Have You Played... Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3?

Despite being in the domain of arcades and consoles for decades, fighting games are now on PC in droves. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (hereby abbreviated to UMVC3) was one such fighter I never thought I'd see on PC, since its fast-paced and utterly crazy combos would never have lent themselves favourably to any device other than an arcade stick. With both Disney and Capcom liking the idea of money though, it was inevitable that UMVC3 would make it. Its followup, Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, was a bit of a disaster, with a lukewarm roster and a tacked-on story mode that was a bloated waste of time. But UMVC3 is still worth diving back into.

Like all the "Versus" games, it has you choosing multiple fighters from a selection of Marvel heroes and villains, as well as Capcom's all-star team. Three-on-three matches that saw the likes of Wolverine take on Ryu from Street Fighter. Of course there are some wilder choices, with the introduction of Deadpool and Doctor Strange on Marvel's side and even Capcom's Phoenix Wright as a playable character. I say "playable", his fighting style is appropriately unorthodox.

High level play is where it shines, though the skill barrier of setting up infinite combos is a tall order for those without years of experience. The likes of Zero, Doctor Doom, and Magneto have long tormented the higher echelons of tier lists thanks to their ridiculous combo strings. But even for those playing against friends there are 50 characters to combine into teams of your choosing, resulting in bullets, beams, and more flying across the screen. If you want a fighting game that fully commits to the superhero theme, this is the one.