X-Men Vs. Street Fighter

The precursor to MvC, this is when things really started to kick off. The first tag game and the first crossover game in the series, it paved the way for what would come later, although it left behind the greater universe reflected in Marvel Super Heroes, focusing on only the X-Men side.

It also made some key changes to the Capcom characters, compared to their Street Fighter counterparts. Ryu and Ken are very similar, however Ryu has larger fireballs and he can throw them horizontally in the air. If that sounds like Akuma to you, just wait, because not only did they give Akuma’s diagonal air fireball to Ken, but scrolling off the upper edge of the character select screen reveals a hidden character; Akuma himself.

X-Men Vs. Street Fighter is great if you want to experience a solid, but basic, tag fighting game. It still controls like the earlier games in the series, but this time you’ll control two characters. What makes it great as a ‘beginner’ tag game? Instead of also having to learn how to use Assist attacks from your off-screen character, all you need to do is switch your injured character out when they have taken damage, letting them heal off-screen before you switch back to them. Interestingly, this means it’s also the closest gameplay equivalent to the most recent MvC entry, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, a very fun game in its own right.

Coolest Characters

Storm, Magneto, Wolverine, Sabretooth, and (of course) hidden character Akuma.