Marvel
Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter
REVIEW: While
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter was enjoying a run as one of the most exciting 2D tag-team fighting games ever made, enjoying widespread success as a smash hit in arcades, Capcom fans were shocked and ecstatic to hear news about
a sequel, called Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter. With a name like that, the epic crossover between the two companies now seems bigger than ever... with more potential than ever.
"MSH Vs. SF" (for short) features an updated character roster and an exciting new selection
screen design,
bringing in the iconic heroes from Capcom's Marvel Super Heroes (1995) to
duke it out with Street Fighter's most hip warriors.
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Dream
match-ups galore.
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At its core, MSH Vs. Street Fighter isn't a whole lot different from the prequel, but it does
offer a variety of new content. Gameplay system updates include several new moves for returning
characters, new combos, and the Assist Attack mechanic, enabling partner characters to jump in during gameplay for a quick
attack or special move — adding new strategy
and combo possibilities to the fast-paced tag-team gameplay. Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street
Fighter feels fluid and fast, like the prequel. With a speedy assist attack now at your disposal, the gameplay and combo possibilities have never felt so "open". Character balance as a whole was improved this time around,
with broken infinite combos from X-Men Vs. Street Fighter being removed... however, top players found some new ones for this game too, of course). 
However, all characters are pretty good and the game is very fun to play.
The overall quality and presentation of Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street
Fighter is in line with past installments, but stands out
on its own with a unique art style and soundtrack (all brand new). The game also
debuts a new announcer, who actually kinda steals the show with his enthusiasm
and charisma. The game's announcer passionately yells out each
character's full super move title during a super combo finish (see
featured video). "Shinkuu-Tatsumaki-Senpuu-Kyaku!!!! ... "Hyper
Stars & Stripes!!!!" ... "Crawler Assault!!!". I'm not
sure any other fighting game announcer could ever come close to the hype of this
guy. 
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Enter the
assist attack.
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Along with a catchy new character selection theme,
characters were given all new BGMs. Many of them have a sort of
"jazzy" tone to them, but they're definitely catchy and manage to suit
the pace of the game quite well. Just like in X-Men Vs. Street Fighter,
after one character is
KO'ed, their partner's theme song kicks
in right as they jump into the fight! ...Still a cool effect. The
hand-drawn backgrounds from the prequel have returned, but were tweaked visually
with new lighting effects, coloring, and background details. The artists even
fit in some cool character cameos
from both Capcom and Marvel. Overall, Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street
Fighter looks, sounds, and plays differently enough from X-Men Vs. Street
Fighter to make it feel like a completely new game.
Who wouldn't want to team up Ryu
& Spider-Man and duke it out with Zangief & Hulk? This game was the
first time these dream match-ups happened. With MSH Vs. Street Fighter,
Capcom was taking major strides into their crossover legacy. While the inclusion of
Marvel's most popular icons is one of the best parts of the game, one of the game's biggest flaws is (obviously) the removal of many characters from past Versus Series installments... both on the Capcom and Marvel sides.
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Prepare
to eat big super moves for dinner.
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Sadly, most of the crew from X-Men Vs. Street
Fighter have gone M.I.A (maybe it's part of the storyline but probably not), and if you mained any of these characters, you
were most definitely "disappointed" with MSH Vs. SF upon hearing the news. 
While any fan of the first crossover would've enjoyed seeing ALL previous
X-Men characters
return (including those from X-Men: Children of the Atom), it's
still nice to see other Marvel characters getting a chance to shine in the
fighting game universe. In any case, this installment
set up some exciting possibilities for future entries to Capcom's Versus Series, taking
several necessary steps towards the full potential of the series... and leaving fans wanting
more. 
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| Page Updated: |
August
30th, 2024
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| Developer(s): |
Capcom |
| Publisher(s): |
Capcom |
| Artwork
by: |
Bengus (CRMK), Akiman |
| Platform(s): |
Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn 
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| Release Date(s): |
June 25th, 1997 Arcade
Oct. 22nd, 1998 Saturn
Jan. 31st, 1999
 PS1
Feb. 25th, 1999
PS1
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| Characters: |
Ryu,
Ken,
Chun-Li,
Zangief,
Dhalsim,
Akuma,
Dan,
Sakura,
Bison,
Cyclops,
Spider-Man,
Captain
America, Wolverine,
Hulk,
Shuma
Gorath, Blackheart,
Omega
Red, Shadow, Apocalypse,
Cyber Akuma, Mephisto,
Norimaro
( /
console) |
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Featured Video:
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| Related Games: |
Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men
Vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Vs. Capcom, Marvel
Vs. Capcom Fighting Collection, X-Men: Children of the
Atom, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Marvel
Vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Marvel
Vs. Capcom: Infinite, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, Tatsunoko
Vs. Capcom:
Ultimate All Stars, Capcom Vs. SNK, Capcom
Vs. SNK 2, Street Fighter 3, Street
Fighter 3: 2nd Impact, Mortal Kombat 4, Darkstalkers
3, Pocket Fighter, Real
Bout Fatal Fury Special, The Last Blade, Groove
On Fight |
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Gameplay
Engine
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8.5 / 10
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Story
/ Theme
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9.0 / 10
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Overall
Graphics
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9.0 / 10
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Animation
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9.0 / 10
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Music
/ Sound Effects
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9.0 / 10
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Innovation
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8.5 / 10
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Art Direction
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9.5 / 10
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Customization
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8.0 / 10
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Options / Extras
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8.0 / 10
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Intro / Presentation
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9.0 / 10
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Replayability / Fun
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8.0 / 10
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"Ouch" Factor
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8.5 / 10
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Characters
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8.0 / 10
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BOTTOM LINE
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8.7
/
10
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Review based on Arcade
version
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| Final
Words: |
I really enjoyed Marvel Super Heroes
Vs. Street Fighter...
almost as much as X-Men Vs. Street Fighter. At
first, the game seemed like a lazy rehash (and of course it was sad seeing most of my X-Men Vs. Street Fighter favorites not returning)... but I quickly learned to appreciate this game for many reasons. Entertaining. Still beautiful. And new characters get their chance to shine.
The character roster,
music, announcer, and gameplay are all particularly memorable... and still "stand out" to this day. I had some good times
with MSH Vs. SF, and I think most fans of Capcom's Versus Series would say the same thing.
Of course, Capcom wasn't done with this epic crossover. A few years later and MSH Vs. Street Fighter was succeeded by Marvel Vs. Capcom... followed by one of the all time biggest and baddest competitive fighting games of all time, our beloved Marvel Vs. Capcom
2. The latter brought back nearly every character in the series history, making all of our fanboy wildest dreams come true anyway (even if our feelings were hurt in this game).
In retrospect, we didn't know how good Capcom 2D tag-team fighting games were about to get... but in 1997-1998... Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter was a great thing to see happening, and definitely an
important stepping stone that made timeless games like MVC2 and MVC3
even possible.
~TFG
Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen
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