The Charge:
The Versus series returns in an all-new brawl!

Opening Statement:
Never let it be said that gaming dreams don’t come true.  Despite riding high on a wave of pure hype, I would have never guessed that Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, the legendary developer’s return to their arcade smash-hit Versus franchise would ever see the light of day on western shores.  Seeing as juggernaut anime producer Tatsunoku’s cartoon commodities are tied up in what can only be described as several decade’s worth of logistical licensing nightmares outside of Japan, a game featuring a compilation of some of their best and brightest creations  would hardly be worth the headache for a game developer to even attempt off of their native soil, .  However, once again in what is rapidly becoming a habit for Capcom, trends will be bucked, and throngs of fans will get what they’ve begged for.  Question is…was it worth bringing over?

Facts of the Case:
An assortment of larger-than-life heroes and motley villains from both anime powerhouse Tatsunoku Pro and legendary third party developer Capcom have gathered for a barnburner of a brawl.  Ansatsuken goes head-to-head with Henshin-A-Go-Go Baby!  Crazy tag-team fighting is back!  Get ready for combos that go into the dozens of hits, and more flashing lights than the entire city of Tokyo.

The Evidence:
A 2D fighter with flair to spare, Tats vs. Cap wears its heart on its sleeve.  The regimented, balanced game play of games like Street Fighter have been eschewed in favour of a more frenetic style of fighting.  For starters, the controls have been streamlined down to a grand total of four attack buttons, the requisite light, medium, and strong strikes alongside a command that calls in a gamers’ tag partner for an equalizing support attack.  There is also a catch all “AT” button that will throw out whichever strength strike that best serves the current situation, allowing for a pretty simple way of extending combo attacks.  The result is fighting that is as fast as it is furious, with 10-20 hit sequences becoming a pretty regular occurrence (purists may argue that such simple combos belie shallow game play, but we are talking about a game where damage is measured in the billions of hit points).  Rest assured though, Tats vs. Cap is no simplistic button-masher.  Fresh concepts such as Advancing Guards, Crossover  Raids, Baroque Combos, and offense-smashing Mega Crashes will keep players heading back to the training mode and instruction book for the time being until they grow accustomed to the risk vs. reward structure of what is a refreshingly nuanced fighter.   There are several available control options, though any true gamer with more than a handful of grey matter to rub together will balk at the idea of using the Wiimote or the nunchuck and opt for a Gamecube or Wii classic controller.
With a full roster of 26 playable characters (most of which play very different from one another), it’s quite easy to lose an afternoon when there is more than one gamer in the room.  I am a self-professed Street Fighter fanatic, and despite any apprehension I had in my first few rounds with Tats vs. Cap, I must say that I can see even my hardcore Street Fighter crew, a group that flat out despised the earlier Versus titles plunking down quite a few hours with this one once we get used to the rapid-fire fighting system.  Anticipating the perfect moment to launch a counter-attack can lead to one shattering the game’s illusion of mindless offense.  It’s nice to see a Versus game toss aside the brain-dead air combo happy nature of Marvel Vs Capcom 2, and offer up the same sort of well balanced game play we’ve all come to expect from Capcom’s fighting franchises.  It’s not quite Capcom Vs. SNK for the Dreamcast, but then again, very few games are.
Visually, Tats vs. Cap packs a powerful presentation punch.  It’s not often I encounter a Wii title capable of blowing my mind with great graphics, which of course only adds to the presentation impact.  The entire game is just animated beautifully, every character just oozing a sense of life.  There is the odd case of pixelization on some of the character models, but the rest of the game just exudes such a high level of activity that it’s rarely noticeable and even less bothersome.  Stages are stuffed to the gills with familiar faces and brilliant cameos, and the animations on some of the special moves can and will cause loud chortles of laughter.  Anyone who is not amused by Tatsunoku-side fighter Doronjo’s Supreme Evil Plan hyper combo is completely lacking in a soul.

Vreeeee-hee-hee-hee-hee!

Rebuttal Witness:
Lamentably, not all is milk and honey with Tats vs. Cap.  With all the strength and surprising depth of the fighting system, the game’s online component comes perilously close to biting the big one.  And we all know how much fun biting the big one is.  Depending on gamers’ physical distance from their online opponent, the chances of lag increase almost exponentially.  It’s a nuisance at best, and King of Fighters XII at worst, making certain online bouts completely unplayable for anyone outside of a casual gamer.  After spending the majority of my free time over the past holiday season elbow deep in the buttery smooth online component of Street Fighter IV, I cannot fathom the online modes of Tats vs. Cap to be anything outside of a dismal failure.  Unless of course you’re playing a local round against a gamer in the same room.  Then it’s a real hootenanny.  As well, there are a handful of roster balance issues, which is something that has been a thorn in the side of the Versus franchise since the original X-Men vs.  Street Fighter.  Capcom have done extremely well in adding a sense of depth to the combo system, and thrown in just enough complexity to keep us brawlers coming back, but again the Speed/Power scenario pops up.  A player wishing to win needs to do little more than stack their team with either a zippy little freak like Yatter-Man 1 or a slow moving, damage-dealing bruiser like G. Lightan.  It’s the Spider-man vs. Juggernaut problem, and it’s a real issue that needs to be addressed.  Outside of these two extreme ends of the spectrum, the characters are balanced just fine, but seriously Capcom?  Gamers have been griping about this for close to a decade now.

Closing Statement:
After the dust has settled from that last 32 hit combo, when all is said and done, Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is a fantastic example of fan service and a more than solid delivery of apotentially brilliant new fighting franchise.  This fills a long empty niche on the Wii, and more than makes up for 2008’s massively over-hyped (and tragically mediocre) Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  Plus, there’s a ton of bonus content to delve into.  Gamers looking to knuckle down with some serious fighting action can’t go wrong with Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, a cartoon cavalcade sure to please a whole new generation of fans.

The Verdict:

I have to admit that even for a guy who came of age during the whole anime explosion of the 80s and 90s, I still have no freaking clue who Yatter-Man is supposed to be.  I dig his disco threads and electric yo-yo, but I have no clue who he’s supposed to be.  I loves me some Tekkaman Blade though.

- J

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Eighting
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: January 26th, 2010
Rated: T for Teen.