PurpleStar
This game is fucking awesome. Criminally underrated, Capcom's actual first 3D 1 on 1Fighter is an absolute trip.
Every school has 3 characters to play as (on average) representing a different archetype, and playstyle, and it allows the team to get incredibly creative with their character archetypes.
For example, the Sports cool features a baseball player, football player, and a volleyball player. All three of them play completely differently from eachother, and are all fighting game-ified versions of their respective sports.
You can also fight as delinquents, bikers, boxers, and a lot more. The depth of gameplay with the different supers you can chain together with your teammate is also fairly impressive.
That's without even going into the expansive story mode. It's crazy, every single character combination has a different variation of the story, including boss characters (which I should mention, is quite a lot with the massive roster, and the fact that you form a team of 2 out of the 3 characters from each school)
And that's just the content you get from the arcade mode!
There's also illustrations, mini games, and if you can read japanese, the entire fully fledged school life simulator mode included in the Playstation release. That's hours and hours of content for just this game. The amount of content packed here is staggering, and just makes me sad that nobody really knows about Rival Schools, even with Akira appearing in SFV. If you like fighting games, play Rival Schools, you won't regret it.
Every school has 3 characters to play as (on average) representing a different archetype, and playstyle, and it allows the team to get incredibly creative with their character archetypes.
For example, the Sports cool features a baseball player, football player, and a volleyball player. All three of them play completely differently from eachother, and are all fighting game-ified versions of their respective sports.
You can also fight as delinquents, bikers, boxers, and a lot more. The depth of gameplay with the different supers you can chain together with your teammate is also fairly impressive.
That's without even going into the expansive story mode. It's crazy, every single character combination has a different variation of the story, including boss characters (which I should mention, is quite a lot with the massive roster, and the fact that you form a team of 2 out of the 3 characters from each school)
And that's just the content you get from the arcade mode!
There's also illustrations, mini games, and if you can read japanese, the entire fully fledged school life simulator mode included in the Playstation release. That's hours and hours of content for just this game. The amount of content packed here is staggering, and just makes me sad that nobody really knows about Rival Schools, even with Akira appearing in SFV. If you like fighting games, play Rival Schools, you won't regret it.
Decent update to SFIII. The addition of Urien, Hugo and Akuma is nice but you certainly get the impression they should have been here from the start.
Aside from that, the new stages are nice and great eye-candy.
Not much else to say since most of the game's other flourishes are more on the technical side of things, it's pretty much just a better version of New Generation.
....Which makes it completely irrelevant since you'll probably just end up playing Third Strike instead.
It does have a widescreen mode though! Which is cool, and kind of a trip after being used to the usual aspect ratio, but again there isn't much of a reason to play this way since it breaks a lot of the tech.
Aside from that, the new stages are nice and great eye-candy.
Not much else to say since most of the game's other flourishes are more on the technical side of things, it's pretty much just a better version of New Generation.
....Which makes it completely irrelevant since you'll probably just end up playing Third Strike instead.
It does have a widescreen mode though! Which is cool, and kind of a trip after being used to the usual aspect ratio, but again there isn't much of a reason to play this way since it breaks a lot of the tech.
A mix of Puzzle Fighter and regular fighting game combat. Definitely weird but it ends up playing as a simplified version of Street Fighter. The systems are deceptively complicated and you really have to master the costume combo system to make the most out of the experience.
Really the fanservice is where this game shines the most. Seeing so many Capcom characters gathered in the backgrounds and in the costumes that the regular fighters can change into during gameplay was definitely the highlight for me. Overall it's a fun little distraction and I find it really cool to see the Capcom gang wind down and have some fun here.
Really the fanservice is where this game shines the most. Seeing so many Capcom characters gathered in the backgrounds and in the costumes that the regular fighters can change into during gameplay was definitely the highlight for me. Overall it's a fun little distraction and I find it really cool to see the Capcom gang wind down and have some fun here.
1998
A mix of Puzzle Fighter and regular fighting game combat. Definitely weird but it ends up playing as a simplified version of Street Fighter. The systems are deceptively complicated and you really have to master the costume combo system to make the most out of the experience.
Really the fanservice is where this game shines the most. Seeing so many Capcom characters gathered in the backgrounds and in the costumes that the regular fighters can change into during gameplay was definitely the highlight for me. Overall it's a fun little distraction and I find it really cool to see the Capcom gang wind down and have some fun here.
Really the fanservice is where this game shines the most. Seeing so many Capcom characters gathered in the backgrounds and in the costumes that the regular fighters can change into during gameplay was definitely the highlight for me. Overall it's a fun little distraction and I find it really cool to see the Capcom gang wind down and have some fun here.
Pretty much just X-Men Vs Street Fighter with slightly different characters, and a whole slew of hidden extras. Not much to say about this one, just a solid update to the last game. Tough this is also where Cyber Akuma makes his first appearance. Ironically this version of Akuma is a lot easier than Apocalypse and the regular Akuma, but it makes for an awesome finale, and a great surprise if you can make it all the way to the final boss in the arcades.
So weird to play this game in it's very first incarnation. It's a completely different beast, but still quite fun. The cast is certainly missing a lot of iconic character most people associate with 3rd Strike, but at least most of the freaks are accounted for lol. Mechanically speaking this is by far the richest Street Fighter yet, and the CPS3 board allows for some insane visuals. The presence of Hugo's unfinished sprites in the game's data suggests that there was probably more content planned, but it was pushed out instead to a new version in the form of Giant Attack.
For what it is, New Generation is good, just missing something.
For what it is, New Generation is good, just missing something.
I always hear people trash talk this game. Saying it's a bad game, but I honestly think people just see the (honestly not that terrible) 3D visuals and immediately assume the game is garbage because of that.
This couldn't be further from the truth. Arika developed this game, instead of Capcom, and due to this, you have very slight variants on what you'd expect from your average Street Fighter experience (that, and a whole slew of brand new characters created by Arika, who fit nicely with the Capcom crew).
What makes this game so great is how every move and Super can be linked into eachother seamlessly if you know what you're doing. The music is also absolutely incredible, a highlight through the entire EX series.
This couldn't be further from the truth. Arika developed this game, instead of Capcom, and due to this, you have very slight variants on what you'd expect from your average Street Fighter experience (that, and a whole slew of brand new characters created by Arika, who fit nicely with the Capcom crew).
What makes this game so great is how every move and Super can be linked into eachother seamlessly if you know what you're doing. The music is also absolutely incredible, a highlight through the entire EX series.
1996
The first game on the new CPS3 board! And surprisingly enough it's an experimental boss rush game.
You can basically choose the class you want to play as at the start of the game, and move through different orders of the bosses depending on which character you choose. Leo is obviously the easiest character to pick up on compared to everyone else, and is usually who I decide to to play as when I come back to this game.
The level up system is...odd to say the least, and certainly makes this game extremely difficult to approach as a 1 on 1 fighter, despite having the option to play it like that. The game isn't really designed for that though, and as a boss rush game, it's just an incredibly fun time. I've seen people describe this game as a tutorial for regular fighters, and with each boss covering a different archetype of fighters, I can certainly see it. An absolute hidden gem.
You can basically choose the class you want to play as at the start of the game, and move through different orders of the bosses depending on which character you choose. Leo is obviously the easiest character to pick up on compared to everyone else, and is usually who I decide to to play as when I come back to this game.
The level up system is...odd to say the least, and certainly makes this game extremely difficult to approach as a 1 on 1 fighter, despite having the option to play it like that. The game isn't really designed for that though, and as a boss rush game, it's just an incredibly fun time. I've seen people describe this game as a tutorial for regular fighters, and with each boss covering a different archetype of fighters, I can certainly see it. An absolute hidden gem.
Another absolute classic.
The proper start to the Marvel Vs Capcom franchise, the World Warriors in their Alpha 2 incarnations (and a brand new Alpha version of Guile and Cammy!), and a hand picked selection of previous X-Men COTA fighters clash against each other! This is also the first game to introduce the tag team mechanics that the MvC franchise is based on, as well as the air juggling, and they're just as much of a joy here as they are in the later entries.
Apocalypse is kind of a pain to fight against, but after enough memorization he's not all that bad. still for a final boss he's definitely meant to be an unabashed quarter muncher
The proper start to the Marvel Vs Capcom franchise, the World Warriors in their Alpha 2 incarnations (and a brand new Alpha version of Guile and Cammy!), and a hand picked selection of previous X-Men COTA fighters clash against each other! This is also the first game to introduce the tag team mechanics that the MvC franchise is based on, as well as the air juggling, and they're just as much of a joy here as they are in the later entries.
Apocalypse is kind of a pain to fight against, but after enough memorization he's not all that bad. still for a final boss he's definitely meant to be an unabashed quarter muncher
more of the same from Power Battle, but that's not a bad thing!
The Robot masters and their respective story paths have been complexified just a little bit more, and so have the fighting mechanics. You'll probably still be blasting through everything in a couple credits if you know what you're doing, but it's still a decent bit of fun with friends.
The Robot masters and their respective story paths have been complexified just a little bit more, and so have the fighting mechanics. You'll probably still be blasting through everything in a couple credits if you know what you're doing, but it's still a decent bit of fun with friends.
Capcom's first attempt at a 3D Fighter, and a weapon based fighter on top of that. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea to be honest.
The fighting mechanics feel really awkward and the style just wasn't my thing. It's incredibly obvious that this was meant to be a Star Wars game at some point, and Capcom couldn't get the license. This leaves the game with very little identity of it's own. not the worst fighting game I've ever played but also not one I'd really come back to
The fighting mechanics feel really awkward and the style just wasn't my thing. It's incredibly obvious that this was meant to be a Star Wars game at some point, and Capcom couldn't get the license. This leaves the game with very little identity of it's own. not the worst fighting game I've ever played but also not one I'd really come back to
1993
As far as Beat-Em Ups go, I don't think you could go wrong with The Punisher
The spritework is amazing, and out of all the marvel properties to adapt into a beat em up, The Punisher works incredibly well. The gun sections are also a nice change of pace, and are just different enough from the usual punching gameplay to spice up the gameplay every now and then.
The spritework is amazing, and out of all the marvel properties to adapt into a beat em up, The Punisher works incredibly well. The gun sections are also a nice change of pace, and are just different enough from the usual punching gameplay to spice up the gameplay every now and then.
For a little joke puzzle game, this is quite a fun time.
The block matching is easy enough to pick up on, and the Capcom backdrop adds a lot to the charm of the game. Also a neat touch that every character gets their own block loadout, and allows them to have their personality shine a little bit through their gameplay (Dan only gets Red blocks, poor guy). One of those games that you can never go wrong playing with friends.
The block matching is easy enough to pick up on, and the Capcom backdrop adds a lot to the charm of the game. Also a neat touch that every character gets their own block loadout, and allows them to have their personality shine a little bit through their gameplay (Dan only gets Red blocks, poor guy). One of those games that you can never go wrong playing with friends.
Now this is an upgrade! This feels like what Alpha 1 should have been in the first place. Just a solid fighter all around. Lots of extras and secrets to find, a fully fledged roster, and banging music. Not much more to say about this game honestly, it's just a fun time all around, I come back to this one quite often.
1995
The sequel to X-Men Children of the Atom, this game oozes with charm. The infinity gems are a fun addition to the gameplay, and getting to play as so many cool Marvel characters is a fun shakeup from the last game's focus on X-Men characters.
On top of Akuma coming back as a secret character, with some hacking, you can also play as Anita from Darkstalkers! And she probably has one of the most bizarre movesets I've seen in a good long while. Makes you wonder how people even came up with this kinda stuff.
On top of Akuma coming back as a secret character, with some hacking, you can also play as Anita from Darkstalkers! And she probably has one of the most bizarre movesets I've seen in a good long while. Makes you wonder how people even came up with this kinda stuff.