When’s Marvel?

Apparently not at this year’s EVO, and also not in stores soon if our report from several months ago proves accurate.

The truth is, Capcom has been having a rough time as of late in the fighting game world.

Before you start your hate tweets, hear me out.

Street Fighter V is not a great fighting game. It’s fine, don’t get me wrong, but in the pantheon of Street Fighter games, widely considered to be the premier fighting game franchise on the planet, it doesn’t hold up compared to the other titles. For me, outside of EX Plus Alpha, my favorites are still Third Strike and Alpha 2. Through a combination of a rotten online experience, horrible implementation of an in-game currency system, and questionable changes to the core characters (#BananaHair), Street Fighter V, even with the improved Arcade Edition release, still falls short of the bar. That being said, I am still going to play it and still love the franchise.

Then there is the failed experiment that was Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. Pretty much doomed from the beginning thanks to a demo that introduced the “Chun-Li From Your Nightmares”, Infinite just couldn’t make an impact in an already packed fighting game tournament scene. That is a really big deal considering there is a rabid Marvel vs. Capcom fan base that, at times, can rival the Super Smash Bros. fan base. Again, Infinite is fine for what it is, and I enjoy it, but it just didn’t click overall with the fighting game community.

All of this is to say: I have the answers. Like always, Jepheroth will come through and tell Capcom what we, the gamers, would like to have. Also, my timing couldn’t be more perfect, as EVO 2018 is just around the corner and MADE for a big time announcement. I present my 5 games (ok, 6 when you add my honorable mention), Capcom should make now that Infinite is being put to pasture and Street Fighter V getting near the end of its current season.

 

5. Darkstalkers

Arguably, this one makes the most sense. Darkstalkers 3 has a lot of love from the fighting game community and the characters are recognizable as many of them have appeared in other Capcom fighters. The world could use a monster movie-style fighting game, luckily the king of the fighting games, Capcom, has this franchise tucked in their back pocket.

4. Pocket Fighter

OMG, they are soooo cute!!!!!

Look, with all these fighting games in the mainstream being serious fighters (aside from all the dumb/wonderful stuff you can equip to your fighter in Tekken 7), we could use a game that doesn’t take itself serious and give us a charming brawler. I mean, at one point in a combo, Akuma puts on a Speedo and swims into the ground. It’s dumb, it’s charming, and we could really use a fighting game like that right now.

3. X-Men Children of the Atom

Rumors were out there that an Uncanny version of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite was coming (still might be) and will be based around the X-Men who, thanks to a bunch of legal paperwork and mumbo-jumbo that would take me about a year and a half to even comprehend, were left out of the initial game.

Scrap that!

If you have the X-Men, give them their own fighting game and give us a sequel to the badass game that was X-Men: Children of the Atom. Not only does this leave the stink of Infinite behind, but gamers hold Atom in high regard AND the roster of pure X-Men can be grand enough to warrant their own game.

2. Saturday Night Slam Masters

Maybe the response to “Hey, we need a new fighting game” is “How about a fighting game that’s only KIND OF a fighting game?”. SNSM was a fighting/wrestling mashup and it was glorious. Mike Haggar doing Zangief-style piledrivers NEVER GETS OLD! This is a gem that NEEDS some new life and this is the perfect time to do it.

1. Rival Schools

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Rival Schools is one of the best fighting games ever made. The school aspect can really come into play, similar to what Mortal Kombat X did with their “Faction Wars”. There is just enough Anime-weirdness that it’s funny and lighthearted, and the fighting game community would LOVE to dig into a new entry in the series. This would be a win for Capcom by simply existing.

I even have the perfect way to announce this at EVO:

Lights go down

A CG Trailer begins featuring Sakura (who, if you don’t know, is now an eSports commentator in Street Fighter V lore). She just wraps up calling a fighting game match. As she ends the broadcast, her co-worker asks her what she will do now that the event is over. Her response: “You know, I was thinking about going back to school”. BOOM! The place would lose their collective DAMN MINDS!!!!

Honorable Mention: A new Versus crossover

The news is that Marvel was the one responsible for pulling the plug on Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, so with the comic-book/blockbuster movie mega-giant out, maybe Capcom needs to look at another license to slide in. I’m still holding out hope for that long-awaited Tekken x Street Fighter game will actually become a reality someday. Heck, we got Tatsunoko vs. Capcom out here on the Wii!  Our very own theWatchman has proposed a Capcom vs. Square Enix game, which sounds amazing!

However, I think the ideal versus game for Capcom would be Capcom vs. SNK 3, which would be a major release, even if the “average gamer” isn’t as familiar with the SNK universe as they were when Capcom vs. SNK 2 was released.

Another Versus option could be a proper Capcom vs Capcom style game. With so many franchises and so many of its characters already involved in past fighting games, just have the Capcom universe duke it out and make a love letter to fans of all their easily recognizable franchises.

Either way, a new Versus series could be just what Capcom needs to give a fresh spin on a tried-and-true formula.

We will get to see what Capcom has to announce at EVO 2018 in just a few more weeks, so either two things will happen: (A) One of these things will happen and I will look like a genius or (B) None of these will happen and I will once again be the king of wishful thinking.

I’ll get over it…

What do you think? Would an update to one of these legendary Capcom fighting franchises compel you to get into the ring? Or is there another game out there that you’d rather see revived? Let us know in the comments section below.