Well, I got my review out for the game, but one tiny element was missing from it. And that is the characters. I thought that, instead of just having a passing mention of each, I’d talk a little bit about each of them in a seperate post.

So let’s go right at it! (The new characters are in their own section instead of being in their respective side)
(NOTE: I’m not a pro at fighting games… so if i get some thing wrong, that’s why… cheers… comment if you want to offer insight)

The Tatsunoko Side

You migh not know what Tatsunoko is, but that doesn’t mean their characters aren’t worth playing. Definitely check them out, you might find a new favorite here.

Ken the Eagle

Ken is a bit of a basic-like character. He has good attacks, a good runaway game with some nice projectiles and hit and run potential. He’s one of those relatively easy to learn characters with good enough combos and easy to learn strategies and stuff. Overall… he’s good. Nothing more, nothing less.
His assist is slow and not really useful.

Jun the Swan

She uses exploding Yo-yos. Do I really need to say more? Okay… well she has some nice combos, her yo-yo attacks place explosives on the enemies which you can explode whenever you want which can be pretty good. The rest of her attacks are good, she has good range and combos. Her supers are acceptable and deal good damage. Nothing more to say really… SHE USES EXPLODING YO-YOS!
Her assist installs an exploding Yo-yo on the enemy which you can explode later when you switch characters, which can be quite useful.

Tekkaman

He has good range, about half the screen. He’s strong enough, he has anti-air and he has some good supers. I haven’t used him much, but he has some okay combos but I have to experiment with him a bit more. (Sorry I can’t say more, I prefer Tekkaman Blade so I kinda ignored the “normal” Tekkaman).
His assist is an anti-air, which can be useful in the right situation.

Casshan

This guy is really strong. His comboing ability isn’t huge, but just a few hits from him does huge damage. Otherwise he has lots of good single-hitting attacks too. And being able to summon his dog, Friender, to do various attacks, is quite nice, which actually really helps for combos/preventing your opponent from moving. His supers are pretty good too. The first is a huge wave that comes out of the ground, dealing quite a bit of damage. The second is a series of electric punches which deals good damage if you combo into it properly. His level 3 is slow and tough to use properly, but deals good damage(I’d suggest using it from super-close range). Overall he’s a good character, and not too hard to use either.
His assist is pretty useful. He slams the groung, hitting anyone near him.

Polimar

He’s pretty strong, he has simple combos, some option select attacks, good attacks and some okay supers. He’s fun to use too. His level 3 super is pretty powerful too. My only big problem with him is that he moves really slowly when he’s not attacking… It feels kinda weird, he barely moves at all if you’re not attacking or dashing. Otherwise though, he’s fun to use.
His assist is not bad at all. An instant 3-hit combo right in front of you to help out with your comboing ability.

Yatterman-1

He’s quite fun to play as. His attacks or close to mid range, they’re fast and multi-hitting, and a slight bit unpredictable. He has some good combos, and his suppers are okay. His first summons Yatterwan who does a tackle attack that deals good damage if the opponent doesn’t block it. The second one summons Yatterwan who does a short-range tackle, and then shoots fire which you can direct. His level 3 is not bad, it does tons of damage if it hits. Overall he combos well and has lots of potential for mindgames I’d say.
His assist is rather weak though.

Karas

While he does have good combos and some pretty good attacks, he has the low HP in the game (around 37000), so use him wisely. One thing that really annoys me with him is that one of his supers is a counter, and it’s really obvious when he does it so it’s easy to “avoid”. His other super requires you do be doing a certain of his specials and to do the required motion while that attack is going on. Not the easiest super to use if you ask me. Overall he’s not really easy to use and he dies fast, but he is considered very high-tier so it could be worth working on learning him.
And his assist is a really fast but short-range melee attack. I’d say pretty good for defensive use.

Doronjo

Doronjo is a pretty fun character to use (and strangely the only vilain in the game…). Fighting a good Doronjo player means the screen will be filled with things happenings, explosions, her 2 helpers stopping you all the time, and overall being assaulted nonstop. Her 2 teammates from the Doronbo team constantly come out for different attacks, there’s traps everywhere, projectiles… tons of stuff. Her supers are a mixed bag. One requires good timing, since the guy who comes out of the ground when you do it has to press a button for the super to actually happen, where, after a while, something falls on the field hurting the enemy if he touches it without blocking. The second one is a counter, which I’m not a bit fan of. The level 3 super is… insanity. It can be used to punish slow predictable attacks. It’s pretty strong though. Overall, she’s really fun to use, though she requires some time to learn.
Her assist is a bit weak. A slow, not strong projectile.

Ippatsuman

He’s good. His attacks are fast and rather strong. I find him a bit tough to combo with, but not a big problem. He also has a projectile. His supers are a bit weird too. One is an anti-air grab, which I find tough to use properly and not really easy to combo into. The second one summons a vehicle that spans most of the screen, damaging anything in the way. His level 3 is… unique. A giant robot appears in the background. You can make him do punches and stuff like that… and a giant attack that SEEMS unblockable (though I’m probably wrong), but deals around 90% of damage… I don’t like that level 3 much. Overall he’s a good character.
His assist is good too.

The Capcom Side

Capcom are probably a bit more familiar to you, though they went with a few interesting/unexpected choices here.

Ryu

He’s Ryu. He’s the basic fighting game character. He has the same moves as usual, similar combos as usual… One thing I like is that his Hurricane Kick is actually Ken’s, the multi-hitting one. He’s good, he’s easy to use. His level 3 super is a shoryuken, and it’s a bit hard to use properly. Well… He’s Ryu, nothing more to say really.
And his assist is an average speed Hadouken, it has some uses.

Chun-Li

I find her a bit easier to use than usual. She has lots of good combos, are attacks are good, she’s pretty fast and has some good air combos. Her super are pretty good too. Her Level 3 can only be used in the air, but I’m sure it can be used pretty easily.
Her assist is pretty good too. A few fast quicks in the air.

Alex

Alex… He’s big, he’s strong, he has a few grabs which deal high damage, and he’s actually kinda fast. He has a really good air attack too. His supers are pretty good too, though his level 3 is a grab so it’s a bit tough to use properly. Overall I find him to be pretty good.
His assist is nice too.

Morrigan

I really like her. And that’s a bit strange. In her own games I can’t use her properly, but in cross-overs I always like her… weird. Anyways, she’s fast, she has good combos, some projectiles, and okay supers. Her first super, which sends a barrage of missiles, is a bit slow to start, but not too hard to use. You can also control the trajectory a bit. The second one deals insane damage, but it’s hard to use properly. Her Level 3 is not bad, but I feel it’s a bit hard to combo into. Overall she’s simple and straight-forward.
Her assist is a slow projectile. There’s probably some good ways to use it.

Batsu

He has good attacks, and gameplay-wise I’d say he’s pretty similar to Ryu. His attacks are a bit different, and I’d say a bit more interesting. Not exactly as easy to use as Ryu, but he has good combos and good supers.  Not much more to say about him. He’s a good character, not too tough to use, easy to learn.
His assist is pretty useful too.

Mega Man Volnutt

While I feel he’s a bit random for a Mega Man representative, he’s still a fun addition. His attack are pretty cool. One cool thing with him is that you can change his weapon. One thing that sucks is that all quarter-circle moves for him are “weapon change”, which is redundant since pressing down twice and an attack button also changes his weapon to the corresponding attack buton’s weapon(Heavy is Drill, Medium is Shield thingy, Light is Gatling gun). Though, when you get used to that, he’s a pretty versatile character with some pretty good moves. His supers are good too. One is a multi-hitting uppercut, the other is a machine gun. His level 3 isn’t too great though, since it’s a grab that basically requires touching the opponent. One complaint I have is his projectile… it’s slow and weak. Overall though he’s interesting to use.
Good multi-hit assist.

Kaijin no Soki

I haven’t used him that much, but I feel he’s an okay character. He has slow attacks, but he’s kinda strong. He has a cool move that seems to chain after most hits, which is nice for combos. His 2 normal Supers are really good. One being a medium strength slash that’s not too hard to combo into, and the other being more of an anti-air, but it deals damage in a big area too. His level 3 transforms him, but I’ll be totally honest here and say I have no idea what to do during his transformation. Overall he seems like a pretty good character. And I thought he was a cool addition since Dawn of Dreams is the only Onimusha game I actually properly played(only played the beginning of 3…).
His assist is average… not great, but still usable. A kinda slow wide slash of his sword.

Roll

She’s small, she’s kinda fast, she has good attacks, some okay projectiles, good supers. She’s actually(surprisingly) good. Her first super is healing, though if the opponent is above you when you use it, it damages him(though it won’t heal you if it hits the opponent). The second one requires a charge motion… it hits on the ground, it’s not too bad and deals good enough damage. Her level 3 is really short range and hard to use properly I feel. Her HP is quite low(40000), which isn’t surprising considering she’s a loli robot with a broom… Either way, she’s pretty good.
Her assist is a projectile, so it can be useful.

Saki

Saki apparently got a big boost from the first iteration. Lots of people are calling her this game’s Cable now. I think that’s wrong, but whatever. She’s a very good character. She has good range, her grenades are great, she has various types of bullets she can shoot all of which have different properties. Her supers are okay. One super loads a strong bullet which you can shoot anytime you want (only once, for course), the other shoots a diagonal beam which does quite a bit of damage(a bit tough to land properly). Her level 3 is a counter, which I’m not a big fan of, and does about 23000 damage. Overall though, if you learn to use her properly she has huge potential.
And her assist is a really slow melee attack, not really good.

Viewtiful Joe

Viewtiful Joe makes me sad. Why? Because he sucks, while I really wanted him to be a good character. I might be completely wrong, of course, since I’m not an incredibly talented fighting game player, but… Yeah, I can’t find any way to use him properly. His normal attacks have no range, his range attacks have huge startup and recovery times, his bomb attack is useless(and can hurt him) and his supers suck. His first super is a cannon that takes over 2 seconds to shoot and that is nearly unusable properly. His second super is a series of melee attacks which is initiated by a short dash, which is kinda comboable. And his level 3 isn’t too good. Overall… not to say he’s not kinda fun to use, but I can’t see him being competitive at all.
His assist just does his bomb special, which sucks.

The Giants

There are 2 giant characters. Both of them have similar features: they’re huge, they have lots of HP, they deal lots of damage, they both have super armors (unless 2 giants are fighting each other, or you’re fighting the final boss)…

Gold Lightan

He has reasonable speed, really strong attacks. He’s a bit slow though. He’s also the character with the most HP, at around 71500 HP. He’s not bad, but he has tons of recovery time after every move, making him a bit easy to deal with. He’s fun to use, despite not being super good. I highly doubt he’s very competitive.

PTX-40A

He’s not really fast, but he has good attacks. Really good air attacks, a nice tackle attack that switches out the other player’s active character. He has less HP than Gold Lightan (around 65000), but I feel he’s a bit more versatile.

The new characters

There are 5 characters that are completely new in this game. I decided to talk about them separately. For the unlocks, what count is which character deals the final hit on the final boss.

Tekkaman Blade

Takkaman Blade is unlocked once you finish the game with 3 different Tatsunoko characters.
I was quite surprised with him. Since he’s from a remake of the original Tekkaman, I was expecting him to have a very similar moveset, but it’s actually completely different. Tekkaman Blade is a bit faster, a bit stronger, and has really nice set-ups, though he does have a bit less range. He has okay supers too, though his beam super, which I thought would be the same as Tekkaman’s, is diagonal making is a bit tougher to use. His level 3 super is a bit hard to use too, since it has really short range(basically a grab), but it does pretty big damage. I think he’s good, but he has one major flaw: his dashes are incredibly delayed (because his “jetpack” or whatever needs to charge before he dashes). But otherwise he’s a very solid character.
His assist is a slow multi-hit melee attack, not incredibly useful.

Joe the Condor

Joe the Condor is unlocked once you finish the game with 6 different Tatsunoko characters.
He’s a fun character to use, but quite tough to use. He seems a bit basic at first, but I find that his attacks are a bit awkward. He’s not bad, and his specials aren’t too bad. The supers are pretty good. The Bird Missile super deals damage at first when Joe’s plane passes by, and then, about 5 seconds later, a missile falls on the field and hurts both characters(funny stuff). The other is a series of projectiles. His level 3 is a short range melee attack which isn’t really easy to hit with. Overall I think he’s good, but I can’t really use him properly.
His assist is not bad… But not great.

Frank West

Frank West is unlocked once you finish the game with 3 different Capcom characters.
He’s one of the characters I wasn’t really looking forward to playing, but it ends up he’s not too bad. His attacks are weird. He can summon zombies, he has a zombie projectile, he has pretty good range, and his supers are quite good. One is… The Real Megabuster, where Frank puts on a Mega Man costume and shoots a huge beam. It’s REALLY FUCKING FAST and really easy to combo into. The second is a grab. The level 3 requires to be at a certain distance from the opponent, but there’s some ways to combo into it so it’s not too bad. Frank is the only character to have an extra Level 3 super for giant characters, which is pretty fun. Overall he’s really fun to use, though he’s tough to learn.
His assist just stuns your opponent for, like a few frames. It CAN have a use, I guess, but for an average fighting game player such as myself, it’s not really useful.

Zero

Zero is unlocked once you finish the game with 6 different Capcom characters.
I really like using him. He’s fast, he has really good combos, and he has good maneuverability. He’s not without flaws though. His HP is terribly low (40000, which is the same as Roll, and just a bit higher than Karas), his damage output is rather low and his supers aren’t too great. His first super is really bad… it’s basically impossible NOT to block it… Just a bunch of slow rainbow beams coming from the sky, it’s WAY too predictable. And his second super just modifies some of his special attacks for a very short while, which can have some use, but it’s not great. His Level 3 is not bad, but it requires being at just the right distance from the opponent, making it hard to use properly. Otherwise though, Zero is a very solid character.
And his assist is fairly good, dealing a Shoryuken-like attack right in front of you, good for combos and such.

Yatterman-2

Yatterman-2 is unlocked by finishing the game with all the other unlockable characters(again, what matters here is who deals the final hit on Yami).
She’s really fun to use. Similar to Zero in some ways… she uses fast attacks that deal relatively low damage and she doesn’t have a lot of HP, but she can combo like crazy if you use her properly. She has good combos and good supers. Her first super shoots a bouncy lightning ball which can deal multiple hits. The second summons a tiny robot that will fly around for about 10 seconds hitting the opponent at certain intervals, so it’s pretty good for comboing. Her level 3 starts with a slide on the ground, and it’s not too tough to combo into. Overall she’s quite good and not too tough to use. Her HP is a bit low (42000), but she’s good enough which is okay.
Her assist is okay, but a bit slow. A slightly diagonal melee attack.

Overall

I really like the cast here. It’s a good number of characters for a “first” game in a series. I find that, other than Viewtiful Joe, from what I’ve experienced, there’s a good balance in the game. The characters are all good, all unique, all fun to play as. The giants can be quite easy to deal with if you know what to do, but the “normal” characters seem like they are quite balanced… Or at least a LOT more balanced than Marvel VS Capcom 2(okay, that’s not really an accomplishment). People use a lot more varied teams from what I’ve seen, and choosing the right partners can definitely make up for the weaknesses of the other character. The cast is great, both on the Capcom and Tatsunoko sides.

jobocan Console, Games, Opinion, Rant, tips & tricks, wii