I have been playing the Street Fighter IV series ever since vanilla came out almost two years ago in February 2009. I played both Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV a lot, almost 1500+ hours in total. I don’t have any real fighting game experience besides that.
I pre-ordered Marvel vs. Capcom 3 since I liked Marvel vs. Capcom 2 as a casual player when I was much younger. I decided to pick up Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in the meantime and practice with it, while trying to go for the trophies/achievements as well. One requirement is to get 50 OCVs and it seems very far-fetched at this point. I followed someone’s tip and tried to play a runaway Megaman with Captain Commando and Iceman assisting constantly, but it’s still hard.
I feel really lost while playing others online and I can’t dissect what’s going on on the screen. It seems to me like I am trying to play it like Street Fighter IV.
Anyways, in my case, how do I transition between the two games? For example, in Street Fighter IV, it emphasizes on poking, anti airs, zoning, throwing, and mix ups etc. What is the general approach in a match of Marvel vs. Capcom 2? When I watch other plays destroy me or the pros on YouTube, it seems like they just try to get an opening into a combo and get it going from there.
So, what I am asking for is just some general tips on the game, like the combo system and improving defense etc.
First, forget about those achievements. Don’t pick Mega Man just to attempt to get OCV’s. It’s not so effective that its free or anything.
Second, MvC2 is still a fighting game. It has poking, anti-airs, zoning, throwing and mixups-- but everything is orchestrated with an eye towards team chemistry, with many variables present, happening at a faster rate than in a traditional fighter. Nearly every facet of SF is in the game, most often in an exaggerated form.
What’s poking/footsies? Since Marvel is a fast game, you’ve got to think of inputs in terms strings in order to maintain an offense in most cases. It’s not as straightforward to visualize as, say, Ryu’s low forward being using in reaction to another poke. Instead in Marvel, footsies and zoning most often takes the form of two players jockeying for position by quickly moving to a spot on the screen and ‘claiming’ it by dropping an assist.
If you have a character duo that has high mobility and can protect the angles his assist is subject to punishment from (say Sent/Captain Commando AAA), then it is a good gamble to use this sort of a zoning game. You can claim that piece of screen, and if the assist hits, complete a high damage combo-- if blocked, you can cover the assist as best you can.
Another approach to the game is all about ‘opening up’ the other player’s defense. MSP falls into this category. Your concerns with zoning are mostly about dodging the other players defensive assists in order to get in and create pressure with your own.
And of course, there’s all the cheap stuff. Things you can’t block, high speed mixups that are impossible to react to, grimey infinites, double snaps and lockdown traps. IMO these factors get brought to the forefront while Marvel’s intense take on basic Street Fighter elements get lost.