A successful fighting game, in my opinion, will please two camps: tournament-level players who buy the arcade sticks and practice combo chains in the shower, and people who are just looking to have a good time at the expense of potentially mashed buttons. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars strikes a good balance between these two camps, offering a fun, accessible experience that the elite can obsess over.

The fact Capcom decided to bring the game to North America in the first place should be a pretty good indication of the confidence they have in it. Whereas previous Vs. titles have had plenty of well-known licensed characters to draw in Western players, Tatsunoko’s properties are not as well known, and those many do know — including Speed Racer and (yes, you knew it was coming) the Samurai Pizza Cats — are nowhere to be found.

With personalities a significant amount of the fun of past titles, I was initially wary of Tatsunoko’s characters in the months leading up to release. Just about everyone knows what they’re getting with Ryu, Chun-Li and Megaman, and how varied many of Capcom’s characters are as fighters, but most everyone on Tatsunoko’s side looks like sullen, spandex-clad generiheroes if you’re looking at them out of context. After spending a little time with them, however, I found the Tatsunoko side almost as varied in styles and demeanors.

In fact, Tatsunoko matches Capcom pretty well in terms of blending serious and more comedic characters—another kick of the Vs. series. Some players, for example, choose Ryu for his tried-and-true style and deserved status as a Capcom figurehead, but they’ll team him up with Roll because beating people with a little robot girl can be hilarious (to those people, at least—not that I… forget it). By the same token, Tatsunoko’s more serious fighters, such as Ken the Eagle and Tekkaman, are juxtaposed nicely with lighter-styled characters such as Yatterman-1 and Doronjo and her gang (essentially the Team Rocket of Tatsunoko). Overall, none of the characters seemed too bland to try a couple times and I quickly found favorites in the Tatsunoko field.

He's covered wars you know. Wait...is that Niko Bellic?

The gameplay doesn’t break much from what is found in other Vs. titles, lending to strategic tagging in and out of your two characters and thankfully not overcomplicating things with different poses or stances or grooves or whatever the heck Capcom vs. SNK had. Perhaps the most notable addition are the two “giant” characters of Tatsunoko’s Gold Lightan and the PTX-40A mech from Capcom’s Lost Planet. Giants have no partners, but essentially have the life bars and powers of two other characters combined. It can be quite a rush playing as them, but doesn’t always translate to a walk in the park.

The game takes advantage of several control styles, including the horizontal “NES”-style remote hold, the nunchuck and remote combo and the Classic Controller. The remote schemes will work well for more casual players, but lack the involvement of having six buttons. Most players familiar with fighters will likely want the Classic Controller; it just doesn’t feel “right” without it. The same basic motions control specials for most characters, but getting them down to a science, linking combos and taking advantage of various breakaway, hyper and crossover maneuvers will keep advanced players busy.

The game features the usual lineup of arcade, time attack and survival modes, adjustable in difficulty, but the most fun will be had in Versus and Online modes. Unfortunately, the game will force you to play through Arcade mode and strike the final blow to the boss with nearly every character in order to unlock the last “secret” character. It’s a big pain, especially since everything in the game other than the locked characters can be bought with Zenny you accrue in normal play.

That guy looks surprisingly healthy for someone who just took 4 Trillion Damage

The game’s cel-shaded style looks great for the most part and is a good compromise for non-HD. There’s some visible pixellation at times, however, in some stage background and the grinning mugs of Dronjo’s toadies. The cel-shaded style also doesn’t seem to work that well for Gold Lightan, who looks like a giant refrigerator made of LEGOs. Music is the standard Capcom fighting game fare and works well, although those expecting all the voices to be in English will find a big surprise. Also, don’t let the autotuner of the main theme freak you out when you start the game up for the first time.

So what I’m trying to say is…
Aside from a couple disadvantages and the lack of pizza cats, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a well-balanced and just plain fun fighter. Those who don’t think of themselves as fighting game experts shouldn’t let the unfamiliar characters and Capcom brand intimidate them and experts shouldn’t let the fact it’s on the Wii give them reason to overlook it.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars was developed by Eighting and published by Capcom. The game is available for the Nintendo Wii and for $39.99 (USD). Game rented through GameFly, with review based on more than 8 hours of play. Number of zombies in shopping carts I sent across the screen with Frank West: countless.