Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (PS4) Review

When Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was released over 5 years ago, the fans of the fighting game community simply ate the game up. As a follow up to the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3 title, the gameplay was tweaked, new characters were added, thrusting the game further into the limelight. Somehow the fighter eventually went on to overshadow many other fighting titles that we around during its run. But that was then and since the title has was only playable on the Xbox 360 PlayStation 4 and PS Vita, causing the title to lose its luster as newer consoles were released. You see, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was never playable on the PS4 and it never came to the Xbox One via backward compatibility. It seems that that game would become yet another title lost to that ages.

That is until now, as Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was made available for the PlayStation 4, with the Xbox One and PC versions coming later in 2017. 

Game Name:  Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Platform(s):  PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One & PC (2017)
Publisher(s): Capcom
Developer(s): Capcom
Release Date: 12.3.2016
Price: $24.99

When Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was released back during 2011, it was an update to the already popular Marvel vs. Capcom 3. With it came several updates such as added several new characters from both sides of the franchises; Rocket Raccoon, Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, Nova and Iron Fist and Doctor Strange. While the new Capcom characters introduced are Firebrand, Strider Hiryu, Frank West, Phoenix Wright, Virgil and Nemesis. This puts the game slightly under 50 selectable characters, which ironically enough was still less than it’s predecessor, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 – which happened to include 56 characters. Still, that was more than enough and had featured favorites from both sides of the respected companies.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a fighting game with three vs three formats, where you select your favorite three fighters and battle it out using assists, tag team combos, and over-the-top supers moves. With its fast-paced, stylish and frantic playstyle, there’s no reason why the game is loved so much. As an added bonus, all of the original DLC from Xbox 360 and PlayStation 4 releases are included – except for the Magento Ancient Warrior Pack skin. Sadly this was removed due to the similarities of Magento using the skin and the then king of Spain, Juan Carlos. This was perhaps the best-looking skin for Magento, so it’s a tragic loss for Magento players.

On top of the already existing fighting game, Capcom added a new mode called Heroes and Heralds. This is basically another version of the arcade mode but with added features. Within this mode, your fighters are able to collect cards which provide them with extra abilities. This cards are selected prior to every fight and can help turn the tide of a match by giving you specific “advantages” during the battle. This is specific to the Heroes and Heralds mode and isn’t available anywhere else. Another mode, called Galactus mode was also added. Here gamers are able to jump right to the final boss of the game and get some practice in against the big guy.  The only difference here is that when/if you do beat Galactus, you get an ending scene specific to that mode and not the actually ending for your characters. For that, you have to play the actual arcade mode and beat the game that way. For those who like to watch, there’s even a spectator mode. Here you’ll be able to what games in progress, maybe to learn a trick or two. 

The gallery mode also makes comeback and lets gamers check out various pieces of art, the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comic, stage music, and even the Marvel vs. Capcom: Official Complete Works artbook. That’s 192 pages of fantastic artwork, that alone should be enough to pick up this classic gem. 

With this re-release, Capcom has touched up the game by bumping up the graphical front, giving it a 1080p@60fps. This is a constant frame rate as well folks and it looks simply beautiful in action. Flashy, colorful and all the over the top action in full HD glory that has to be seen to be appreciated. The second enhancement is the load speed which is due to this being a digital only title and it being loaded via hard drive, the load speeds are near-instant. If you’ve played the previous release on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, you’ll appreciate the difference here. This definitely helps when trying to knock out a couple of first to ten matches locally or online.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear that the netcode has been touched. I’ve encountered issues constantly when trying to get a custom or ranked match started. During either attempt, I was greeted with a failure telling me that no matches were found or when I did get a match, the connection quality was poor. This applied to both the yellow and green conditions I played with as the lag was noticeable in most of those fights. It feels like this is the very same netcode as before, which is disappointing. Although things were better when I started up a lobby and left it open to public fights or connecting with friends in private mode. This, unfortunately, hurts the game as many matches end up in a lag free for all, which can ruin whoever is at the disadvantage, which typically ends up being the who isn’t hosting the match. This may put off for those who are looking to play the game online exclusively and only time will tell if this gets addressed. Though I’m sure Capcom is aware of this and will fix this issues. This is the only glaring issue with this re-release of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Those looking to use their existing PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 arcade sticks with the game will need to pick up a converter. On that, let me point out that the Brook Super Converter is the best one on the market and is available at Focusattack.com. Let em’ know we set ya! 

To be 100% honest with you, if you’ve played Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, then you’re going to be familiar with the PlayStation 4 version. The gameplay hasn’t changed one bit, so you’re going to be right at home here. All your favorite characters, your best combo strings and yes, and even dreaded infinite combos are still intact. That said, if you’re new to the game or even the series, I’d highly recommend you brush up in both the training and arcade modes. Going online will be an experience of frustration at times, despite the fun factoring involved. Take it from someone who hasn’t touched this game in many years and finally get back into it. 

*Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was provided to us by Capcom USA for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please go review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.