The Soapbox features allow our individual writers and contributors to share their opinions on current topics and random things they’ve been chewing over. Today Jim shines a light on an already dazzling Direct drop…
It took me a few hours to get down after the June Nintendo Direct. The display case was stacked. At that moment, it felt like Nintendo pulled out its biggest weapons and hit us fanboys square in the face with pretty much every announcement we could have asked for.
A few hours later, I came back to the full list of announcements with a clear head. Calmerly and with my sensible glasses on, I expected things to feel a little different. I was wrong. It still hit.
The intensity of the announcements is exactly what the Switch needed in what previously seemed like a sleepy year, but it was a double-edged sword. The colossi of a new Mario RPG, a 2D Zelda game, Just dance 2025 Metroid Prime 4 and even a brutal Donkey Kong remaster might have restored my faith in the Switch, but their towering height meant that almost every other reveal would be overshadowed.
And so I thought it only right to shine the light on one of the not-so-little guys who could have starred in any other showcase. Yes, Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics was the unsung hero of the June Direct.
I’ve been longing for an accessible and official way to play the iconic Marvel fighters for years. Years. Plural. Yes, there’s always emulation, but I was looking for something that felt a little cleaner (what would Steve Rogers do?), so short of spending a small fortune to have a cupboard installed in my sitting room, it was my playing time is quite short.
The small village in the south of England where I grew up was hardly an arcade hotspot. I’ve never been lucky enough to own a Sega Saturn or Dreamcast, and my PlayStation habits were mostly limited to polygonal animals with hair-pulling camera controls. All this is to say that when I got the chance to go hands-on with a ‘Marvel vs.’ When I walked into a novelty pop-up or barcade (when I was older, of course), I was locked in.
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter gobbled up more tokens than I care to admit at NQ64 (a British chain of arcades) last year. What was I supposed to do? Not try every character? And after watching Marvel vs. Capcom 2: Age of New Heroes at a retro games fair in the late 2000s, my brother and I poured our souls into the Xbox 360 version until even that awful soundtrack started to sound a little bit good.
In the years since, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not very good at fighting games. My reaction times are sloppy, I have no trouble remembering combos, and discussions around hitboxes and frame analysis make my head hurt. But I’m one of the last remaining proponents of all things Marvel, as I recall this fighting games aren’t a stream of defeat, but rather they’re full of joy seeing Spidey, Cyclops, and Thanos (before he was cool) duking it out with some of the best pixel art around. Ah, simpler times.
The Direct appearance from the Marvel vs. Capcom collection gets me ready for the return of those simple times. I can force friends and family to play Age of New Heroes again! It won’t cost me £20 to try out the full rosters! I can finally see if The Punisher scratches that very specific Marvel beat-’em-up itch I’ve had since episode four of X Men ’97 – and no, Marvel Ultimate Alliance didn’t fits the bill.