Preview: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (four new characters)

Dr. Doom, Super Skrull, Chun-Li and Trish joined the cast of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in the Comic-Con show floor preview build; though Thor and Amaterasu didn't make the trip (lazy gods!). I checked out the new characters and chatted with producer Ryota Niitsuma about the latest roster updates.

Of the four, Super Skrull seems to be attracting the most attention at the show. The famous comic book villain has been the hero at Comic-Con, wowing attendees with his Fantastic Four powers: slamming opponents with Thing fists, flaming on with Human Torch fire, and performing an impressive Mr. Fantastic stretch-throw impression. Niitsuma recalled that Skrull's mix of abilities was a tough concoction to brew -- but certainly a potent one in action.

"When we were making this game," Niitsuma said through a translator, "we thought about putting someone in from the Fantastic Four, but the problem was: which member do you include? We kind of wanted to include all of them." Unfortunately, not all of the powers filled out a complete moveset, so instead Marvel suggested using Super Skrull as four heroes in one (villain). "And then because he can use all of the Fantastic Four's moves, we want to make sure that there's a balance between every one of those. Invisible Woman, of course -- her power is to make things invisible, so it's hard to make a very visual attack move with her power set. So we used her skills when he does a guard -- he makes a barrier."

Doctor Doom makes a return appearance from the previous game, and somewhat surprisingly, he plays almost exactly the same. While his character model and animations are of course new and his super moves have been tweaked, he still has the same basic attack scheme as in MvC2. "We didn't want to stray too far from what people already know as Marvel vs. Capcom, because they're used to seeing certain things when they do those moves. So we wanted to try to recreate that, but at the same time, take it to the next level." Hulk is another character already revealed for the game and from the previous sequel, and he also returns with the same basic moveset, tweaked mostly with a little graphical punch. "For the most part," explained Niitsuma about characters in both games, "the basic movements and gestures are similar to what you've seen in the previous title."

"We didn't want to stray too far from what people already know as Marvel vs. Capcom." - Ryota Niitsuma, producer

That's true for Chun-li too, though her kicks have a much more colorful visual effect to them, with pink and yellow energy accenting the attack. Newcomer Trish, from the Devil May Cry franchise, is an interesting mix of ranged caster and melee fighter -- she can blast Devil Power spells all the way across the screen and wields the Sparda sword up close, occasionally throwing it for a ranged attack.

I asked Niitsuma to pick his favorite among the announced characters so far, and after suggesting that it was whichever one he worked on last, he said that Deadpool was one the team did "a lot of research on to get really right." Deadpool's level 3 super attack is included in the Comic-Con build of the game: after posing for the players with hearts floating around him, the character famous for breaking the fourth wall grabs his health bar and uses it to beat down his opponent. He then reaches down, grabs the power meter and lays down one more big hit -- it's got to be seen to be believed.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 looks to be the most popular game on the Comic-Con show floor, and it's coming along fantastically. The game should be a real treat for both fighting and comic book fans when it comes out next year.