Update [Tue 27th Aug, 2024 16:30 BST]: Well, well, well. After it was initially hinted that Norimaro would be removed from Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, it has been confirmed that the character is present in both the Japanese and Western versions of the game.
Original Story [Wed 19th Jun, 2024 14:45 BST]: Capcom's announcement that it is bundling up some of its crossover fighters in Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics went down rather well yesterday; games like X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are legendary brawlers, and getting to experience them again on modern-day hardware is something we're really looking forward to.
However, as you perhaps might expect when dealing with licensed titles from decades ago, there are going to be some changes in this pack – the most obvious of which is the removal of a Norimaro, a Japan-exclusive character who starred in 1997's Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
Norimaro is based on a nerdy, 'otaku' persona created by Japanese comedian Noritake Kinashi and was always something of a leftfield choice; he was predictably removed from international versions of the coin-op and the Western PS1 port.
Here's a bit more background on the character, taken from the Marvel vs. Capcom Wiki:
The new character was initially stated to make an appearance in the "most recent work related to the Street Fighter series", later revealed to debut in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, which was at the time the latest game in the company's release schedule. Executive Producer Yoshiki Okamoto really disliked the character, thinking he was incredibly uncool, but artist Akiman really liked his clear and simple design and praised him. Okamoto was also fearing he'd end up debuting in Street Fighter III, still in development at the time, and allegedly made sure it would not be the case. Norimaro was balanced in consideration of new players coming to play from watching Noritake's show.
On the upside, Mecha Gouki has been added as a playable character in the version of the game which is included in Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics.
Other changes include Juggernaut and Magneto being playable in X-Men: Children of the Atom, Doctor Doom, Thanos and Anita being playable in Marvel Super Heroes and the removal of some images used during the ending in the Japanese version of The Punisher.
[source x.com]
Comments 27
Its also not coming to Xbox.
Word is that MS doesn't support a framework these collections are build upon anymore.
Said framework, the MT Framework, also has no support for the ps5.
Notice how the ps5 was left out as well as the Xbox.
But don't quote me on that.
It might just be random piffle.
I saw it also comes with The Punisher. Was a bit disappointed if didn't come with the Genesis Xmen game to but I understand that it's arcade ports. Not console ports.
Price will be the factor on if/when I pick this up.
I never used Norimaru much anyway, back then (was it Dreamcast? PS2?)
The playable boss characters in MSH will be nice! I’m just thrilled to see these dream collab licensed games make a return.
Thank you for caring, Capcom!!
@GameGear1991
The Megadrive X-men games were not by Capcom.
But by Western Technolochies inc and Headgames respectively
Mutant Apocalypse is on the Snes.
@Teksetter
Even further back.
PS1 and Saturn era.
For me, this would be worth buying even it were just MvC2.
I'm not an avid fighting game fan. I'm just there to have fun. And MvC2 is easily the most fun I've ever had with a 2D fighter. Can't wait to have it on Switch.
You know, I'm all for some of the randomness that Capcom puts in games, but I think I'll be ok without this one. I'm just excited were finally getting these games again.
@Teksetter As King of Skill would say: "You can Doctor Doom Foot Dive on your Nintendo Switch now."
@KitsuneNight It's actually worse, Capcom is just too lazy to make a last gen XBOX version of the collection.
This thing is just a quick cash grab nothing more nothing less.
0/10 game ruined
@PopetheRev28
If it's 60 bux they can piss off.
I got half these games on the Saturn and Dreamast as is.
@KitsuneNight Same I'm actually looking on Ebay for the ones I don't have. Marvel Super Heroes on PS1 is actually supposed to be better than the Saturn version.
Even I got this, and I could I have a good PC and a Switch. the Switch version won't have Rollback, The PS4 version will have horrible input lag, and the Steam Version will have Denuvo.
@PopetheRev28 That's interesting, Saturn is usually said to be better for Capcom games. I have the PS1 version and it was pretty sluggish. Not just long loading times but the game itself is slower. At least that's how I remember it. I haven't played it on disc in years tbh.
I usually go for MAME/FBA or back in the day Winkawaks, if anyone remembers that emulator.
@KitsuneNight if this is true that would be incredibly funny. And yeah I’m not buying these cuz I already have them.
Lame but not unexpected, I actually enjoy playing as Norimaro, he's a comical character like Dan, but he's not gimp. I love that he's in the game, and its too bad he'll likely never make a return. The Japanese arcade and Saturn port of MSH vs. SF will never be topped.
If all games are on the cart, good performance and right price I’ll grab a copy. Otherwise I’ll stick to my original copies.
@Hexapus The Saturn version lags quite a bit even with the Ram cart. It's rare that the PS1 version is better but not unheard of.
I play it in MAME the Cheat menu makes a few extras playable
@Hexapus @PopetheRev28
I don't know who claims the PSX version of MSH is better than the Saturn one, but they are mistaken. Saturn port is not perfect, but does outperform PSX pretty obviously. That's even true without the RAM cart - Saturn version has less slowdown and doesn't have the animation frame cuts that are in the PSX version. With the RAM cart (which only takes advantage of 1M, not 4M like XvSF and MSHvSF), the gap widens.
MSH on PSX was better than some of Capcom's efforts on that machine. But not better than Saturn MSH.
Apparently there's no cross play either, so I'm sure the online community will thrive for years to come.
Why the hell remove the two pics from the JP Punisher ending? Why not use the updated 360/PS3 port of MvC2 rather than straight Naomi emulation?
@firenze this is correct. The psx version missed lots of frames and had slow loading times and was just generally pants. It didn't have the same vibe as the arcade and I couldn't wait for the Dreamcast version which gave us arcade perfect (this was at the same time as cps2/3 emulation was just capturing the ROMs and handling the issues like the kill switch etc). About 2 years after the Dreamcast version emulation kicked it's arse, but for me the best home versions of any of this era of fighting games was the Dreamcast, coupled with the arcade stick and it was wicked.
I still have this on Saturn, along with X-Men Vs Street Fighter.
@Teksetter He was in the Sega Saturn version of MSH vs. SF... he was about as "joke character" as joke characters get.... but he was pretty fun to use...
Well.... although his omission is FAR from being a deal-breaker, it DOES make my comment about my Sega Saturn version of MSH vs. SF on Capcom's YouTube channel a tad bit invalid about how the need for playing my Sega Saturn for Capcom 2D fighters becoming obsolete. 😅
@Azathoth I don't know the reason for the removal of those ending pictures. It could be a content issue as I think many would assume. But it could also be that they are copyrighted photos used in the game either without permission, or they would need a new license for them. In that case, I can see why they would remove them.
The fact we were gonna get symbiote Peter but couldn’t because they didn’t have time due to adding this mf into the game will always piss me off
Also that unused animation of him imagining an infant and getting a nosebleed. I hope whoever animated that got their hands caught in a printing press even for Japanese humor standards that is just VILE
Well Yeah,
Too much work to go into the rom and just disable him.
This is a low effort last gen only cash grab after all.
@Zeebor15 10/10 game saved
Good news, Norimaro is back! No missing characters, happy to hear it!
Mech Gouki was unlockable in the Saturn version of MSH vs. SF, you had to beat Survival mode, which is extremely challenging for me, but I've done it twice. The secret is to just use Blackheart, he's the cheapest character against the CPU opponents.
The only potential issue left is emulation input lag. I'm assuming they're using emulation here, not native ports.
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