During the Nintendo Direct today, Capcom revealed MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, a new collection that bundles some of the best and most beloved fighting games of all-time. Set to arrive this year, the new collection features seven legendary arcade titles:
- X-Men Children of the Atom
- Marvel Super Heroes
- Marvel vs. Capcom Clash of Super Heroes
- Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
- Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
- X-Men vs Street Fighter
- The Punisher
The bundle's release will mark the first time that many of these fan-favorite classics are playable on modern consoles and hardware.
This includes The Punisher, which will be making its modern console and PC debut in the United States. Released in 1993, The Punisher is a beat 'em-up arcade game that stars the iconic Marvel Comics antihero along with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury as the second player's character. Together they embark on a journey to defeat Kingpin and bring down his crime organization.
Of course, the highlight of the bundle is undoubtedly Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. In this crossover fighting game — the fourth installment in the series — players fight as characters from both Capcom's video game franchises and Marvel Comics' various comic book series. The game uses similar tag team-based mechanics as Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Heroes, but introduces 3v3 gameplay, a new character assist system, and a more simplified control scheme.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is widely regarded as one of the best fighting games of all time and is still a favorite in many of today's big gaming tournaments like EVO. The game was originally released in Japanese arcades in 2000, but received ports on older gaming consoles, such as Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 and 3, Xbox and Xbox 360, and iOS.
"For Capcom fans, fighting game enthusiasts, comic book and Super Hero aficionados, and everyone in between, MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics offers a timeless celebration of a legacy fighting game series, delivering a diverse roster of iconic characters, enhanced features and competitive gameplay," Capcom wrote in its press release. "Relive the nostalgia or discover enduring classics for the first time, uniting fans of all generations in celebration of Capcom’s legendary fighting game series"
Among the new and enhanced features is the introduction of online gameplay. All of the games in the collection will have online ranked, casual, and lobby matches. Capcom confirmed that online play is supported with rollback netcode for a "strong and stable online experience."
In addition to online play, there will be global high score leaderboards, a Training Mode for practice, and a Spectator Mode to watch your friends and co-combatants. Additional features include a music jukebox, in-game Museum, new display filters, and more.
Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will be released with physical and digital versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam in 2024.