E3 Impressions: Tatsunoko Versus Capcom

Posted By: R.James

Although arcades have been wanning in the US for years, the “versus” series has always been a favorite of mine.  Sure, they’ve been ported to consoles time and time again (Marvel VS Capcom 2 is coming this fall to Live and PSN), but the arcades were the place for epic “versus” battles.  But today fighting games are a hard sell.   When this game was announced I was convinced it was never going to come to the states.  Consider my foot firmly shoved into my mouth.  Not only is Tatsunoko coming to the states, but it’s amazingly fun.  I feel like I owe a debt of gratitude to SF4 for this turn of events, for reminding everyone that fight games are alive and well.  I can’t believe it didn’t have some effect on Capcom trying to get this game into the hands of American gamers.

Now I should note, I played the game with a six button fighting stick: this is the ONLY way to play this game.  I really couldn’t imagine playing this game with the classic controller (and there is NO waggle control thank god).  First off, the game plays exactly like a Versus game should: it’s fast, it’s frenetic, and every game is filled with epic, over-the-top moments.  The game feels right, even with the new “three-button” control scheme.  When I look back at the video my friend shot (posted above) I don’t even notice that I’m only using the top three buttons to throw punches and kicks.  That’s just awesome.  Even more awesome is the graphics: this game looks better than almost any other wii game I’ve played.  I have no clue how they pulled that off, but every developer should take note.  This is how video games on the wii should ALWAYS look.

I have one incredibly selfish gripe: I wish this game was coming out for the 360 and the PS3. I want this game in HD. But the developers state, quite definitively in the video above, this game is a wii exclusive. There are a lot of great games coming out for the wii this fall. But I’m still not convinced about picking one up. This game is making it incredibly hard to resist temptation though. If you are a versus fan in any way, shape, or form, this game is totally one you should be paying attention to.

If you want more info on this game, check out the FEED links in the sidebar.