General Information
The result is the ever so eloquently named Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, which as the name implies, compiles all six titles in the Marvel vs Capcom series that released in arcades from X-Men: Children of the Atom, all the way up to Marvel vs. Capcom 2. And much like Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo's inclusion in 2022's Capcom Fighting Collection, the arcade beat 'em up The Punisher is also included as a part of the bundle. This is all wrapped up in a nice package that brings some modern features like online, training modes, and quick save to the classic games.
In fact, if you played Capcom Fighting Collection, you know almost exactly what to expect here. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection is wrapped up in a very similar package to the previous iteration and features all the bonuses included in it. You'll have access to the US and Japanese versions of the arcade roms, extra features like being able to toggle secret characters on and off, and an in-depth museum mode that features music, concept art, promotional materials and design doc sketches. Although, it does retain the same baffling decision to only allow one quick save across all seven games or the ability to quick restart.
As always, the museum mode is a highlight of this collection, especially if you're into Capcom and Marvel history the same way we are, allowing you to look at high-quality renders of that incredible Marvel vs. Capcom 2 artwork (which is the peak of Jill Valentine designs if you ask us).
As for the games themselves, as always with these collections, some are pulling their weight more than others. The main event of the package is undoubtedly Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. It's a classic for a reason: it's over the top, it's wildly unbalanced, and it has one of the greatest soundtracks to ever grace the fighting game genre with the power of smooth jazz. Despite its legendary status, this is absolutely a game that newcomers to the fighting genre will not be prepared for, but once it clicks, it's a great time. However, we would've loved to see Capcom introduce the Dreamcast version's ability to select three of the same character, or even implement a version of the incredibly fun ratio rule set that has become popular in the MvC community in recent years. But, at the very least, we have the arcade game in all of its glory.
Meanwhile, X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter are strange cases. While technically different games, these two entries feel very similar in terms of mechanics, alongside some shared stage designs, with only a few roster differences (dropping the likes of Rogue, Storm, and Sabertooth for a wider range of Marvel heroes) to really make things stand out. Both are worth playing, but we personally prefer the X-Men variant as it's a bit more over the top compared to the Marvel edition — plus Rogue is one of the most fun characters in the series to play as.
X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes, on the other hand, are one-on-one fighters, while still retaining the fast-paced over-the-top combat found in the later entries. Children of the Atom is probably our least favourite game in the collection thanks to its relative lack of features and piss-poor balance (Magneto is busted), but it's still a fun time. Marvel Super Heroes introduces Infinity Gems which can give you specific buffs throughout the match, and features a solid roster of Marvel legends that doesn't play it too safe, by featuring the likes of Blackheart, Psylocke, and Shuma Gorath among the regulars.
The Punisher is a fun brawler that feels akin to Capcom's Final Fight and has you play the role of either the man himself or Nick Fury as you brawl through stages of baddies to take down the Kingpin (who is only rivalled by the Into the Spider-Verse version in terms of being comically large). As beat 'em ups go, it's a fun distraction, but pretty standard for the most part, without any extra playstyles to change things up outside of Frank being able to pull out his gun and blast away if an enemy comes packing.
Finally, that brings us to our favourite game in the whole collection: Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. Even after a number of sequels,the original MvC still stands above the rest in our eyes, with a roster that introduces legendary MvC fighters like Captain Commando and Strider Hiryu, and the assist system that allows many more Capcom and Marvel characters to cameo in the game (Colossus assist for life). However, this game brings the biggest flaw with the collection.
For whatever reason, in Marvel vs. Capcom 1 specifically, we've been experiencing frequent framerate drops on PS5. From what we can tell, it isn't present in any other game in this collection (even the more advanced MvC 2), and when testing on the PC version of the collection it doesn't happen there either. It's not enough to render the game unplayable, but considering it's an arcade port of a game from 1998, we're a bit let down — hopefully, it's something that is patched out soon after launch.
As for the netcode, we haven't had the chance to test it too thoroughly due to the lack of players online, but it's similar to Capcom Fighting Collection: we have no major complaints so far. It does get a bit choppy when playing against fighters in other regions, but even then it was still very much playable during the matches we had with someone in California.
Conclusion
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is an essential release if you're after one of the most prolific parts of fighting game history. The museum mode is a treat, and the games themselves seem to be arcade-perfect conversions, apart from MvC 1 (which should hopefully be fixed in a patch given it's fine in the PC release). While some bonus features from the console versions of these games would've been nice, it's still undeniably a great collection of titles.
