Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Retro Review

Super Street Fighter IV is almost here and to take the edge off of the wait, I got my hands on Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars for the Wii. Yeah I know, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom came out three months ago, so that’s why I’m filing this one away as a “retro” review.

The Characters

Similar to other Capcom vs. titles, you get to choose two characters, either from the Capcom side or the Tatsunoko side, to team up and throw down. For Capcom, you get to play as classic characters like Ryu and Chun Li from Street Fighter with some unexpected characters like Viewtiful Joe, and Frank West from Dead Rising. From Tatsunoko, an anime studio, you get to play some of the more quirkier characters like the baton wielding Yatterman-2, Goldan Lightan, a 24K robot that barely fits on the screen, and Ken the Eagle from the popular anime series Gatchaman. After you’ve picked your two characters, one of which you’ve probably never heard of, you set off to fight eight stages of opponents to secure your place as champion of everything.

The Controls

The first thing I noticed when I started playing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is the game is missing half of the buttons. To explain, most fighting games have at least six important buttons, light, medium, and heavy punch and light, medium, and heavy kick, but Tatsunoko vs. Capcom only had three buttons, light, medium, and heavy to cover all six different types of punches and kicks. Meaning, whenever I pressed the A button on my controller, I never knew if I was going to punch or kick. Since I don’t believe in reading directions, I never got around to figuring out how to consistently throw punches and kicks, so for me, the game quickly devolved into a button mashing extravaganza. Aside from the kick/punch issue, the controls for the GameCube were tight and responsive, which made combos really easy when I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t brave enough to play the game with the Wiimote and Nunchuck, so I can’t say for certain how those controls worked.

The Visuals

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a 2D fighter with lush 3D backgrounds that will make your eyes pop out considering this is a Wii game. While you battle your way through the game, you will undoubtably use your super attacks either on purpose or on accident like I did, to gain the upper hand, and oh, how pretty those super attacks look. When a super is successfully activated, the screen shifts into a movie like mode, where the character performs a dizzying over the top move that dazzles and destroys. For example, Roll’s super consists of sweeping away her opponents with a blazing broom of fire then lifting a giant bucket of water 100 times her size and pouring a tsunami’s worth of water on her victims in an attempt to drown them. I knew cleaning could be hazardous to your health and that’s exactly why my room is always mess.

The Story

I’m going to be honest with you, I have no Idea what the story is about. Some kind of magical skull, something about danger and doom, and universes colliding, your guess is probably better then mine. It’s your standard not good story telling from a fighting game…with text endings!!! Seriously, give me a cinematic ending that at the very least rivals the visuals of a super attack, come on Capcom, it’s 2010 not 1993.

The Special Features

Yay the Wii has online capabilities, its sad that online for the Wii is a special feature and not standard, but Nintendo is getting there. Most of the online battles had a bit of a lag and there was also something wrong with the ranked matches. Instead of facing off with other beginners, I kept getting intermediate or advanced players who mopped the floor with me. Other extras include purchasing artwork, movies, and extra costumes for your characters.

Overall

Did Tatsunoko vs.s Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars fill the void before Super Street Fighter IV’s release?

Yes, yes it did. It may not have been the hardcore brawler that I was expecting, but it certainly was a pleasant distraction. If you’re ever in the mood to mix it up with some of your favorite Capcom characters or you actually know who the Tatsunoko characters are, I recommend you give this game a try.