Gamer Lifestyle

Tatsunoko Vs Capcom

Versus The series is reborn with a vengeance

System: Wii
Production: Capcom
Developer: Capcom / Eighting
Released: December 11, 2008 (Japan)
More: http://www.capcom.co.jp/tatsucap/

Since Capcom has released X-Men: Children of the Atom in 1994, a new breed of fighting games began. Characterized by devastating blows that fill the entire screen, characters with decent animation and visual cartoon, super jumps and aerial combos spectacular, the series has also implemented as soon as the brilliant concept of crossover, the crossing of two different universes. Thus was born the Versus series, with doubles matches X-Men Vs Street Fighter, Super Heroes Marvel Vs Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom and Marvel Vs Capcom 2 superlative (with triplets!). And stop there. We had to wait eight years for a new member of the lineage, but with different faces.

Come the universally known Marvel heroes (because the license for the brand is now owned by Activision games), go to meet the cast of Capcom characters from the Japanese studio Tatsunoko Productions (check the box to know them better). And although it lost the familiarity of the mutants, the spirit of the game remained intact.

The Amazing combos

Impossible not to notice, promptly, now that the graphics are fully 3D (MvC2 had polygonal scenes, but the characters were still two-dimensional sprites), which might be of concern to the purists. Fortunately, the look works on the basis of gameplay, and not vice versa. It's amazing how the characters move with agility and fluidity, responding instantly and precisely to commands and more elaborate combinations.

The system remains the same: you pick two fighters can switch between them during the battle and he wins that ending the double opponent. The difference is that the controls were reduced to four buttons, and inheriting a little tweaking of the philosophy of MvC2, which used six action buttons, of which only four attack and two exchanges. Now there are three attack buttons (weak, medium and strong) and a button to trigger the partner. To do chain combos tip zig-zag (weak punch> weak kick> punch medium> medium kick> strong punch), just press twice the weak coup, twice the average and then the strong (the character automatically switches between punches and kicks). The air launcher is universal, pressing diagonal down-forward more heavy blow. And the button to call your partner can be used in different situations and combined with commands to change characters, use a counter, call the help of allied etc.

The grounds are also the same, with few differences: there are racing back and forth on the floor or in the air, agarrões and techniques to escape them, double jumps (almost all the fighters now have them), super jumps, super bars that can accumulate up to five levels and hyper combos who spend one, two or three bars. Combos continue to behave chain combos of buttons, special attacks and hyper combos, everyone is canceling sequences to form creative and beautiful.

As news subtle but very precious, we have the resources Mega Crash and Baroque. The first part is activated with the four buttons simultaneously to escape situations of risk or abuse (even hyper combos) the cost of two bars and a super little energy. But the Baroque is done during a combo to the cost of all their red energy (that recoverable) to expand at that moment, the extent and damage of your combo. Although dominated the action sequences gives rise to sublime and devastating.

Like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, CTV is generous with the possibilities of control: supports Wii Remote alone, Wii Remote more Nunchunk, Classic Controller and GameCube controller. Players prefer a demanding course of the last two possibilities, since they offer separate controls for all features of gameplay, and therefore greater control over the action. The two possibilities to simplify the Remote commands (such as Easy Mode Operation of Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO for GameCube), then just press and hold the attack button to strike combos, special button to run instantly and two more elaborate scams buttons together to trigger hyper combos. Help learners to make a game prettier, but takes all the technique of fighting.

Insufficient content

The initial squad has 18 fighters and four secret (exclusive of the Wii version) very different strokes, commands, speed, power and resistance, which means you spend a long time to master all of them (the Training Mode, with menus in English comes in handy). The cast of Capcom, for example, is certainly the most varied of the whole series Vs.

The problem is that MvC2 and his 56 fighters left us ill-used, then there is little left to explore when you've finished the game with 22 characters. If you have friends to enjoy versus matches, the game remains interesting, but if not next opponents, unfortunately, there are no alternatives, since the game does not have an online battle mode.
As a palliative, there is a mini-game exclusive to each character that you play using just the Wii Remote, and each has a job and a way to use separate control. However, few of them hold their attention for more than a few minutes.

As in MvC2, you win points by playing and can spend it in the Shop option, buying artwork, music, profiles of wrestlers and scenarios to view it in Gallery, or even new colors of uniforms for some fighters.

The graphics tastefully artistic and technically (nice cel shading running at constant 60 fps) and the balance between the fighters show that the development team of Capcom and Eighting (Bloody Roar, Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen, Castlevania Judgement) worked in perfect harmony. It only remains to hope for a possible American version, which still faces hurdles of copyright (and possibly market, since the fighting genre is no longer profitable as before).

WHAT IS
Fighting game doubles with characters from Capcom and animation studio Tatsunoko Productions.

VISUAL
An aliasing here and there a fuzzy texture, but overall quite impressive, especially for special effects and fluid animation.

AUDIO
Rereading some themes from the games of Capcom and Tatsunoko's anime, but no special inspiration.

GAMEPLAY
The simplified commands and settings in the gaming system enables interesting battles for beginners and experts to beautiful combos.

INNOVATION
There is a kind of game that excels in creativity, but there is some originality in the mini-games at least.

ABSTRACT
Even with a cast perhaps not so well known, the game has character and DNA of fighting games from Capcom.

BONUS: Additional Information

The side of Tatsunoko

The Tatsunoko Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1962 that specializes in making series for TV. Although not currently in the West the reputation of the industry that other companies like Toei, Studio Ghibli and Production IG, the Tatsunoko produced many cartoons (at the time were not known as anime) that delighted children and adolescents from 70 to 80 years . In Brazil, the older ones may remember the tragic Abelhinha Adventures of Pinocchio and Hutch, or Guzula or comic adventures of Ace of Space, Zillion and the classic Speed Racer. However, none of these represents the studio at Capcom's crossover, but the series of characters from Tatsunoko heroes (some of which passed through the Brazilian TV). Know or remember some details of those series that are in play, in chronological order:

Hakushon Daimaou (1969)
Characters in play: Daimaou Hakushon

A cartoon comedy that was very successful in Brazil in the 80s with the name of The Mad Genius. The boy Zeca (Kan in the original) finds an old bottle in his basement and it comes out (Genie Hakushon Daimaou) when the child sneezes. However, the genie can not make a right desire, and yet just a sneeze for an immediate return to the bottle. Adding to the confusion, the daughter of genius, Geniazinha (Akuba), appears and disappears when someone yawns and his wife's genius meets when someone hiccups. Shown here in various stations, the design was also known as Genius Atchim and Bob, The Genius.

Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman (1972)
Characters in the game: Ken the Eagle (Oowashi no Ken) and Jun the Swan (Shiratori in Jun)

Animated science fiction and ecology with a group of five superheroes with uniforms based on birds. Japan was televised in three series (1972, 1978 and 1979), had a series of three volumes on VHS (1994), an animated feature (1978) and has a new feature in computer animation in production (for 2009). In Brazil, the design was televised version of deeply edited at different times and by different stations, getting names like G-Force, Battle of the Planets and Eagle Riders.

Shinzou Ningen Casshern (1973)
Character in the game: Casshern

In an apocalyptic future in which robots ruled the world, Tetsuya Azuma becomes the cyborg Casshern to destroy the machinery of oppression with the help of his robot dog Friend. The original series had only 35 episodes on Japanese TV and was adapted in 1993 for a four-episode OVA - who came to Brazil as Casshan: Terminator straight to VHS (and later on DVD). In 2004 he was made a long one with real actors and computer graphics, which arrived here on DVD in 2006 with the title Casshern: Reincarnated of Hell. In 2008 debuted a new series entitled Casshern Sins in manga and anime, which is a reinterpretation of the stories of the cyborg.

Hurricane Polymar (1974)
Character in the game: Polymar

Takeshi Yoroi becomes Hurricane Polymar to combat crime using a machine that allows you to take any shape. The animation received a remake in 1996 titled Shin OVA Hurricane Polymar. While the original series was televised, outside Japan, only in Italy, the OVA was released in the U.S. as Hurricane Polymar.

Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman (1975)
Character in the game: Tekkaman

With the Earth in decay, humanity looks for a new home. A squadron known as the Knights Space combat the aliens known as Waldaster and seek a new planet to house human beings. A new version, Tekkaman Blade, was produced in 1992 and a direct sequence, Tekkaman Blade II, was released as OVA in 1994. All came to the U.S., but were never released in Brazil.

Yatterman (1977)
Characters in the game: Yatterman-1 (Yatterman Ichi-go) and Doronjo

A rock legend known as the Skull Stone is in pieces and scattered around the world. His power to reveal a large deposit of gold attracts the envy of many, as the group of thieves Dorombo, composed of beautiful Doronjo and his henchmen and Boyacky Tonzra. The plans of the villains are always sabotaged by the boy Gan-chan, the Yatterman No. 1, and his girlfriend Ai-chan, the Yatterman No. 2. A new production modernizes the story in 2008 and a movie with real actors is scheduled for 2009. The series has never been displayed in the West, but the design that preceded it, Time Bokan, was released on DVD in Brazil as "The Amazing Time Machine."

Ougon Lightan Senshi Gold (1981)
Character in the game: Gold Lightan

A boy named Hiro finds a gold lighter that turns out to be the Golden Warrior Gold Lightan. The giant robot must save the Earth from invasion of King Ibalba with the help of his robotic companions. The design was never aired in the U.S. or Brazil.

Gyakuten Ippatsuman (1982)
Character in the play: Ippatsuman

Friday comic saga of Time Bokan series (which is also part Yatterman) Ippatsuman happens in the 1990s in Osteandel City, where the company leads the Business Time Lease rentals (everything, even the robots). Another company, Skull Lease, aims to overcome the competitor and world domination. Gou Sokkyuu wears a rubber suit and uses his psychic powers to fight the Skull Lease as Ippatsuman. A series of 58 episodes has never been shown off in Japan

Karas (2005)
Character in the game: Karas

OTOH, a former member of Yakuza, lives in Shinjuku, a fictional version of Tokyo inhabited by humans and yokai (Japanese demons). As a Karas, a guardian of the district, he can turn into a car, plane or ship, in addition to being master swordsman. OTOH should eliminate its predecessor, Eko corrupted. The series debuted in six episodes on pay-per-view Japanese and was released on DVD in the U.S..

The side of Capcom

Unlike Tatsunoko, Capcom heroes are renowned worldwide. Most characters in the game company has been established in the West, but there are exceptions. As some of the heroes can not be readily identifiable, check out the full list, organized by game:

Street Fighter (1987)
Character in the game: Ryu

The fighter that uses the stroller and Shotokan strikes Hadoukens debuted in the first Street Fighter, relatively unknown episode in the series.

Mega Man (1987)
Character in the game: Roll

Mega Man's sister appeared in his first game in the series, and neither had his name mentioned.

Street Fighter II (1991)
In-game character: Chun-Li

The world's most famous fighter in the revolutionary debut Street Fighter II.

Darkstalkers (1994)
Character in the game: Morrigan Aensland

The voluptuous succubus debuted on the first Darkstalkers, play fighting with demons, monsters and various beasts.

Quiz Nanairo Dreams (1996)
Character in the game: Saki Omokane

This game was released only in Japan, born in the arcades and later was converted to Saturn and PlayStation. It's a mixed board, quiz and simulator games. You're a boy who must win seven girls for their crystals and expel the evil King of the World. Saki is one of those girls, who appeared as a sidekick in Marvel vs. Capcom and now as a secret character in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

Street Fighter III (1997)
Character in the game: Alex

The blond wrestler was the main character of Street Fighter III.

Rival Schools (1997)
Character in the game: Batsu Ichimonji

Batsu, a student at Taiyo High School, has been the main character fighting game school.

Mega Man Legends (1997)
Character in the game: Rock Volnutt

Mega Man Volnutt Bluey is the version of the Legends sub-series, the debut game in the third dimension. The first game was also released for Nintendo 64 as Mega Man 64.

Viewtiful Joe (2003)
Character in the game: Viewtiful Joe

"Henshin a go-go, baby!" The otaku Joe revealed his cinematic powers in Viewtiful Joe for GameCube.

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams (2006)
Character in the game: Soki

The pale warrior is the protagonist of the fourth Onimusha, the series of action adventure in feudal Japan.

Lost Planet (2006)
Character in the game: PTX-40A

The PTX-40A is one of the most advanced vital suits from Lost Planet, the game of ice action for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

(Review originally published in the magazine NGamer Brazil 19, January 2009. Image: disclosure.)

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