If just thinking about quarter-circle and dragon-punch motions makes your thumb start to hurt, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has a solution to your problem.
I really like fighting games, okay? Motions like the quarter-circle-forward, the half-circle-backward, and even the full-360 are second nature to guys like me who cut our teeth on Street Fighter II. For others, though, these classic fighting-game movements are more of a barrier to entry in the genre than anything else.
While Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will preserve the classic control scheme for fighting game diehards, it will offer an alternative “Simple Mode” for those less accustomed to the traditions of the genre. In Simple mode, you only have two main buttons to worry about – one for normal attacks, and one for special moves.
As in Super Smash Bros., Simple mode’s special attacks will be executed by simply tilting the control stick in a direction and hitting the button: Ryu might throw a fireball with a neutral-direction press, but a forward+special might make him do a dragon punch instead. It’s the same control scheme that Capcom used to great effect on the Wii with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and it means that newbies can focus on learning how the game works instead of having to spend time learning the necessary muscle memory first.
Frankly, I think it’s a great idea. It dissuades random buttonmashing both by making it easier to succeed without mashing and by making it more likely that you’ll do something you didn’t mean to do if you mash, and it makes the game more accessible without killing the inner complexity that fighting-game fans love.
Sure, you won’t see Justin Wong using Simple mode at the next EVO tournament, but it’s probably a welcome addition for everyone else.
(Via MTV Multiplayer)
Published: Oct 15, 2010 09:57 pm