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I was recently in Japan. This is a total fabrication, but please bear with me. While in Japan I was able to check out the new fighter exclusive to the Nintendo Wii: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes. Capcom is responsible for such titles as Street Fighter, Mega Man and Viewtiful Joe. Tatsunoko is responsible for Battle of the Planets aka Gattchaman and ... an anime about a giant golden lighter that presumably fights crime. Or causes the crime. I'm not 100 percent sure on this one. Needless to say that in America the popularity of the Tatsunoko team might not be as strong as it is in Japan. Why the Samurai Pizza Cats aren't represented in this game I'll never know. That would have been a guaranteed success.
If you've played any of the other titles in the Capcom vs. series you should pretty much know what to expect. The playable roster is nowhere near as populated as the list of characters available in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but the graphics have been upgraded significantly. It often seems like the most popular games on the Wii involve side scroll-like fighting a la Smash Bros Brawl. This brings to light a major problem with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: many of the hardcore fighting fans Capcom may choose to spend a majority of their time on the 360 or the PS3. The Wii has never been marketed to more than the casual gamer, so this title may be overlooked.
The action and game play in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is swift and powerful. The controls have been dumbed down in favor of ease of use. Characters such as Chun-Li become incredibly easy to handle thanks to this filtered control scheme. The balance of the game play is able to remain intact however, so it is quick to learn but still difficult to master.
Sadly, unlike many of the other vs. titles, this one seems to be too much of a gimmick. It was a surprise to many gaming blogs that Tatsunoko vs. Capcom would be shipped to North America at all, given the headaches involved with getting the rights to all of the characters. That said, a Tatsunoko character is being left out of the American release because the rights could not be obtained in the U.S., so Capcom is reportedly adding four other characters exclusive to American gamers to make up for it. That was pretty nice of them.
If you're absolutely nuts for fighting games, Tatsunoko anime properties and the Wii, this is the perfect game for you. Everyone else, give it a rent. It's worth exploring when it comes out, but really isn't worth breaking the bank. 360 owners are likely still putting in their time with the recently released X-Box Live version of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 anyway. M v. C2 is a classic; T v. C may just be a fancy looking flash in the pan.
*Beefy Thompson: beefyness@gmail.com
