Now that the curtain has been unveiled and we officially know that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is returning to consoles this summer, I cannot help but feel a slight bit underwhelmed for some reason. Yes, online play will be cool assuming you only play with friends and having all of the characters at your disposal would be sweet. But I just feel that there was a few opportunities missed. If we are ever good enough to be graced by a Marvel vs. Capcom 3 then there are definate things that need to be tweeked, added, and left alone.

Blogger Note: I guess IGN’s basically doing something similar to what I’m posting, and apparently used a few of the same ideas I had. Those fuckers. Grr. Fuck them, I’m cooler. Also yes, I know I have two blog posts in the same day and posted them relatively close to each other.

Three on Three Multiplayer
One of the biggest things about MvC2 was being able to put together your own three-person dream team. My total ridiculous team of Gambit/Akuma/Mega Man will at least get a glimmer of online play personally, Street Fighter 4 fans will probably use Ken/Ken/Ken as their dream team of choice, and the overwhelming wave of people using Magneto/Sentinel/Storm will be there as well. The only way to logically make this any more fun is simply by adding the ability for more than 2 people to be included in this fray at once.

Balance
Need I really say more? As much as I fucking loved MvC2, it was one of the more unbalanced fighters ever put out by Capcom. Since no word has been announced on whether the ’09 release of MvC2 is going to be rebalanced I’m going to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. If the worst does occur and MvC2 stays so unbalanced, then obviously balancing will need to be one of the key factors of a third game.

Keep the Anime Sprite Style
The art in MvC 1 and 2 I always thought was very superb, very good work on the sprites. While I love the art style that Street Fighter 4 uses, I really do feel that using this style for a Marvel vs Capcom 3 would take away from the over the top action and the anime/comic book feel the game has. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would definitely need to go the way of Turbo HD Remix and just give us extremely nice looking high definition sprites.

More Characters
Yes, I know, the roster is pretty damn huge already. However both universes have expanded a bit since the last time they combated one another, and there are definitely characters on both sides that should get to be thrown into the fray. I’m going to make cases for a few of the characters below, because god damnit I would so be these guys. Also, while adding new characters is always awesome you definately dont want to fuck with the characters who are already in the game. By fuck with them I mean dont ruin Venom and make the MvC3 Venom the shitty Mac Gargan version. Seriously.

--New Marvel Fighters Who Should Be In MvC3--
Deadpool

Throwing a smartass merc with a mouth into a fighting game that’s just as over the top and silly as Deadpool is makes sense in every way. There are a lot of subtle fourth-wall things that could make Deadpool hilarious while fighting; like perhaps yelling ‘square square circle triangle’ and various button names that the player is actually hitting. For ultimate attacks I think we’d all expect Deadpool to scream out the name of the move and see it appear in one of his goofy yellow boxes just above his head. Deadpool himself obviously would make a great fighter as well; guns and swords are always a plus.

Thor

Although he was an assist character in the original Marvel vs. Capcom, I’m truthfully stunned that Thor wasn’t included in MvC2. Thor really does feel like the biggest glaring omission from the games in general, this would be like excluding Wonder Woman from Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. Thor is traditionally regarded as one of the most important characters in the Marvel Universe and he’s part of the holy trinity of the Avengers alongside Captain America and Iron Man (both of whom were in Marvel vs. Capcom 2).

Punisher

Like Thor, here’s another popular character that somehow got cut in favor of Silver Samurai and Thanos. Although Punisher lacks any kind of super powers, his mastery with guns could still allow him to fly with everybody else. Just please, don’t make him look anything close to how he looks in that terrible movie Punisher: War Zone

Norman Osborn

Osborn could arguably be two different characters in this game; his most famous alias is the Green Goblin but fans paying attention to the current Marvel Universe will also know that he’s the Iron Patriot. Either way, he is a very powerful and influential villain in the Marvel Universe and deserves to be included alongside fellow villains Magneto, Venom, and Doctor Doom.

Daredevil

He’s the man without fear and is an awesome Marvel character. I really dont know what else I can say about him, outside of the fact that he's a blind dude who could kick all of our asses. Plus, who wouldn’t want the chance to beat the fuck out of Ben Affleck for a few rounds?

Possible Marvel Boss Character
Galactus

Apocalypse and Onslaught were used in previous crossover games already, so it wouldn’t be logical to recycle either of these villains again. When looking specifically at the Marvel Universe, Galactus seems to be the last logical universe-threatening villain available. But hey, he’s definitely a worthy one.

--New Capcom Fighters Who Should Be In MvC3--
Viewtiful Joe (Viewtiful Joe)

Since he already appeared in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom it wouldn’t be difficult to copy and paste Joe into Marvel vs Capcom 3. Assuming MvC3 would use a sprite style just like the previous games, Joe should be the only character in the game who should appear in a cell-shaded animated style.

Zero (Mega Man X)

The original Mega Man is already on the roster, so including Mega Man X would be kinda stupid. Plus Zero trully always felt like the face of the X franchise to me, more so than even X did (more of the stories seemed to involve Zero more then they did X anyway). His crazy sword play and melee combat would fit right into the crazy style of the game play.

Fei Long (Street Fighter 2/4)

Okay, I’m throwing this one in because he’s one of my favorite Street Fighter characters. Capcom’s ultimate homage to Bruce Lee needs to step into the crossover as well. For storyline purposes you could just write up a quick story talking about how Fei Long wants to prove his skills against people who aren’t just humans anymore, but metahumans from the Marvel Universe.

Albert Wesker (Resident Evil 5)

After mopping the floor with Jill & Chris, Wesker seemed more like a comic book villain than a Resident Evil villain anyways. Since the Capcom side of the MvC roster seems to have a more uneven hero/villain ratio then the Marvel side, the bad guys would obviously need a little more love.

Dante (Devil May Cry)

Dante is a character who tries to do everything he can with an unnecessary amount of style and flair, explaining why he wouldn’t fit into MvC3 would take less time then explaining why he belongs simply because there are so many reasons why he would fit. Even though he’s born and bred for hack and slash adventure titles, you could almost argue that he would fit even better in a fighter with his combat style and his attitude. Dante is a lot like Dan, except actually fucking useful.

Possible Capcom Boss Character
Seth (Street Fighter 4)

He needs to be brought back as a boss for one simple reason, to have Magneto/Sentinel/Storm show him what true cheapness is all about. I think everybody who’s played Street Fighter 4 would love to get a rematch against this guy and give him a solid triple hyper combo punch in the face.