Tales from Comic-Con 2011: Street Fighter X Tekken, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Street Fighter Third Strike Online Impressions

Though the title may be long, the fact of the matter is that I didn't get a lot of hands-on time with UMvC3 and 3SO. I spent most of my Comic-Con game time playing Street Fighter X Tekken. Therefore, the impressions of the last two games will be short, and not worth their own post.

Third Strike Online is... Third Strike plus an online mode. It's literally a perfect arcade port with online functionality and replays. There are additional challenges as well that earn you points that I believe you can spend on "things". Not too sure what they mean. They could just be for bragging rights or maybe to unlock costumes/stages. The game itself is a bit of a bore. Everyone uses the same four characters because they're considered top tier. That gives little variety to the game. The art style is bland looking and the graphics options only help it a little. I'm going to pass on this one, but for those interested the game is supposed to launch at the end of August.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 only had four of the twelve new characters. At the time those four were the only ones revealed, but the other twelve leaked later on. The four available were Ghost Rider, Strider, Firebrand, and Hawkeye. I only got the play the game twice - the line was huge - and the only new character I got to try in that time was Ghost Rider. I believe he has the farthest reach in the game now (over Super Skrull), but this chain counts as a hitbox, meaning if someone strikes the chain Ghost Rider will take damage (kind of like Dahlsim from Street Fighter). There are a ton of balance changes coming with it as well. From what I've heard, Phoenix is now the most useless character ever. She has even less health and does less damage. Plus, lvl 3 x-factor doesn't last as long. Ultimate MvC3 will be available in November.

The game I got the most hands on time with was Street Fighter X Tekken. At first I didn't like the game all that much. I think this was because I wasn't used to playing on a fight stick. I eventually got the hang of it though and the game because rather enjoyable. The game is super dependent on not over extending yourself. If you combo too fast and your opponent blocks it, you've opened yourself to a juggle between both your opponents characters. It's a frustrating balance that's tough to learn quickly. SFxT is definitely a game that requires precision timing in order to "work properly" for the player.

So that's all I can think of to say about these games. If you guys have any questions for me, please feel free to ask them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them!