Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars - Wii

It was a little over a year ago that I went out and grabbed an import copy of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom to play around with. Now, all this time later, it’s time to go hands-on with a playable build from the US version including the expanded roster, which adds Frank West of Dead Rising fame, Joe the Condor, Zero from Megaman X, and Tekkaman Blade, a different version of the character.

The roster is still largely from the Tatsunoko side of the coin and your familiarity with any of those characters is a big variable. I’m still sure most people will end up playing Ryu and Chun-Li more than anyone else. People who do branch out and explore the other characters will be rewarded, however.

The mechanics haven’t changed since the Japanese version. From that preview:

“The gameplay is like Capcom’s other versus games and it emphasizes big combos, juggling, and lots (and lots) of specials. It’s not uncommon for players to unleash 4 or 5 specials in a row. Damage is light, which extends the length of battles and injured characters will regain a bit of health while waiting in the wings. There are defensive abilities like “Advancing Guard”, which acts as a parry while letting you advance toward the enemy and something called “Baroque”, which takes away the red in your life bar (that you would eventually regenerate) to boost your attack power for a short period.”

The US version will be adding WiFi multiplayer, allowing players to compete against others across the world. The system will take a page from Street Fighter IV’s system offering a ranked mode to earn BP and selectable icons to customize your online persona. Unfortunately, this wasn’t playable in the build sent to us by Capcom. I’m looking forward to checking out how effective the WiFi multiplayer will be on the Wii.

The new characters fit in nicely, even if Frank West looks a bit off. Four additional fighters bring the final tally up to 25 combatants. While the game doesn’t hit the chaos levels found in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Tatsunoko should prove to be a must-buy for fighting fans that own a Wii.