Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was a long time favorite fighting game in the community and is still used in tournaments today – so Capcom definitely had their hands full trying to emulate the experience going into Marvel vs. Capcom 3.  I remember the week that Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds launched most of the tweets coming in from prime-time players called the game ‘broken’ and ‘unbalanced’ on Twitter and other social media websites.  The initial go-to champion for all things was Sentinel and later Phoenix in tournament play.  Making a perfect fighting game upon launch is a difficult task but Capcom as a company listens to their community and strives to make changes and updates to their games either in post launch or with an entirely new version.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is an attempt for Capcom to release an updated version of MvC3 with 12 new characters, better balanced gameplay and new graphics at a valued price of $39.99.  At first glance – UMvC3 seems improved on in a visual style – the characters and backgrounds look a bit more ’rounded’ and ‘thicker’ helping give it even more depth.  Some changes in the look will take some getting used to – like how the assist characters are lined up at the top of the screen is different and when characters go into ‘x-factor’ to boost their powers they turn into a black silhouette with a red burst of energy coming from their center.

The twelve new characters added to the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roster are Rocket Raccoon, Nova, Iron Fist, Hawkeye, Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange, Vergil, Strider, Phoenix Wright, Nemesis, Frank West, and Firebrand.  Raccoon has some clever moves in which he can tunnel his way under you and pop up on the other side, Hawkeye has a good variety of tricky arrows that will cause havoc from full screen and Frank West has special moves that involve zombies and him running over the enemies with a shopping cart full of dead bodies.

The attention to detail and characteristic traits are at all all-time high and a treat for both players and spectators.  In a recent tournament of professional players it seemed as though Vergil and Nova were favored as strong tier characters out of the newest additions.  UMvC3 will take over as the game of choice for this title and we will see over time how new characters stack up as tournament play kicks off with the new version – leading up to the biggest tournament in July 2012 – Evo2k.

Be sure to check out our sample ‘first day’ videos below:
Nova, Iron Fist & X-23 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2bjuQvzPQ0
Frank West, Ghost Rider & Doctor Doom – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRo4c9AKrnc
Nemesis, Hawkeye & Iron Fist – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OPeH4JJitQ
Phoenix Wright, Rocket Raccoon & Firebrand – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_5n9sviock
Hawkeye, Iron Fist & Doctor Strange – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtnkffb2AiU
Frank West, Ghost Rider & Hawkeye – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPz0I74Cjw