In late 2008 Japan got a game called Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation. The game sounded like a true sequel in ways to Marvel vs. Capcom. Instead of having a rooster of characters everyone would enjoy we get a set of characters that will only please hardcore fans, both in the Tatsunoko and Capcom worlds. Even if that might be the truth the Wii still has a great fighter on its hands.

The Marvel vs. Capcom series fantastic and to this day some fighters are still mimicking the style that was found in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. After quite some time the next entity in the versus series is here in a simple two-on-two fighting game. The game has characters flying through the sky and fighting on different fronts. It might not have the Marvel vs. Capcom name but it is still good.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has a grand total of 26 characters. That is almost half of what Marvel vs. Capcom 2 had, but there are rumored downloadable characters (let’s hope so). Most of the characters from the Capcom end will be recognized right away. On the Tatsunoko side I was lost. None of these characters mean anything to me. By their looks they look cool and move set wise they play great. If you are not familiar with the Tatsunoko lineup don’t worry you will still enjoy choosing them.

One thing I noticed with this game was the special attacks. As much as I loved throwing bombs with Viewtiful Joe or mopping up the floor with Roll. These attacks really don’t matter some times as simple kick and punch attacks are all you need to do to win. Air battles do make a whole difference with special attacks (projectile moves mean everything while in the air). But when you are seeing millions of health points leaving your opponents you might not care if a kick or a throw is hitting them.

Playing with friends is simple and easy. You get enough of the rooster from the start where you don’t want to complain if so and so isn’t there (the cooler characters have to be earned like Zero, Frank West and so forth). When you do however adventure online with the game you can start to see some flaws. The Wii has never been the best online system and it starts to show. One minute you can be having a match with no loading and all of the sudden it is lagging like no other. I kid you not, I was in one match where I was losing damage and nothing was hitting me. I must have gotten hit by that attack before that never connected (at least from my end it didn’t seem that way).

Speaking of those extra characters it takes a good amount of time to unlock them, maybe around a dozen or more to get it all. There are other unlockables too in the game. If you hated playing fighting games over and over to unlock anything, like the modern Mortal Kombat titles and Smash Bros., then this game will bore you. Trying to beat the last boss, Okami’s Yami, is hard. It starts to get annoying real fast when the last boss keeps beating the shit out of you. The arcade mode is the best way to earn points to unlock anything so bite the bullet, that’s the easiest method.

For a fighter on the Wii from Capcom it might puzzle you on what control method to use. I went with the classic controller, something I did regret at times. When I would do basic motions for Ryu’s fireballs the classic controller didn’t always seem to go in my favor. The best way to play this game, if you are going to stick with it both on and offline has to be the joystick. Capcom did not get complex with the fighting style here but what fighter do you know that is better without a joystick?

The graphics are really impressive. Visually this game takes the versus series to a whole new level. All of the animations are fluent and never show any clipping. This game can be comparable to some of the other fighters on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 fans are going to be jealous for a very long time because this game is an exclusive and it should give gamers a reason to buy a Wii/brag about owning one.

Both the English and Japanese voice tracks are in the game. If you want to play the game how it was attended then you would stick with the Japanese voices but I have got the say that the English voice work is just as good. The sound effects and music are really good but if you don’t like random J Pop or Capcom classics tones then this game can annoy you.

Final Verdict
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is an amazing fighting game and to think that something like this would come out on the Wii still surprises me. The game might seem like it is for hardcore players only but it has easy to pick up play mechanics and it offers online play (it may not be the best online but it does have it). Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 owners are going to start crying since they can’t own this game so you have better buy it before it’s too late.

Rating Breakdown
Gameplay: 9 out of 10
    + Easy gameplay mechanics a strong list of playable characters.
    - The game only ranks supreme with an arcade joystick.
Graphics: 9 out of 10
    + One of the best looking Wii games and Capcom Versus games.
    - Some of the characters, and I mean some; feel like they did not get as much attention as others in detail.
Audio: 9 out of 10
    + Great sounding music and voiceovers.
    - Some of the in-game music is a little annoying
Replay Value: 9 out of 10
    + A lot of characters and extras to unlock and online play.
    - Playing online might frustrate some if you get stuck with a slow connecting opponent.

Overall
9 out of 10

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