With the western release of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars just around the corner I thought I would be appropriate to post a my thoughts of the Japanese version that I wrote in February. It is reproduced bellow but a few differences between the release I played and the one which will make its was to foreign shores. One character named Hakushon Daimaō (a genie) has been removed, probably because he was out of keeping with the majority of the games art style. In his place Capcom announced four as yet unidentified characters (two from Capcom and two from Tatsunoko) that will be revealed at TGS at the end of this month. The other major edition will be an online versus mode which promised to greatly increase the value and lifespan of the the game. How well the online will be implemented on Wii we are yet to find out, but most of Capcom’s recent online fighter’s net code has been quite robust so my hopes are high. Also somewhat obviously the US release will be in English so I will be able to understand the point of all the bonus games and what unlocks I am purchasing when I pick the game up again this year.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a continuation of the X vs. Capcom games (where X = Marvel, X-men or SNK) a series of Street Fighter variants on acid. It takes the core elements of SF and super charges the jumps and special moves to the point of ludicrousness. Jumps can span three screens; super moves make the screen explode in a sea of colour and bosses dwarf the player characters. It takes a game which is familiar to many, removes much of strategy and skill replacing it with the silly (oh and mini-games).

The other element to know about in understanding the game is Tatsunoko. A Japanese comic and cartoon brand most famous in the west for Battle of the Planets. Beyond that they are pretty much unknown outside the otaku fan community. This doesn’t stop the game being fun, but does mean you will find yourself gravitate towards the familiar Capcom characters.

That is really what the game is about; character and personality. It isn’t balanced. It doesn’t pretend to be. You pick the two characters you like or are familiar with and hope that the designers deemed to make the one of the stronger characters. For two players it’s great you jump in with who ever you fancy, fight and then argue about why you lost. It is a party game Street Fighter game.

Its fun (most of the time) assuming you have some knowledge of the characters beyond Ryu and Chun-Li. Unfortunately the single player becomes infuriating towards the end. The majority of the single player game is actually quite easy, and then you meet the final boss (as seen in Okami). Supposedly the ultimate evil, it has three forms. The first is reasonable enough. The second provides reasonable challenge. The final form however takes the form of unreasonable frustration, which I am near positive on normal difficulty is impossible without two of the stronger characters to make up you team.

That said apart from this frustration of the final boss it is the perfect fighting game for the Wii, far more suited to the majority of the Wii audience than SF4. It requires very little experience to enjoy, and it looks better than the majority of titles available for Wii. It is less complex than the traditional Capcom fighters making it easier for inexperienced player to pick up. The classic punch and kick buttons are replaced with context dependent light, mid and heavy strikes as well as adding a partner button. Counters, parries and reversals are all replaced with partner moves and baroques which while retaining the depth are more easily executable by novice players. Any time you do anything even mildly note worthy you are rewarded with rainbow colours and screen shattering effects. Its Street Fighter Smash Bros. taking the most enjoyable and accessible elements of each and making a fighter experienced players and casual gamers can enjoy on near equalled footing.