Marvel Vs. Capcom allowed a 3rd selectable character from a support cast, providing a limited number of assists, but the gameplay still largely revolved around two-on-two tag team combat. Joining the fully playable roster included Mega Man, Strider Hiryu, Morrigan (Darkstalkers), Captain Commando and Jin (Cyberbots). While the Marvel contribution remained largely familiar, Venom and War Machine made their first Versus appearance. The support cast included such teases as Thor, Arthur and Sentinel, which we wouldn't see more of until Marvel Vs. Capcom 3…

My favourite addition, Onslaught. The well hard amalgamated malice of Professor X and Magneto personified. Another screen filling encounter to remember.

I was quick to import the arcade perfect Dreamcast release, which added a frickin' awesome 4-player mode, coming into its own when the 'Duo Team Attack' is activated by both teams, bringing all four playable characters on screen at once. If it was ever there, any clue to what was going on completely disappeared.

It was two years before Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000) was revealed. Exciting fans with new 3-on-3 tag team battles and all new characters such as Cable (X-Men) and Jill Valentine (Resident Evil). Capcom also chose a new platform, the then new Naomi arcade hardware, based on Sega's Dreamcast console. This allowed for new 3D elements, heavily utilised in the all-3D backgrounds, but also on the character select screens and for various visual effects, and another arcade perfect Dreamcast port.

Most astonishing was the selectable character count, totalling 56 all-in, featuring nigh-on every character to have appeared in a Marvel licensed fighting game from Capcom. They also dropped a number of Street Fighters into the mix, who previously had been left out of the super-powered action.

Despite being a celebration of previous titles, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is not without its problems. The soundtrack is a bit of an acquired taste and the huge roster has some serious balancing issues. And as great as it was to see the return of characters such as Silver Samurai and Colossus, the sprites appear almost completely unchanged from their original appearance with some pretty ugly filtering going on to mask the differences.

Regardless, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was where we were left for just over a decade, and it has remained popular amongst competitive players and fans alike, and recently benefited from an excellent XBLA/PSN re-release.

We have seen a number of non-Marvel crossover titles fill the void, such as Capcom Vs. SNK (2000, 2001) and more recently Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom (2008, 2010), but finally Capcom and Marvel have joined forces once again to bring us Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. With the talented producer of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom at the helm (Ryota Niitsuma), and a more mental character roster than we could have ever hoped for, we should be set for another decade.