Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection is a knockout victory

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will finally launch this week, and it’s a cathartic moment. These influential fighting games haven’t been readily available on modern gaming platforms for a long time, and this rerelease is their chance to capture the hearts of fighting game fans during this genre renaissance. I’ve been playing Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection ahead of its wide release, and I’m happy to report that it’s exactly what fans of this series have been waiting for. From The Punisher to Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Capcom’s Marvel arcade games of the 1990s are represented here in glorious, unadulterated fashion.

Fighting game fans and those particularly in love with titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 will be happy with the tournament-ready emulated versions of all the games here. They all hold up alongside modern fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8. Those with less nostalgia for these games, but an appreciation for their history will enjoy seeing Capcom’s Marvel video game efforts evolve over time. There’s also a museum with plenty of interesting content from the development of these games.

A series revived

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection features the American and Japanese versions of seven different arcade games: The Punisher, X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. If nothing else, it’s fascinating to both play and see how this loose series of games evolved over seven or so years.

These games were released before my time, and my only experience really playing them was at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Chicago. Still, playing all of them back-to-back like this gave me a deeper appreciation for these revered classics. I played through the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection chronologically, which is the best way to do it if you’re unfamiliar with most of the games