For a lot of folks who have been following Capcom’s fighting games over the years, the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics announcement was unbelievable given recent events and the reception of the last Marvel vs Capcom game. As someone who has only played Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, I had always wanted to play the earlier games given the praise a few of them got from competitive and casual players. I’d be lying if I said I also wasn’t just excited to hear the Marvel vs Capcom 2 music officially because it is that good. So here we are months after its announcement, and Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is available on Steam, Switch, and PlayStation with Xbox coming in 2025.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics games included
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics ships with seven games included. They are: X-MEN CHILDREN OF THE ATOM, MARVEL SUPER HEROES, X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER, MARVEL SUPER HEROES vs. STREET FIGHTER, MARVEL vs. CAPCOM CLASH OF SUPER HEROES, MARVEL vs. CAPCOM 2 New Age of Heroes, and THE PUNISHER which isn’t a fighting game, but a beat ’em up. These are based on the arcade versions so you don’t need to worry about missing features like some older console ports here. These include the English and Japanese versions so yes, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter does include Norimaro in this collection when you choose the Japanese version for that game.
This review is based on me having played Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics for about 15 hours on Steam Deck (both LCD and OLED), 13 hours on PS5 (via backward compatibility), and about 4 hours on Nintendo Switch. I’m not qualified enough to talk about the ins and outs of the games included here because this collection was my first time playing them, but I will say that the fun I’ve had with Marvel vs Capcom 2 pre-release has more than justified the asking price to the point where I want to buy both console physical releases just to own a physical version of it.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics new features
If you played Capcom Fighting Collection, the interface and front-end of Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will feel familiar. In fact, it even has the same issues that collection has, but I’ll get to that a bit later. Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics includes online and local multiplayer support, local wireless support on Switch, rollback netcode for online play, a training mode, customizable options for games, an important option to reduce white flashes or light flickering per game, various display options, and a few wallpaper options.
Outside the games, the training mode included (you can access this per game), includes hitboxes, inputs displayed, and other options making it even better for newcomers. Speaking of newcomers, Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics has a new one button super option that you can enable or disable when you play online and search for other players.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics museum and gallery
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics also includes a robust museum and gallery with all the game soundtracks (more than 200 tracks) and more than 500 pieces of artwork. Having played Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics online with a friend who is also covering it, he let me know how a lot of the artwork in this collection has never been public before. For me, it is all new, but I thought that was notable for longtime fans. It is worth noting that things like sketches or design documents don’t have translations on them for any Japanese text.
As for the music, I’m glad we finally have an official way to listen to these soundtracks in 2024, but I hope this is the first step to getting a vinyl release or streaming releases for them.
How is the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics online multiplayer experience with rollback netcode?
Before getting into the online experience, the options menu features its own network settings letting you enable or disable microphone, voice chat volume, input delay, and connection strength on PC. On Switch, you can only adjust input delay. The PS4 version lets you adjust input delay and connection strength with no voice chat options. I assume folks will use the PS5 and PS4 native voice chat options here instead of an in-game one. It is disappointing to see the Switch version lack a connection strength option as of the build I have.
Pre-release, I only managed testing the online on Steam Deck wired and wirelessly with another player who was also on Steam. In our experience, Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics online is similar to Capcom Fighting Collection on Steam, but massively improved over Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. You can adjust input delay and cross region matchmaking as well. We tested most of the games and also did a bit of co-op in The Punisher. It just works despite the distance between us.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics ships with matchmaking support for casual matches, ranked matches, and also leaderboards including a High Score Challenge mode.
I also want to note that when you rematch when playing online, the cursors remain correct so you can pick whoever you were playing as before in games like Marvel vs Capcom 2 instead of having to manually move the cursor each time to select your team. Little things like this add up to make the collection feel like a lot of love went into ensuring the best possible experience for players including ones learning the games for the first time.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics issues
My biggest complaints with Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics are with how it has just a single save state (quick save) for the entire collection. This isn’t one single save state per game, but one for the entire collection. I was hoping this issue from Capcom Fighting Collection wouldn’t carry over but here we are. Another minor complaint and settings not being universal or an easy apply or toggle the light reduction or adjust visual filters at once. Having options per game is good, but I would’ve liked to just enable light reduction and turn off the filter for every game at once.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics on Steam Deck – Verified already
I first tried Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics on Steam Deck and it works perfectly out of the box. Given it is Steam Deck Verified I shouldn’t be surprised, but you can never tell with new games until you try them yourself. When played on the Deck itself, Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics runs at 720p and it supports 4K when docked. I played at 1440p for the most part docked and then 800p handheld. It is still 16:9 though with no 16:10 support.
The Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics PC graphics options are under the PC Settings menu in options. These let you adjust resolution, display mode (fullscreen, borderless, windowed), and toggle v-sync.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics on Nintendo Switch
While Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics looks fine on Switch, the biggest downgrade from other platforms is the load times. Going in and out of games on Steam and PS5 is almost instant while the Switch version has loading for basically everything. This adds up and since I’ve been playing it on all three platforms at once, it was very noticeable. I hope the connection strength option is added eventually as well since PlayStation and PC have it. The Switch version does support local wireless while the others do not though.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics on PS5
I wish Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics was native on PS5 rather than played via backward compatibility because PS5 Activity Card support would’ve been amazing to get in and out of different games from the dashboard. Barring that, it looks excellent on my 1440p monitor and loads quickly even when played off an external hard drive. You can move it to the SSD for even faster loading. I have no complaints with the PS4 version on PS5.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is one of Capcom’s best collections yet across everything and not just fighting games or arcade games. It offers superb extras, fantastic online play on Steam, and it has been a joy to experience these games for the first time. I just wish there was more than one save slot for the entire collection for save states.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Steam Deck Review Score: 4.5/5
