X-Men vs SF was the coming together of two great fighting games. Capcom took their exclusive licenses and teamed them up for what was to be one of the most revolutionary fighting games to date. With a cast of characters stemming from X-Men Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, and the fabled Street Fighter, this game was bound for glory.

The fighting mechanics and combo system was the beginning of a faster paced, combo heavy, aerial fighting barrage which was not equaled by any other game in its genre. Capcom revitalized the seemingly difficult combos in the X-Men and Marvel series, combined them with the perfect timing of Street Fighter to give us a combo system which has only been imitated and never replaced in years to follow. Each character has his or her own linking moves which can be used to devastate your opponent for what seems to be endless combo strings. By learning the timing of the moves along with each characters special moves, some amazing combos can be unleashed.

Every character has his or her own special moves, Ryu and Ken’s fireballs and Dragon punches, Magneto’s EM Disruptor, Wolverine’s berserker barrage, and Cyclops’ optic blast to name a few are all present here. Every character is different from each other, there are no character clones here (Mortal Kombat). Along with these special moves, characters have Hyper Combos. These moves can be unleashed with joystick movements accompanied with all 3 punches or kicks pressed simultaneously. If this sounds familiar to anyone here is where it originated. These Hyper combos can be linked to the Jab, Short, Strong, Medium, Fierce or Roundhouse completing a devastating attack on your opponents.

Capcom also introduced the revamped aerial combat. In the earlier Marvel fighters the player had to jump on an angle to attack in the air, making for some seriously difficult combos strings. Taking this into consideration, Capcom rewarded the player for launching an opponent. Once your opponent is in the air a simple up on the joystick will execute the super jump so the air combo can begin. Since air combos are a major part of X-Men vs SF there is also air blocking. Whereas in Street Fighter mostly only novice players jump, jumping and continuos offense is the name of the game here. With the speed of the game making the original SF look like Mario and the new X-Men vs SF looking like Sonic, the game is amazingly fast. This is another wonderful aspect for this offensive game. If you were getting tired of the wait and counter attack style of Street Fighter, this game was a breath of fresh air.

X-Men vs SF had given us all the first attempt at tag team combat. Gone are the days of one on one battles. Now the player chooses two charaters for the dream team of a lifetime. Ryu and Cyclops vs Magneto and Akuma, the unlikely team of Wolverine and Juggernaut vs Dhalsim and M. Bison, only your skill with the characters is what stops the wonderful combinations. When one character is low on health simply tap fierce punch and roundhouse kick to “tag” in your partner. When he or she jumps in the other character goes to the sidelines and begins to regenerate their health. This makes for some serious strategy.          
         

As with all games with an array of different characters there are some balancing issues. Characters such as Cyclops, Wolverine, and Sabretooth are incredible. While others such as Gambit, Storm, and Cammy seem to be quite overmatched. Although in the hands of an experienced player these characters can still be deadly. So with some time and effort any combination of characters can prove to be formittable. Every character has their own combo style along with button pressing timing that really rewards the player for time spent on the game. Once you learn the basic framework behind the combo system only one’s imagination and certain game physics stop the seemingly endless combos. Or can the combos be endless???????