Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review
By MLYW
Since this game is primarly a fighting game, this review will cover mostly on gameplay. Tatsunoko vs Capcom is the latest installment in the Vs. Series which crosses over 2 Universes of characters, the animation company, Tatsunoko, and the video game company, Capcom.
Gameplay Mechanics 9/10
The gameplay is just as similar as in the other Vs. Series where the goal is knock out your opponents by taking out their Life Gauge in a 2D Tag Team match. However, unlike the other Vs Games which use 6 buttons, this game only uses 4 buttons during gameplay. The three buttons are attack buttons which go, light, meduim, and heavy and the fourth button is the partner button which can be used for your partner to assist you in battle or perform baroque combos. Besides basic attacks, characters can perform Special attacks by performing specific movements on the control stick. The strongest attacks in the games are the character's supers which are performed simlar as special attacks but require a Super Guage and the press of 2 attack buttons. The super gauge fills uo by dealing damage or taking damage. The game relies on stringing attacks together to perform combos and deal a good amount damage. Combos are mostly performed by canceling your moves into a stonger attacks. Attacks can be canceled in this order L -> M -> H -> Special -> Supers though any step can be skipped such as L -> Super. It might be a bit confusing at first but once you get used to it, it works perfectly. To keep the game away from those extremely long combos you might get stuck in the game introduced the Mega Crash technique which sends your opponent away from you at the cost of 2 super bars and a bit of your health. Consuming but extremely useful.
Gameplay Modes 9/10
The games has the classic Arcade mode where you fight against serval teams who progressively become much difficult until you get to the final boss. Most things are unlocked in this mode so you might see your self playing several times here. There is a Versus mode which you can use to play with another friend for some good multiplayer. There is a Survival mode where you keep on fighting until your lose with health only being slighty healed in between. A Time Attack mode is aviable to those who love speeding through the game. There is a practice mode where you can practice under your own conditions. All of the mentioned modes(Besides versus and practice) can earn you Zenny the game's currency to buy extra content in the game's shop. In the shop you can buy alternate costumes for your characters, artwork, videos, and characters. The artwork and videos once bought can be seen in the Gallery for your veiwing pleasure. There is an online mode where you can battle it out with people around the world. The online has a player profiles so you can see how much battles the opponent has won and his fighting style, (Flames for aggresives, Ice for defensive, and Lighting for evasive). The online might put a player off for a while since it's mostly filled with pros taking away a bit of the replay value. The final mode is an unlockable mode which I won't go into details.
Characters 9/10
An important part of the game is it's fairly balanced roster of characters which contains Tatsunoko and Capcom characters. You probably won't recognize most of the characters but it has a large variety of characters which range from Tekkaman to Ryu to Roll. There's probably not one character you wouldn't want to play as. The characters are all mostly fairly balanced with their own strength and weaknesses but some might be easier to learn than others. Each character have their own special attacks and supers which can range from humorous to badass so you'll want to learn all the characters' moves. Not all the characters are as easy to master though so that might be frustrating for a while. The game probably has the most colorful roster of any current fighting game. The game contains 5 unlockable characters to add to the roster which can be unlocked in Arcade mode.
Graphics 9/10
The game has some beautiful Cel shaded 3D graphics and is probably one of the best good looking games on the Wii. The backgrounds are greatly detailed and colorful and the characters look great. The Supers look extremely nice as well. Not much to say.
Replay Value 8/10
The game has a quite amount of replay value with the amount of extra content one might want to unlock and all the different game modes. Each character also has their own ending in Arcade mode so it's nice to see all the character's ending. Their isn't much to do besides fighting in the game though this isn't a big problem since it's fun and there is always the extra unlockable mode for a change of pace. The online might put of new players from the game because of more experienced players so the replay value is a bit lowered.
Average(Rounded up) 9/10
- Great gameplay, colorful roster, much to unlock, easily accesable.
I recommend this to anyone looking for a great fighter or simply a great experience on the Wii.