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Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is a 2D fighting game based on the universe of the Marvel comic book and various Capcom games. He was released firstly on arcade and Dreamcast in 2000, and then was adapted for Playstation 2 and Xbox, respectively, in 2002 and 2003. This is the 4th game forming a crossover between Marvel and Capcom.

Marvel vs. capcom 2: New Age of heroes contains no less than 56 playable characters, whose the major part has to be unlocked. There are many heroes belonging to the Capcom universe, including some fighters from the famous series of fighting games Street Fighters (with Chun Li, Ryu, Guile, or Dhalsim), and DarkStalker (with Morrigan, the succubus, BB Hood, and Felicia, among others). Some characters that come from other Capcom games made their appearance, such as Jill Valentine, heroine of the survival horror series Resident Evil, the famous Megaman and Tron Bonne.

On the side of Marvel characters there are many superheroes from the American Marvel comic books. For examples, Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man, and several X-Men, like Wolverine, Cyclops, Psylocke, and Storm are present. There are also some super villains as Magneto, Thanos and Doctor Doom. Some new heroes, that does not appear in the previous Marvel vs Capcom games are also part of the playable characters, like Cable, the son of Scott Summer, aka Cyclops, and Marrow, a mutant woman who uses bone excrescences in combat.

We can add to the playable character list fighters specially created for the game. There are Ruby Heart, a French pirate, which is, in some way, the main character of this episode, a monkey girl called SonSon who would be the granddaughter of the heroin from an old Capcom game that have the same name, and finally Amingo, a kind of cactus-man wearing a sombrero.

Also numerous are they all these characters have their own range of moves. Even if some seem to have several attacks and sequences in common, such as Iron Man and War Machine, their gameplay varies significantly.

In this episode, the player has to select 3 characters before the battle in order to compose a team of 3 fighters. During the battles, if one of the characters is KO, then he will be automatically replaced by another team member. The player can also choose to switch between his 3 characters during the fight at his convenience. Once on the sideline, an injured character gradually regains his vital energy, therefore we must not hesitate to make a strategic withdrawal and use one of the two other characters in order to secure the victory. By pressing the corresponding assist button, we can also call the teammates who will deliver an attack or a special blow. The management of a team of 3 fighters makes the battles even more strategic and we must also seek to compose the team as effective as possible.

During the confrontations whenever the players inflicts or receives damages, a fury gauge is filled. This gauge has 3 levels. Once one level is filled, you can launch an attack that deals heavy damages to the opponent, if the latter does not protect himself. So if the 3 levels are filled, you can combine special blows of the 3 characters that compose the team, only if they are all still alive.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is a very good 2D fighting game. With its wide gallery of fighters and its strategic gameplay accessible to as many people, this game is a sure asset for fans of the Marvel and Capcom universes.

	Dreamcast Developper : Capcom | Editor : Avalon Interactive (Virgin Interactive) Rank : 84% (by 1 magazine) Review (1) | Cheat (2) | Guide (1) |
	Ps2 Developper : Capcom | Editor : Capcom Rank : 70% (by 1 magazine) Review (1) | Cheat (3) | Guide (1) |
	Xbox Developper : Capcom | Editor : Capcom Rank : 60% (by 5 magazines) Review (5) | Cheat (3) | Guide (1) |

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