include Frank West, Phoenix Wright, Doctor Strange, and Ghost Rider. All the new characters have their own styles of fighting, and Phoenix Wright surprisingly fits right into the fighting franchise.
Gameplay remains unchanged and has two different styles: normal for the veteran fighters, and simple for the newcomers. Overall, the controls are simple to learn, but it takes time to master the nuances of the game. The simple mode uses a couple of the face buttons for regular strikes, one for a special move, and the other to perform the special combo. Once a newbie learns how to use these, they should move up to the regular mode to learn more moves, and they will feel more rewarded when they learn how to use a specific team.
You will stop your evil ways! Did I say that right?
As we said before, graphics remain largely unchanged, and that’s not a bad thing. The overall look resembles something out of a comic book, and throws in the elements of a fighting game. With Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, there are a few new stages to fight in. They don’t differ much from the original Marvel vs Capcom 3 but the extra levels are an okay touch, only because environments aren’t always something you notice about a fighting game unless you’re a spectator.
Speaking of which, Capcom has listened to its audience and added a spectator mode for online play. During spectator mode, players watch a match going on while waiting for their own to start. Also added to the online mode is the Heroes and Heralds mode, which allows you to earn special cards (over 100 in total, although only three may be equipped at a time) used to augment your character’s abilities with crazy attributes like parrying, super armor, or invisibility. This special mode is separate from regular online play. Players are prompted to pick a side – Hero or Herald – on a weekly basis, and the side successful in its campaign is awarded prizes as a result.
Bah!!! No one beats Doom!!!
Voice acting in the game is entertaining in terms of all your favorite characters. Special pre-fight conversations occur between Capcom characters who go hand-in-hand with Marvel characters – for example, Dante and Deadpool (who, by the way, has some of the funniest dialog in the game). The voice acting and the sounds of punches, slams, and explosions all work very well with each other. Fans of the original Marvel vs Capcom 3 will enjoy some of the new characters’ dialog and find it as entertaining as the original.
Magneto…Welcome to DIE!!!
A lot of the same points can be made about Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Review. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 isn’t a terrible game, it’s just pretty much the same game as its predecessor but with a few exceptions. For $40, it’s not a bad deal if you didn’t buy the original. But if you do have the original, it’s a toss-up on whether or not you should trade your copy in for this new version. If you don’t have the original Marvel vs Capcom 3, buy the Ultimate version. However, if you have the original already and you feel as if you’re missing out on the 12 extra characters, then go ahead and upgrade.
The larger roster is a pretty good selling point, but as a fan, if we bought the original Marvel vs Capcom 3 game, we would feel a little slighted that Capcom didn’t at least wait a full year until releasing this new version. All things considered, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is still a very fun game. The refined gameplay balances out the characters and adds a few interesting modes to the online play.
Final Verdict: Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 gets 8 “Still No Mega Man” complaints out of 10.
Rating: 
This review is based on a retail copy of the Playstation 3 version of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 by Capcom