I said I'd write some guides. I was hoping more people would be interested in the game, but a basics guide is still in order.
So, for this guide, look forward to learning some stuff about:
- Controls
- Basic gameplay and strategies
- Useful tricks
ControlsBasic controls are explained in the game's virtual help guide, but here's another take on them. Where I refer to buttons by name, I will be doing so for the 360 controller. Controls are the same on the PS3, so just sub out the respective button names.
MovementPad forward = walk toward opponent
Pad backward = walk away from opponent, block if opponent is attacking; holding down and back causes a low block
Pad down = crouch
Pad up = jump; can jump forward or backward by hitting either direction and up at the same time
Tap down, quickly hit up = super jump, sending the character high into the sky
Double tap forward or backward = quick dash toward or away from an opponent
AttacksX = light punch
X, X (two taps in short succession) = medium punch
Y = heavy punch
X + Y (both buttons at the same time) = double punch
A = light kick
A, A (two taps in short succession) = medium kick
B = heavy kick
A + B )both buttons at the same time) = double kick
TeamworkLB = assist 1 (calls whomever is in the first teammate slot out to do a quick attack)
RB = assist 2 (calls whomever is in the second teammate slot to do a quick attack)
X + A = tag out with the character in the first teammate slot
Y + B = tag out with the character in the second teammate slot
Quarter circle forward (start by pressing down, then move to forward, rotating through the diagonal direction) + LB + RB = team hyper combo (all three team members show up to use their ultimate attacks)
Basic gameplay and strategiesMarvel is a sick game. It's high speed, intense, multiple characters... it's sick. The flow of the game is simple. Pick three characters, fight until a team runs out of life. An exciting match will have the advantage shifting back and forth between players, but let's be real here: You want to get as close to absolute domination as possible. So let's take a look at some of the core mechanics and how you want to use them to your advantage.
First things first, Marvel is a tag-team game. This is absolutely key to your success. Knowing when to tag out, when to call for an assist, when to call or team hyper combos, and when to
not do these things is what will move you from being a complete new guy to someone who is learning and able to hold his own in a fight.
The big idea of fighting in Marvel is to never give your opponent any control over the fight. You want to control as much of the battle field as possible, and you never want to give your opponent an ounce of breathing room. There are two parts to maximizing this.
The first, as I once read, is to think of the play field as a game of king of the hill. If you stay in the middle of the screen, you are most able to control all of the space on the screen. You're close enough for most of your melee attacks to reach opponents, and time to get to an opponent (directly or through projectiles) is small.
The second is to never stop attacking. In Marvel, the best defense is a relentless offense. Your tools of the trade for this are twofold: character-specific combos and assistance from teammates.
Available combos vary from character to character, and include simple attacks along with special attacks (refer to the move lists for specific characters in the start menu to find out how to use them). When it comes to learning combos, training mode is your best friend.
Seriously. If you want to get good at Marvel, then be ready and willing to spend plenty of time in training.The good news is, Marvel has what is referred to as a magic series for combo building. The magic series is a basic six-hit combo that every character has access to. The basic flow of this series is light punch, light kick, medium punch, medium kick, heavy punch, heavy kick (or X, A, X, A, Y, B). The bummer is that not all characters can use the full magic series while standing. Still, this gives you a staring point for finding and creating basic character combos.
Then come the powers of your team. Learn to incorporate your team assists to make your combos last longer. For example, push through to the end of a combo as your main character, then call out for an assist to continue the combo. Depending on the assist, you may very well be able to start a whole new combo with your main character. In other cases, the assist will set you up to use your very powerful super attacks.
These are general strategy ideas. It'll take time to learn how to implement these ideas with specific teams, so I recommend you spend lots of time training mode.
Useful tricksLaunchers and air combosOne of the most obvious things you'll see if you watch videos of Marvel is that tons of time is spent fighting in the air. Aside from the fact that aerial combat looks cool (and you get a little text saying "air combo"), there is a purpose for it. The magic series is much more usable in the air (most characters I've tried it with have the full magic series instead of just parts of it). You can unleash an air combo any time in the air, but the most easy and effective way to do it is by hitting an opponent with a launcher first. A launcher is just a hard attack that sends an opponent straight into the air. You use launchers by holding down and forward and hitting heavy punch or heavy kick (varies with the character); some magic series combos end with launchers, too. As soon as the launcher connects, super jump to catch up with the airborne opponent. If you have a basic launcher, the down/forward that you use to start the launcher counts as the "down tap" portion of a super jump command, so simply hitting up will give you the super jump result instead of a regular jump. Once you catch up, whale away on the helpless opponent.
Delayed Hyper CombosRemember how I mentioned up there in the controls section that you can activate a Team Hyper Combo to have your entire team use hyper attacks all at the same time? Well, that is pretty powerful, but there is a more effective way to use the hyper attacks of your entire team. When you select your characters, you'll notice that you'll have to choose an assist type for each. When you choose an assist type, you're also choosing which hyper attack will be available for a delayed hyper combo. To use this technique, begin your active character's hyper attack of choice, then input the command of the next teammate's available hyper attack to immediately call out that character's attack. You can do this again to call out the third teammate's attack for maximum damage. Note that you will need to have enough hyper meter stocks to use these attacks.
Pushing backIn the event that you're blocking (which is definitely preferable to eating combo after combo), you can hit double punch (X + Y) to push an opponent back and give your character some breathing room. This is especially helpful if someone is in your face and you're playing as a character with a fast projectile attack available. Push the opponent back while defending against a melee combo and immediately follow up with your projectile attack.
Fighting 'til the bitter endNo matter how cruel an opponent you face, no matter how far down you are, never give up the fighting spirit. Even if you don't win, you're under the pressure to fight harder than before, and you'll be surprised at what is possible. Then again, you could very well end. People pull out "clutch" wins surprisingly often, and you may very well be one of them. If you fight 'til the last, you may lose the round, but you will win experience. If you give up, you truly lose with nothing to show for it. And, to hype you up on comebacks, check out this video of Justin Wong during an Evo tournament:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/25765So what are you waiting for? Get playing that Marvel!
