COLUMN: Aaron's Backstage Pass: Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins PS3 Review

I am a fan of comic books and especially the Marvel characters. There is Spiderman, Captain America, Thor, Venom, Dr. Doom, etc… I could go on and on. 

I am also a fan of Capcom and their many iconic characters like Ryu and Chun Li from Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Bionic Commando. Image all of these great characters in one game.

I was very excited when I received the PSN code for review for “Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins.” You get two classic and very popular games that came out in the 1990’s. Back in the 90s when both games came out; I remember waiting in line to play them in the arcades. I hope everyone remembers what an arcade was.

“Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins” features two different games that you can choose between by pushing select on the title screen. Both are fighting games and they are so much fun. I spent a lot of time playing these games and they brought back a lot of memories.

The first game is “Marvel Super Hero’s.”  This game features just the Marvel characters like Spiderman, Captain America, Hulk, and bunch of others.  You have gems and they can do special things when you activate them, like give you super armor so you do not take a lot of damage.  You can steal these gems when you hit the other person with a special attack.  When this is done, they will drop the gem and you can pick it up and use it.  I really thought this added a lot to the game because some characters like the Hulk are stronger and do more damage, so the gem that makes you take less damage is very helpful.

Each character has their own unique moves that are designed just for them.  Spiderman shoots webs and Captain America uses his shield to attack and defend.  I really thought the controls were really easy to use and learn.  Plus you can go to a menu that will show you how to do every move in the game for each character.  You just select the character you want and you can see all of their moves and what buttons you need to push for them. 
The second game is “Marvel vs. Capcom: Class of Super Heroes.”  This game features both Capcom and Marvel characters.  You can choose two characters and fight as a tag team.  When you are fighting you can switch out your character to the other reserve one and use them.  While you are fighting with this character the character you are not using starts to recover their health.

You can also do tag team special moves.  Both of the characters will come out and do a special attack and they can do a ton of damage to the other player if it’s not blocked. 

Each round you can get help from a special character. There is a small chart at the beginning of each round and it randomly selects who is going to help you in the match. At any time in the match you can summon this character and they will attack the other player with a special attack unique to them. This is really cool and can really change the outcome of the match if used correctly.

You can play online against other people from around the world and there is a leaderboard so you can see how you rank among other players.

The thing that makes this game amazing and will make you play it for a long time is the unlockables. There are ton of different tasks or things you need to do in the game to get points.  For instance if you throw 10 projectiles with a character you get points, or if you do 50 special moves you get points.

You can use these points to unlock art, movies, and even hidden characters. There are so many different ways to get points and if you do something that will gain you a point, a box on the left side of the screen will pop up and you can see what you did. The box will also show you how many more things you have to do to get points. I thought this was really cool and just added so much more to the game play.

I really like “Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins” a lot on the PSN. It featured a ton of great characters and it was exactly like playing the two games in the arcade. I know that I am going to be playing this game for a long time, because I am a completest and I am not done with a game until I unlock everything.

Aaron Chalich is a columnist for KSTP.com blogging about latest entertainment news.