40 year old fighting game players everywhere could feel a burst of youth surge through them as, all at once, they seemed to notice the announcement of Capcom’s latest nostalgia compliation: Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics.
This massive compilation features great Capcom and Marvel collaborations from the 90s and include X-Men: Children of the Atom, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom 1, The Punisher beat em up and, probably most famously, Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
It should be noted that this release is actually huge for these games, as they feature the much praised rollback feature that makes all fighting games MUCH more playable online. This release could very well revive Marvel vs. Capcom 2 as a competitive game, provided the community isn’t drawn to one of the other games in this collection, as all the games before Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are all very fun competitively as well, but just never really accumulated the same crowd that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 did in the early 2000s, so who knows? We might see some X-Men: Children of the Atom tournaments on Can Opener or Tampa Never Sleeps. Regardless, the community at large has been posting about Marvel all day.
This announcement, alongside the success of the X-Men animated revival earlier this year with X-Men ‘97 have really revitalized the 90s feel among many older fighting game players, as well as newer players who always heard stories of the glory days but never really experienced it. Talks among the community are getting so hyped that people are saying this could be a preamble to Marvel vs. Capcom 4, but that’s all just speculation.
If you want to experience the magic of 90s fighting games please purchase the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and PC through Steam.