Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

Gameplay

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter is the second installment in the Marvel vs. Capcom series of 2D fighting games. It utilizes the same one-on-one tag team format previously employed in X-Men vs. Street Fighter. The player chooses a team of two fighters, each sporting their own life gauge; at the start of the match, the first selected character is controlled by the player, while the second character remains off-screen and acts as support. Using a combination of joystick movements and button presses, the player must execute various moves to deplete the opposing team's life gauges. The first player to completely drain the opponent's health is declared the winner. If the timer reaches zero, the player that possesses the most health wins.

The most notable gameplay change in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter is the addition of the "Variable Assist". With the Variable Assist, the player can summon their off-screen character to perform a special move without changing their currently-controlled character, opening new possibilities for combos during battle and greatly expanding the role of the secondary character. The ability to use assists would later become a signature gameplay element used in several future installments of the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Modes

The arcade, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation versions of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter share Arcade Mode and Versus Mode. In Arcade Mode, the player fights waves of artificial intelligence-controlled teams, culminating in a penultimate battle against the boss character, Apocalypse, who previously appeared in X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Hero Battle is an endurance mode which pits the player against the characters that they did not select. In Cross Over, the player and the computer opponent fight with the same team of characters; if the player is victorious, then the computer swaps one character from both teams. The PlayStation port also features a Gallery Mode containing promotional and character artwork, which are unlocked by completing various goals.

Playable characters

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter features a roster of 17 playable fighters, with nine World Warriors from the Street Fighter universe and eight heroes from the Marvel Universe. In addition to the 17 immediately playable characters, the roster also contains six secret characters, all of which are palette swaps of existing fighters with different moveset properties.

The Japanese arcade and console versions of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter include an exclusive character named Norimaro (). Norimaro is an original character created and owned by Japanese comedian Noritake Kinashi, who represents neither Marvel nor Capcom. Norimaro is not available in the international releases of the game due to licensing issues from Marvel as he did not align with their brand image and characters. Norimaro was restored for the Fighting Collection re-release of the game, making him playable outside of Japan.

Marvel characters

• Armor Spider-Man
• Blackheart
• Captain America
• Cyclops
• Hulk
• Mephisto
• Omega Red
• Shuma-Gorath
• Spider-Man
• U.S. Agent
• Wolverine

''Street Fighter'' characters

• Akuma
• Chun-Li
• Dan Hibiki
• Dark Sakura
• Dhalsim
• Ken Masters
• M. Bison
• Mech-Zangief
• Ryu
• Sakura Kasugano
• Shadow
• Zangief

Development and release

As with X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter was initially developed for the CP System II arcade system board. The game debuted in Japanese and North American arcades in 1997. The game received a port to the Sega Saturn, exclusive to Japan, on October 22, 1998. Due to the console's limited RAM capacity, the tag team format was switched to the more traditional round format used in other fighting game series, such as Street Fighter. To compensate for the removal of tag team gameplay, several new game modes, such as Hero Battle and Cross Over, were implemented.

According to former Capcom USA community manager and fighting game advisor Seth Killian, one of the primary goals for Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter was to "tone down the insanity" that occurred onscreen when compared to X-Men vs. Street Fighter. The developers also sought to achieve balance within the character roster; the previous title had gained a reputation for being "broken", with characters having access to one or more infinite combos. These changes, however, were met with negative reception from fans, who criticized the game for offering less freedom. This ultimately led to Capcom recognizing the theme of insanity as the hallmark of the series and using it as a focus for future Marvel vs. Capcom installments.

In June 2020, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter was included in a home arcade cabinet from Arcade1Up alongside other games like X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. In June 2024, Capcom announced that Marvel Super Heroes 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. The Fighting Collection version includes the ability for players to control Cyber-Akuma and Norimaro.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter as the third most successful arcade game of August 1997.

The Sega Saturn version of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter received "favorable" reviews, while the PlayStation version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot praised the Saturn port for its gameplay, character roster, graphics, sprite animations, and additional RAM support, labeling it an "arcade-perfect conversion". However, Gerstmann faulted the game for being a "near-carbon copy" of X-Men vs. Street Fighter. While the PlayStation port also received praise for its gameplay and character roster, it attracted numerous criticisms, many of which stemmed from issues related to the console's memory restrictions. GameSpot, IGN, and GameRevolution all reprimanded the game for removing the original version's tag team-based gameplay. Randy Nelson of IGN stated that the lack of tag team fights negated one of the major elements that made Capcom's Vs. series stand apart, resulting in a game that was "nothing truly special or different". Ryan MacDonald of GameSpot expressed disappointment over the port's lower graphical quality and cut animation frames. Game Informer also complained about experiencing instances of slowdown. However, despite the criticisms, reviewers claimed the game as an improvement over the critically panned PlayStation port of X-Men vs. Street Fighter.

Sequel

Main article: Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

A sequel to Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, titled Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, was released for arcades in Japan and North America in 1998. The game expands its character roster beyond the Street Fighter series to include other Capcom video game franchises, such as Darkstalkers and Mega Man. While its gameplay remains similar, Clash of Super Heroes removes the "Variable Assist" feature in favor of a new system. A high-definition version of the game was also released in 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as part of the Marvel vs. Capcom Origins compilation.

References

;Notes ;Footnotes

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