Marvel vs. Capcom

is a series of crossover fighting games developed and published by Capcom, featuring characters from their video game franchises and comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series originated as coin-operated arcade games; later releases were specifically developed for home consoles, handhelds, and personal computers.

Its gameplay borrows heavily from Capcom's previous Marvel-licensed fighting games X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes; however, instead of focusing on single combat, the games incorporated tag team battles. Players form teams of two or three characters and, controlling one fighter at a time, attempt to damage and knock out their opponents. Players can switch out their characters during the match, allowing team members to replenish their health and prolong their ability to fight. The series' gameplay is distinguished from other fighting game franchises due to its character assist mechanics and emphasis on aerial combat.

The Marvel vs. Capcom series has received generally positive reviews from critics, who have praised its fast-paced gameplay, vibrant visuals, and wealth of playable characters. The series has enjoyed broad appeal, selling approximately 13 million units as of 2025.

Games

; Main games

X-Men vs. Street Fighter was initially released as an arcade game in 1996. The game was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1997 and PlayStation in 1998. It established the series' basic gameplay conventions by combining Street Fighter-style combat with tag team features. X-Men vs. Street Fighter also borrowed gameplay concepts from Capcom's previous Marvel Comics-licensed fighting games, X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes.
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter was released in arcades in 1997. The game expanded the playable roster to the larger Marvel Universe, introducing characters such as Captain America, Hulk, and Spider-Man. Rather than strictly using Street Fighter characters, the game included characters from other Capcom video game franchises, such as Mega Man, Morrigan, and Strider Hiryu.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes was released in arcades in 2000 and ported to the Dreamcast within the same year. The game received ports to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2002. It was then re-released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 through the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, respectively, in 2009. Lastly, a version for iOS devices was released in 2012. Featuring a large playable roster, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 reused the assist features from Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and changed the series' two-on-two battle system to three-on-three fights.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. The series' traditional sprites transitioned into 3D character models while retaining the 2D-style combat.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a standalone updated edition of the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3, was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox 360 in 2011. The game was also released for the PlayStation 4 via the PlayStation Network in 2016; releases for the Xbox One via the Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Windows via Steam followed in 2017. It features new characters, stages, modes, and other enhancements to improve game balance and online functionality.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was released in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. It features two-on-two battles, similar to earlier Marvel vs. Capcom games, and removes traditional assist moves in favor of its own dual-character combo system. The game also implements a gameplay mechanic involving the Infinity Stones, which grants players unique abilities and upgrades depending on the stone selected. It features high-definition visuals, online multiplayer, dynamic challenges, and unlockables. It was released in 2024 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows and in 2025 for Xbox One.

Udon Entertainment published Marvel vs. Capcom: Official Complete Works art book consisting of promotional artwork, sketches and bonus material from the video game collaborations between Marvel and Capcom, beginning with the 1993 arcade game The Punisher to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. It contains contributions from a variety of artists and illustrators, including Akiman, Bengus, Shinkiro, Joe Madureira, Adi Granov, Joe Ng, Long Vo, Chamba, Adam Warren and Takeshi Miyazawa.

Within the Marvel Comics multiverse, the Marvel vs. Capcom universe is designated as Earth-30847. The series' iteration of Spider-Man appears in the crossover event Spider-Verse (2014–15), where he is defeated by Morlun as he hunts Spider-Totems across different worlds. In 2017, Marvel Entertainment had released a comic book prequel to Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite known as Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Horizons, that features Ryu and the Hulk fighting against the creatures from Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise.

Gameplay

thumb|left|A screenshot from [[Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, featuring Hsien-Ko and Felicia from Capcom's Darkstalkers series and Iron Man from the Marvel Universe]]

The basic gameplay of the Marvel vs. Capcom series was originally derived from X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes. Using a combination of joystick movements and button presses, players must execute various moves to damage their opponent and deplete their life gauge, or alternatively, have the most cumulative health when the timer runs out. However, unlike the two aforementioned games, which focus on single combat, the Marvel vs. Capcom series revolve around tag team-based combat. Players control one character at a time, while the others await off-screen. As characters take damage, portions of their life gauge will turn red, known as "red health", which represents the amount of health that a character can recover if the player tags them out. The off-screen, dormant characters will slowly replenish their red health, allowing players to cycle through their team members and prolong their ability to fight. By expending meter from their Hyper Combo Gauge, players can perform "Hyper Combos" – powerful, cinematic attacks that deal heavy damage to the opponent – in addition to several other special techniques. This feature was replaced in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, which instead randomly allocated an unplayable guest character with a preset assist move before each match; in addition, assists were limited to only a few uses per round. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 also increased the number of characters per team by one, providing a three-on-three battle format. Every character in the Marvel vs. Capcom series is given a "Launcher" move, which sends the opponent flying up into the air. The first three installments utilized the same layout of six attack buttons, separated as three pairs of light, medium, and hard punches and kicks. The control scheme was further simplified with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which included three attack buttons designated to undefined light, medium, and hard attacks, two assist buttons, and an "exchange button" used to perform Launchers and switch between characters during Air Combos. In addition, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 included two different control scheme options: Normal Mode and Simple Mode. Simple Mode, designed for casual players, allows players to perform special moves and Hyper Combos with single button presses at the expense of limiting a character's available moveset.

Characters

Marvel vs. Capcom has featured over 100 playable fighters, primarily drawn from comic book series published by Marvel Comics and video games franchises developed and produced by Capcom. The games have introduced a few original characters, which include Norimaro from Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Amingo, Ruby Heart, and SonSon from Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. In addition to the playable cast, other characters from the Marvel and Capcom universes make appearances in the games in varying capacities. Both Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes include secret characters which can be played by inputting specific sequences of joystick movements on the character select screen. These secret characters consist of palette swaps of existing fighters with different moveset properties.

Many Marvel vs. Capcom installments also allow players to fight as the games' boss characters in special game modes, with the exception of Abyss from Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Characters that have not been playable frequently make cameo appearances in the games' cutscenes and stage backgrounds. Lastly, numerous non-playable Marvel and Capcom characters are featured as "Ability Cards" in the Heroes and Heralds game mode in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Out of all the playable characters, Ryu and Chun-Li are the only ones to have appeared in every game released thus far.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"

! Character

! Side

! style="text-align:center; width:50px;"|XvSF

! style="text-align:center; width:50px;"|MSHvSF

! style="text-align:center; width:50px;"|MvC

! style="text-align:center; width:50px;"|MvC2

! style="text-align:center; width:50px;"|MvC3

! style="text-align:center; width:50px;"|UMvC3

! style="text-align:center; width:50px;"|MvCI

! scope="row"| Akuma

! scope="row"| Albert Wesker

! scope="row"| Amaterasu

! scope="row"| Amingo

! scope="row"| Anakaris

! scope="row"| Apocalypse

! scope="row"| Arthur

! scope="row"| B.B. Hood

! scope="row"| Blackheart

! scope="row"| Black Panther

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Black Widow

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Cable

! scope="row"| Cammy

! scope="row"| Captain America

! scope="row"| Captain Commando

! scope="row"| Captain Marvel

! scope="row"| Charlie Nash

! scope="row"| Chris Redfield

! scope="row"| Chun-Li

! scope="row"| Colossus

! scope="row"| Crimson Viper

! scope="row"| Cyclops

! scope="row"| Dan Hibiki

! scope="row"| Dante

! scope="row"| Deadpool

! scope="row"| Dhalsim

! scope="row"| Doctor Doom

! scope="row"| Doctor Strange

! scope="row"| Dormammu

! scope="row"| Felicia

! scope="row"| Firebrand

! scope="row"| Frank West

! scope="row"| Galactus

! scope="row"| Gambit

! scope="row"| Gamora

! scope="row"| Ghost Rider

! scope="row"| Guile

! scope="row"| Hawkeye

! scope="row"| Hayato Kanzaki

! scope="row"| Hsien-Ko

! scope="row"| Hulk

! scope="row"| Iceman

! scope="row"| Iron Fist

! scope="row"| Iron Man

! scope="row"| Jedah Dohma

! scope="row"| Jill Valentine

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Jin Saotome

! scope="row"| Juggernaut

! scope="row"| Ken Masters

! scope="row"| Magneto

! scope="row"| Marrow

! scope="row"| M. Bison

! scope="row"| Mega Man

! scope="row"| Mike Haggar

! scope="row"| MODOK

! scope="row"| Hunter

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Morrigan Aensland

! scope="row"| Nathan Spencer

! scope="row"| Nemesis

! scope="row"| Norimaro

! scope="row"| Nova

! scope="row"| Omega Red

! scope="row"| Onslaught

! scope="row"| Phoenix

! scope="row"| Phoenix Wright

! scope="row"| Psylocke

! scope="row"| Rocket Raccoon

! scope="row"| Rogue

! scope="row"| Roll

! scope="row"| Ruby Heart

! scope="row"| Ryu

! scope="row"| Sabretooth

! scope="row"| Sakura Kasugano

! scope="row"| Sentinel

! scope="row"| Servbot

! scope="row"| She-Hulk

! scope="row"| Shuma-Gorath

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Sigma

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Silver Samurai

! scope="row"| SonSon

! scope="row"| Spider-Man

! scope="row"| Spiral

! scope="row"| Storm

! scope="row"| Strider Hiryu

! scope="row"| Super-Skrull

! scope="row"| Taskmaster

! scope="row"| Thanos

! scope="row"| Thor

! scope="row"| Trish

! scope="row"| Tron Bonne

! scope="row"| Ultron

! scope="row"| Venom

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Vergil

! scope="row"| Joe

! scope="row"| War Machine

! scope="row"| Winter Soldier

| data-sort-value="Y (DLC)"

! scope="row"| Wolverine

! scope="row"| X

! scope="row"| X-23

! scope="row"| Zangief

! scope="row"| Zero

|- class="sortbottom" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2"|Total

||18

||20

||17

||56

||38

||51

||36

Notes

History

thumb|[[Marvel Super Heroes (video game)|Marvel Super Heroes at E3 2019]]

Capcom's partnership with Marvel began in 1993 with the release of The Punisher, an arcade beat 'em up based on the comic book series of the same name. In 2011, then-current Capcom USA Strategic Marketing Director of Online and Community Seth Killian stated that many fighting game aficionados, including himself, consider them to have laid the foundation for the series. In a secret "Dramatic Battle" mode, two players, controlling Ryu and Ken, were able to fight against an AI-controlled M. Bison at the same time. The game debuted in Japanese arcades in 1996, establishing the series' fast-paced, tag team-based gameplay style. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 heavily re-used assets from previous Capcom-developed games, including Street Fighter Alpha, Darkstalkers, and the earlier Marvel vs. Capcom titles, resulting in a large roster of 56 playable characters. Shortly after the release of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox ports for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom lost the use of the Marvel license, putting the series on an indefinite hiatus. However, with the resurgence of 2D fighting games in 2008, owing to the success of Street Fighter IV, Marvel requested Capcom to collaborate with them once again. Capcom would announce the development of the next installment in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, in 2010. The game was eventually released in 2011. An updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, titled Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, was released later in the same year. As a result, Capcom had to pull both Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 off their online platforms in 2013. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was revealed in 2016, and then released in 2017. The compilation features the seven Marvel titles developed and published by Capcom for arcades from The Punisher through Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. It notably marks the series' debut on Nintendo platforms, the first time the classic entries have been made available on PC, as well as the first general re-releases for Marvel Super Heroes, Clash of Super Heroes and New Age of Heroes since the original Origins compilation and the remaster of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 were digitally delisted from seventh generation console storefronts.

Reception

The Marvel vs. Capcom series has received reviews ranging from average to positive from critics. According to Capcom President and COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto, the games have enjoyed broad appeal, especially in markets outside of Japan. , units of the series have been sold.

The series' first three titles, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, received praise for their frantic gameplay style, visual flair, playable character rosters, and the quality of their sprite animations. The games' Dreamcast and Sega Saturn ports were also lauded for their technical performance, matching the capabilities of the arcade versions.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes received similar praise, with particular attention given towards the large cast and the addition of three-on-three combat. The Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions were criticized for their lack of online multiplayer support outside Japan. These concerns were addressed with the release of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports, which reviewers commended for their smooth online experience. A common source of complaints was the game's jazz-inspired soundtrack, which critics deemed as out of place.

In addition to its character variety and visual presentation, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds garnered praise for simplifying the series' combat mechanics and control scheme, thus making it more accessible for newcomers. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom was applauded for its additions to the character roster, gameplay tweaks, and improved online functionality. Both games, however, were criticized for their lack of game modes and single-player content. Marvel vs. Capcom Origins was praised for preserving the original arcade releases' integrity and its addition of online multiplayer, dynamic challenges, and unlockable content; however, in remaining faithful to the arcade versions, some reviewers criticized the games for their outdated gameplay and unbalanced fighters. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising its implementation of new gameplay mechanics, such as the "Active Switch" combo system and the addition of the six Infinity Stones. On the other hand, the game was criticized for its presentation, particularly its art direction, and its character roster.

In 2012, Complex ranked Marvel vs. Capcom at number 37 on the list of the best video game franchises, commenting that "a frenetic pace and over the top effects work together to make this franchise stand the test of time".

Notes

References

External links

- Arcade version

Games

Gameplay

Characters

Notes

History

Reception

See also

Notes

References

External links