Marvel vs. Capcom Arcade Classics: Fighting Collection is a collection of classic Capcom and Marvel fighting games that bring their characters to the battle arena. This is a new console release for several of the games, an updated console release for others, and marks the first appearance of Capcom’s classic beat’em-up game, The Punisher, since its initial release in 1993. With so many exciting games to play and nostalgic memories to unlock, let’s break down the collection of games and the overall experience.

As the second entry in Capcom’s Fighting Collection series, it commemorates the crossover fighting series that swept Arcades back in the 90s. The seven games available in the collection are The Punisher (1993), X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998), and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000). 

The collection features online multiplier for Casual, Ranked, and Tournament play with spectator mode. It offers a training feature for each game, a quick save function, one-button commands for Hyper Combos in offline/training modes, and a museum mode where you can explore concept illustrations and art for the games. There is also the addition of new playable characters for certain games, an exciting chance for Marvel and Capcom fans to try their hands at other fighters. X-Men: Children of the Atom added Magneto, Juggernaut, and Street Fighter character Akuma. Marvel Super Heroes added Doctor Doom, Thanos, and the Darstalkers character Anita. Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter added a depiction of Cyber Akuma and Norimaro for international versions of the game. 

Though several of these games had been made available over time on consoles, it was a long time between the last publication and now which triggered the conversation of this collection. There was a huge fan push in 2021 to have the Marvel vs. Capcom games available again despite pushback from Marvel’s new owner. Since the voices of the fans were so loud, discussion began to bring these games to newer consoles for everyone to enjoy and the collection was officially announced in June of 2024 during Nintendo Direct. It was mainly targeted at Nintendo players as the collection fit well with Nintendo’s gaming style and was appearing for the first time on the console, but it was made available for other consoles as well. It was released digitally first with a physical version coming out later, treating fans who pre-ordered to an exclusive one-shot comic from Marvel. 

Playing the Games

As someone who didn’t grow up going to arcades, this was my first experience with any of these titles, even though I was familiar with their names. Fighting games are not my strength, so I struggled with learning how to play and understanding the levels/fighting skills. Each game was enjoyable though, and having a large variety of characters to choose from made each round extremely fun yet challenging. My favorite games were Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes and X-Men vs. Street Fighter because of the selection of characters and the overall style of the games. Even if you only play two or three games, getting all these games in one collection is worth it and I fully recommend it.

If you grew up playing these games or are a huge fan of fighting games, this collection is perfect for you! Being able to play on the Switch makes it super easy to take the games on the go or you can enjoy a game night with others and show them how fun this collection is. There is some challenge with adapting to the controls if this is your first time playing, but with training available it’s easy to learn and gain confidence.

This fighting collection was released for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Windows in 2024 with an Xbox One version coming in 2025. It received generally favorable reviews despite the initial issues with the online system, which were quickly patched. 

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