Tatsunoko vs Capcom� Capcom's been known for taking on some pretty big franchises, such as Marvel and SNK, but Tatsunoko? Now, I'm not one for anime, so excuse my ignorance when I heard of this title and had no clue who Capcom's new challengers were. After some research, however, I realized that since Tatsunoko is pretty much the most influential anime producer in Japan, I should be ashamed of my ignorance.

Tatsonoko and Capcom does sound like a match made in heaven for fighting games, and seeing the brilliant control and combo systems in the game, it's not only a great matchup, but brilliant execution. Unlike the other "Capcom vs." games, this is created in fully-fledged 3D, and with its cell-shading looks and feels like the previous titles, only brought into the here-and-now.

The game was released a while ago in Japan, but due to licensing issues it has taken a year to make it to the West. However, this downtime has led to some improvements and additions, and it is very likely that it will be re-released in Japan with the cool new content. Due to the licensing problems, one character from Tatsunoko, Hakushon Daimaō, had to be removed, but five new characters have been added to the original roster of the Japanese release.

Online play will be available, though we are uncertain of whether or not it will be region based. The creators speculate that this is the case, but because the Wi-Fi is what's keeping them busy on the title for another half year, they weren't able to say with any certainty. There will be latency either way, as always, so be prepared for a slightly rough ride.

One thing that's quite disappointing about the game is the fact that the roster consists of about 20 characters, in comparison to Marvel vs Capcom 2's 56 character roster. There are however two extremely large mechanical characters to choose from, which really pack a punch. They aren't as fun to play as the normal-sized combo-machines like Ryu, Ken the Eagle, and Megaman, but it provides a funny contrast to the core mechanics of the game; and Lost Planet 2 fan boys are definitely going to love fighting in a PTX-40A (the Super VS).

It is meant to be played with the arcade joystick peripheral, but unfortunately they are quite hard to come by. The control on the Wii remote can be semi-random, so you're definitely gonna want to play it with a Joystick. There are also no plans to package the game with this peripheral, so you'll have to find one on Play-Asia, ebay or Amazon. Good luck.

More reports from Gamescom on the way - keep checking N-Europe!

Maikel de Bakker
- N-Europe Staff Writer