Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars - Reception

Reception

Famitsu's four reviewers each gave Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes a score of 8/10. They believed that its variety of characters and its fighting system were strong points, but found its gameplay to be slightly flat, as skilled players are obligated to use Baroque Combos repeatedly. Licensing and resource issues made GameSpot's Ricardo Torres, IGN's John Tanaka, GamesRadar and other critics doubtful that the game would see an international release. Describing the game's cast of licensed characters, Adam Sessler of X-Play stated that "clearing the American rights to show them all in one game would be a logistical nightmare." He also pointed out the largely unknown cast to non-Japanese audiences—a notion IGN's Mark Bozon agreed with. When Ultimate All-Stars debuted at E3 2009, it garnered numerous genre-specific awards, and won the Game Critics Award for "Best Fighting Game".

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars received positive reviews, with an average score of 85% on review aggregate sites Metacritic and GameRankings. Critics praised its balance between accessibility and depth; Adam Sessler called it the perfect game for the Wii's demographic, and remarked that it allows "grandmas, kiddies and junkies" to perform intricate combos, while including deeper gameplay mechanics for the "more refined palate". Contrasting the game with previous Vs. titles, GameSpot reviewer Randolph Ramsay stated that its use of fewer buttons "may seem less complex, but this simplicity belies the depth of each character's move set." Eurogamer's Matt Edwards believed that, compared to the separate buttons for punches and kicks in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom's streamlined approach was moderately easy to learn. Edwards claimed that the game is a "slightly slower and more user-friendly Marvel, without losing the ability to pull-off crazy 50+ hit combos."

Reviewers lauded the variety of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom's graphical presentation and character playstyles. Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica wrote that its over-the-top attacks can be "huge, colorful, screen-filling blasts of light and movement," and that combos "flash across the screen, claiming you landed billions of points of damage." Adam Sessler and 1UP.com's Richard Li found that each character played in a vastly different way; Li explained that there are characters who take advantage of sheer speed and long range moves, others who use momentum to apply pressure to opponents and those who rely on a single opportune moment to deal vast amounts of damage. Heidi Kemps of GamePro contrasted the game with Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and noted that "every combatant in Tatsunoko feels carefully designed to be unique, intriguing, and most importantly, worth investing time into mastering." Bozon, Edwards, and VideoGamer.com's Wesley Yin-Poole believed that the characters were well-animated, and chained attacks together seamlessly.

Li criticized Capcom for not providing an easy alternative to unlock characters since the multiple Arcade mode playthroughs needed to unlock them could be frustrating. Nintendo World Report's Neal Ronaghan mentioned it can get tedious, and echoing Li's sentiment, Ryan Scott of GameSpy complained that "arcade mode needs to be left to die," as multiplayer is the primary reason for playing fighting games. Both Scott and Ramsay thought the many of the other unlockables obtainable through Arcade mode didn't offer sufficient value. Reviewers had mixed experiences with its online component; GameDaily's Robert Workman reported that it ran fluidly, but Scott said that the game lagged often enough to be unplayable. Edwards thought "the netcode hasn't shown itself to be particularly sturdy," but the situation may improve as the number of local players increase. Both Bozon and GameTrailers said that performance depends on each player's connection; the latter explained that lag is more likely to occur when playing against a distant opponent.

The game's soundtrack was lauded, with Robert Workman of GameDaily highlighting its "fantastic mix of strong techno tunes and dramatic battle themes." Ramsay cited its "convincing battle effects" and "catchy music"; he believed that the latter complemented the game's dynamic nature and presentation. Bozon and Official Nintendo Magazine's Chris Scullion expressed annoyance with the voice work of the top-down shooter minigame. Bozon explained that three of the four playable characters yell every time they fire.

Critics speculated on the commercial risk of localizing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom for the Wii. Kemps considered it a risky undertaking for Capcom, as the console isn't renowned for fighting titles, and as the game abandons the three-on-three matches of the Marvel titles—which popularized the Vs. series—in favor of the two-on-two formula used in the older, more obscure Vs. games. Kemps and Bozon pointed out that the game's Tatsunoko characters are largely unknown to non-Japanese audiences; this caused Bozon to liken the game to a dark horse, as he considered it to be one of the Wii's best titles. Li reported that "Many wondered why Capcom chose Nintendo's Wii as the exclusive platform, a multiplatform release would reach a broader audience, critics argued." The game's quality led Yin-Poole to question whether it would stay exclusive to the Wii; he speculated, "Perhaps TvC is a test, then. If it sells even remotely well, maybe we'll see a sequel on Microsoft and Sony's consoles. Or maybe, fingers crossed, it'll add further weight to the case for ."