is a 1996 crossover fighting game developed and published by Capcom. It is Capcom's third fighting game to feature Marvel Comics characters, following X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994) and Marvel Super Heroes (1995), and the first installment in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. As the title suggests, the game includes characters from Marvel's X-Men franchise and the cast from Capcom's Street Fighter series. Originally released for arcades in 1996, it was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1997 and the PlayStation in 1998. The original arcade version is included in the compilation Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows in 2024.
X-Men vs. Street Fighter features gameplay similar to Street Fighter, but incorporates dual-character selection and tag team-based combat. Each player selects two characters to compete in a one-on-one battle, attempting to defeat the opposing team. The players are given the ability to switch between their characters at any point during the match. The game also incorporates numerous elements from X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes.
The game was released to generally positive reviews, with critics praising its gameplay and sprite animation quality. While the Sega Saturn port received praise for maintaining the experience of the original arcade version, the PlayStation port was met with mixed to negative critical reception for removing several features, such as tag team battles. The changes were done in response to the technical limitations of the PlayStation. The game was followed by Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter in 1997.
Gameplay
thumb|left|[[Magneto (Marvel Comics)|Magneto attacks M. Bison, while their respective teammates, Juggernaut and Chun-Li, await off-screen. Players can choose to tag in their secondary character at any given point.]]
Similar to Capcom's various Street Fighter titles, X-Men vs. Street Fighter is a 2D fighting game in which players control various characters to engage in one-on-one combat, attempting to knock out the opponent by depleting their health. It is the first formal installment in the Marvel vs. Capcom series and features dual-character selection and tag team battles. Instead of the typical best-of-three round format, matches consist of a single round. Players control one character at a time, while the other awaits off-screen. If one character loses all of their vitality, then the tag partner will automatically come into play. The match continues until both characters on either team are defeated.
Modes
The arcade, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation versions of X-Men vs. Street Fighter all include Arcade Mode and Versus Mode. In Arcade Mode, the player fights several artificial intelligence-controlled teams before competing in a final battle against the boss character, Apocalypse, an antagonist from the X-Men series. The character sprites for the X-Men characters were drawn from X-Men: Children of the Atom, with the exception of Rogue, Gambit, and Sabretooth, who had not appeared in a previous Capcom fighting game. For example, Ryu comes equipped with a "super Hadouken" that fills the entire screen. The port was the first game announced to support the Saturn's 4MB RAM cartridge. It utilized the cartridge peripheral, which was packaged alongside the game, to deliver an arcade-perfect conversion. Sega's decision not to manufacture the requisite 4 MB RAM cartridge in the U.S. presented a major obstacle to the game's release there. Additionally, several major U.S. retailers announced that they would be clearing out all Saturn hardware and software inventory in the second quarter of 1998, casting doubt on whether Capcom could get X-Men Vs. Street Fighter onto retailer shelves if they went ahead with the release. Ultimately, the Saturn version was never officially released in North America.
Capcom's usual European publisher, Virgin Interactive, were reluctant to release any of Capcom's Saturn games using the 4 MB cartridge due to the prohibitive costs of manufacturing the cartridge. Sega licensed the game from Capcom, intending to release it in Europe bundled with the expansion cartridge; Facing ongoing accusations of favoritism towards the Saturn (due to the perceived superiority of the Saturn version of Street Fighter Alpha 2 over the PlayStation version, and the home version of Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge being Saturn exclusive), Capcom later rescinded this announcement, stating instead that PlayStation and Saturn versions of X-Men vs. Street Fighter would be released simultaneously and would both be arcade-perfect. However, the PlayStation version was not released until February 26, 1998, in Japan, where it was renamed X-Men vs. Street Fighter: EX Edition. The PlayStation port was also released in North America on June 11, 1998, and Europe in November 1998.
Moreover, due to the memory limitations of the PlayStation, both the graphics and gameplay of the port were altered. Several frames of character sprite animations were removed to reduce the amount of RAM usage. Most notably, the tag team combat was omitted. Instead of being able to switch between characters at will, the second character only comes into play during certain attacks, such as Variable Combinations and Variable Counters. The PlayStation version has training and survival modes, neither of which are included in other versions of the game. In June 2024, Capcom announced that X-Men vs. Street Fighter would be among the games included in the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics compilation, which was released the following September.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed X-Men vs. Street Fighter as the most successful arcade game of October 1996, outperforming titles such as Quiz Nanairo Dreams and Stakes Winner 2. The game was only mildly popular when first released in North American arcades, but after several months it caught on and became a hit. A reviewer for Next Generation scored the arcade version three out of five stars. He complimented the tag team mechanic and noted that the game continued the inflation of explosive projectiles and lengthy combos from Capcom's previous 2D fighters, but felt this breed of game had been milked out, concluding, "X-Men Vs. Street Fighter is a fun game, but it's just a bit of an overdose of the kind of game of which we've already played way too much." In a retrospective review, AllGame gave it a score of four stars out of five, praising its combination of two of the most popular franchises of its era and its tag team mechanic.
A number of U.S. publications reviewed the Saturn version as an import. Reviewers praised the Saturn edition's close recreation of the original arcade version, particularly the animation and sound quality, fast loading times, and absence of slowdown. GamePro was pleased by the tag team feature, responsive controls, and accurate arcade conversion, though they remarked that "the gameplay at times relies more on flash than actual skill." They gave it a 4.5 out of 5 for graphics and a perfect 5.0 in every other category (sound, control, and fun factor), calling it "one of the most fun fighting games ever to hit the home market." Electronic Gaming Monthlys four-person review team was split: Dan Hsu and Shawn Smith both said that while the conversion is so terrible that anyone who had played the arcade or Saturn versions would have a hard time enjoying it, it was decent fun on its own merits, while John Ricciardi and Sushi-X both agreed with GamePro that the slowdown kills any enjoyment of the game.
Sequel
A sequel to X-Men vs. Street Fighter was released by Capcom in 1997. Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, while similar in terms of gameplay and art style, replaces a majority of the X-Men cast with characters from other Marvel Comics properties, such as Captain America and Spider-Man.
References
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