GENRE
	Fighting
	DEVELOPER
	Eighting
	PUBLISHER
	Capcom
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	Yes
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

For years, the Vs. series has been Capcom's under-appreciated gem. Often overshadowed by its mainline fighting series sibling, Marvel Vs. Capcom and its sequels have always been solid fighting games that worked hard to give fans of both companies an enjoyable experience. While not as "hardcore" as Street Fighter, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars manages to be a fun fighter that is accessible to all players while offering plenty of depth for true fighting game fans. This is the absolute best fighting game available on Wii and one of the best for any current-gen console.

But what makes it such a great game? For starters, the game is presented in a 2.5D style, similar to the Super Smash Bros. series or the recent Street Fighter IV. For the first time in the Vs. series, sprite-based characters are gone and replaced with fully-rendered 3D models. It's a fantastic graphical style that makes the game pop on screen. Thankfully, though, Capcom did not go overboard with the 3D presentation by setting things in a 3D arena: the game presents the action on a 2D plane, giving instant familiarity to those who have played these kinds of games before while not overwhelming newcomers to the genre.

Overall, the graphical style is eye-poppingly gorgeous. The game looks fantastic with plenty of particle effects and oodles of style. Some of the special attacks fill the screen with such beautiful effects that players may ask themselves, "Am I really playing this game on Wii?" The sound also offers plenty to love. From the J-pop-inspired intro with rapping on top, to the techno-heavy menu screens, to the character and stage themes in the actual levels, the game is an aural treat. Unfortunately, some of the character-specific themes for the Tatsunoko characters were lost with the North American version of the game thanks to licensing issues. These missing songs are really a minor issue, though, and many players will probably not even realize they are missing. The other major casualty of the transition to American shores are the ending movies created by Tatsunoko for the game. However, Capcom did contract Udon Entertainment to create static screens to tell the story for each character. Occasionally it can be grating that the style is a little different in these ending screens, but all-in-all Udon got the job done admirably. However, the game does not stand on its graphics alone.

Most of the mechanics that have been present in previous Vs. series games reappear in Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. Most importantly, the team mechanic, an integral part of the Vs. experience, makes a full return. With the exception of two giant characters, every battle is fought between teams of two. Players have the option of pairing up Street Fighter's Ryu with Viewtiful Joe or any other wacky combination desired. Having tag teams also allows players to switch up fighting styles and extend combos while exploring near infinite combinations of special attacks. Tag teaming isn't a new mechanic, but it adds levels of depth and helps keep the game fresh with each match. The only downside to the partner mechanic comes with the fact that half the roster is virtually unknown to American audiences. The Tatsunoko side, while having some interesting fighters, has virtually no recognizable faces to those not steeped in Otaku fandom. Thankfully, knowledge of the individual characters' backstories is not required to enjoy playing as them, and any character can be deadly in the right hands.

Like many fighting games, Tatasunoko Vs. Capcom comes down to zone control, trying to out-think the opponent and react. There's a three-strength attack system like Street Fighter IV-- light, medium and heavy attacks-- that may be chained together to create combos effectively preventing your opponent from fighting back. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom allows players to use various control schemes from the overly simple sideways Wii Remote to the Classic Controller or GameCube controller, to an arcade stick-- for the truly hardcore. In practice, the Classic Controller is the best to use, unless players are willing to slap down $40-80 for an arcade stick. The Wii Remote on its own is easier, but it is definitely dumbed down compared to the other options, making combos insanely easy to pull off but sacrificing much of the fine-tuning experts can eke out of the system. First timers should try it out, but the game is best enjoyed with the Classic Controller or arcade stick. The GameCube controller just doesn't work thanks to its tiny control pad that makes it extremely difficult to pull off combos.

Beyond the basic controls, the game also features various super combos that deal a lot of damage, but require the use of a combo meter. The combo meter builds up as players attack (or are attacked) and there are some excellent super moves, from the serious such as Ryu's "Shin Shoryuken" and Tekkaman's "Space Knights Formation," to the bizarre, such as Frank West's "Zombie Charge" and Roll's "Oh. No. You. Didn't." Special moves can also be chained together between characters for up to three super attacks in a row, if the player has enough saved up in the combo meter. Apart from these special moves, the combo meter may be used to activate a "Mega Crash" feature that allows players to sacrifice some life and two levels on their combo meter to break out of almost anything. Also a part of the core game mechanics is life regeneration. Any time a character takes damage, part of it remains in that character's life bar in red. If tagged out, the red life bar will recover into "real life" as the character's off-screen. This red portion of life may also be sacrificed to cancel out of a combo and immediately start a new Baroque Combo. This can be a little hard to grasp at first, but after a little practice players will be combining moves together with ease.

The biggest complaint against the game is the repetitive nature of unlocking everything. Completionists will become bored quickly, as the only way to unlock everything is to play through the arcade mode with every character. Even after that is done, players will still need to earn Zenny-- Capcom's in-game currency system-- in order to buy the costumes that are unlocked. More Zenny is gained by hitting letters in an ending credits mini-game, but it's still a hassle. Apart from new costumes, Zenny may be used to unlock galleries of characters and stages, as well as special illustrations and special movies. Unfortunately, there just never seems to be enough Zenny unlocked. The good news is that Zenny does not have to be spent to unlock characters as once the win condition is met secret characters are immediately available for play. For players who just want to unlock every secret character, a minimum of 14 playthroughs is required. This can be sped up a bit by knocking the difficulty down to one star, but after the fourteenth time of taking down the incredibly cheap final boss, players will probably never want to go back to the arcade mode again. Fortunately, the game features more than just the arcade mode.

The game has a robust two-player vs. mode, but it really shines with its online matchmaking. While Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom doesn't do away with friend codes, the game does allow players to jump online and play any character they've unlocked against other Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars players around the world. Players can enjoy free matches or ranked battles that award points and ranks for winning matches. Any time that players feel they've faced a worthy opponent, they can ask to become rivals after the match. It's like being able to add someone to a friends list without having to swap friend codes. For players who do have other Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom-playing friends, friend codes set up quickly and easily allowing for as many matches as players want to undertake.

For the most part, battles are lag-free, though there is still the occasional match where it chugs along, usually because of the distance between players. One major annoyance with the online matches are "rage quitters," players so determined to have a good ranking that they disconnect instead of gracefully losing a match. While the game warns players who prematurely quit often will eventually be banned, Capcom reps have stated that the system actually links those who quit out of matches with others who do the same. If either of these penalties do exist, it's too early to see the effects, as many of the "top-ranked" players are known rage quitters. Thanks to this annoyance, online ends up being most fun with a friend. The omission of WiiSpeak support is also glaringly obvious since, even when playing with friends, an outside chat option (such as Skype) must be used.

Don't let those minor complaints fool you, though. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is one of the best titles in Wii's library. If you are a fan of the fighting game genre, this game should be on the top of your list, and even those who have never picked up a fighting game before should give this one a try. Just don't worry when you get beaten by Roll carrying a huge bucket of water. That robot-girl is a beast.

9.4/10