"Becoming good in [Marvel vs. Capcom 2] is hard, becoming good in [Marvel vs. Capcom 3] is easy." -Justin Wong, tournament player

That statement above, sent via Wong's Twitter account, is wrong for anyone who isn't Justin. Most of us are only mid-level fighting game players, if that, and while Marvel vs. Capcom 3 may not be the best game for tournament players—we'll know for sure when everyone begins to dig in after the game's release—it's certainly a wonderful game for everyone else.

Allow me to explain.

The button mashers will be happy

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is the latest game in the fighting franchise that mixes the world of Marvel comic books with that of Capcom video games. The characters are diverse, the action is fast, and the special moves often fill the screen with light and overblown animations.

The game has a setting that allows you to perform combos and special attacks with single button presses, which turns the game into a sort of hyper-casual and seizure-inducing slam fest. Still, I'm glad it's there... now anyone can jump in with these recognizable video game and comic book characters and wail away, and that's a good thing. Even without the simple controls, the three-attack and special button configuration is intuitive and easy to use.

But for the love of Magneto, if you want to play this game, get an arcade stick. I've been suffering through special attacks and combos using the stock Xbox 360 controller and it's a frustrating mess. You need a good digital pad to enjoy this game, period.

You'll learn quickly that combos are now more... experimental? They aren't just a matter of memorizing a series of button presses and hard rules; now the game rewards some creative thinking and exploration.

"Capcom has removed nearly all of the esoteric rules used to prevent infinite combos and replaced them with one simple restriction: hit stun decay," Shoryuken writer "inkblot" explained. "Put simply, the more hits you inflict on your opponent, the faster they recover from the next hit. Eventually their recovery is faster than your fastest move, so the combo ends."

This is a major change, and one that will have you performing and finding combos much more quickly than in previous games (much to the dismay of some players who have the time and discipline to study titles for a greater length of time). The game is inviting in a way that ultra-hardcore fighting games don't tend to be, and the screen-filling attacks and often silly dialog and character animations keep things from feeling too serious. It's fun to put together a three-person female team, or to focus on characters with firearms, or on tiny characters, or on huge characters.

The game has 36 fighters, fewer than Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but you'll also notice that the gimmicky, unusable characters are all but gone. If a character is on the roster, he/she/it can fight. The game will likely gain additional balancing when the players flood the servers, but so far things feel much more even than in previous games in the series.

The other big addition is the "X-Factor" move. By pressing all four attack buttons at once, you activate it. You're given one per fight, and X-Factor provides a limited bonus to attacks while healing your characters, and it also resets you to a neutral position. This allows all sorts of shenanigans. The neat trick is that the fewer characters you have left on your team, the more powerful the effect, so this is a good way to turn the tables on your opponents and try to stage a comeback, while introducing a nice cost/benefit analysis in terms of when to activate it. Very cool.

Online play

Yes, it can have lag, but it's still fun for casual play. You're given a "license" that is created and honed the more you fight, showing your strengths and weakness. Having another person in the room to play lag-free is preferred, but online play will do in a pinch.

There's no ability to watch other people's matches, however, which is annoying in a game when you can learn so much from viewing the tactics of other players. An option to record and upload your matches would be a very welcome thing, and would go a long way to fostering a community around the game.

As a middle finger to cheaters, the online service will start to match you up with other rage-quitters if you continually exit games you're about to lose, leading to a situation where the idiots play against the assholes. We approve.

We still have much to learn

This is a game we've received preview code for, and then debug code, and then retail code, and with every new version I've been learning a little more about the game and how to play it. Wong is correct that it's easier for new players to get proficient with this system, but is the game shallow? Absolutely not. Some character even have extra mechanisms or tactics for play, but I'll let you discover these and work out how to use them... mostly because I don't quite understand them yet.

There are missions for each character that can get you started on learning the moves in a non-confrontational way, there are multiple options for play for every skill level, and there's an online mode when you're ready to test yourself against human players. Getting good takes time, but it's not the investment you might think, and the game is far from impenetrable. The characters likewise look great, and there are plenty of references to past games, continuities, and comics. It's just a feast across the board if you're a fan of these characters.

This game might be impossible to "review" in the traditional sense, but I have no problem with telling you to buy it. This is a must-have title for anyone who likes fighting games, and even more so for fans of the original titles. Sure, it may seem fast and casual at first, but dig in, learn the systems, and you'll be amazed at what you start to see.

Verdict: Buy