Marvel vs Capcom/System

Game Mechanics

Basic Mechanics

Dashing: B/Fx2:

• A slight dash across the screen for offensive or defensive purposes. Some characters have an air-dash.

Super Jump: D then U or Kx3:

• A more extended jump with higher verticality.

Meter:

• The super meter, just like any fighting game, gives you the ability to use super attacks, so long as you have the sufficient resources to spend. You gain meter by attacking and hitting the opponent, up to a total of 3 bars of meter. Each bar is calculated to a total of 144 points.

Red Health:

• Red health is temporary damage you receive from being attacked. Every attack deals red damage and permanent damage in Marvel VS Capcom.
• Permanent damage is damage that cannot be undone, but red health damage can be recovered over time. To do this, switch to your other team member, and the character with red health will slowly restore their health.
• This will continue until either the character restores all their red health to normal health, or they are called back into action, in which case they will completely lose their red health, meaning that health is gone.

Switch Fighters: HP + HK:

• This will only work, though, if your secondary fighter still has some energy left in their Health Meter. When you switch, the secondary character comes flying in from behind you. They start at the top of the screen and attack your opponent, coming down at them at an angle. Your secondary character is vulnerable at this time.

• As soon as your secondary character lands, they'll do a quick little "taunt" thingee to sort of "announce" their arrival and then prepare to fight. You are also vulnerable at this time, so switch wisely. Once this is done, your secondary fighter becomes your active fighter,and the previous fighter becomes your secondary.

• When one fighter completely loses their Health Meter, they are "dead" and your other fighter jumps in, to finish the fight... alone.

Dual Team Attack: QCF + HP + HK (requires 2 levels):

• You can evoke a Hyper Combo, where both of your characters (if they're both still alive) come in and blast the opponent with their Hyper Combos.

Dual Combination Attack: QCB + HP + HK (requires 2-3 levels):

• If both characters on the team are still alive, they both have a chance to go in at the same time for a short amount of time. During that time, the player controls both characters and has infinity meter until time runs out.

Guest Character: MP + MK:

• Before the match starts, you're given the chance to choose a Guest Character for a limited amount of times during the match. Each Guest Character has their own way of attacking during the match.

Advanced Mechanics

Push Block: Px3 while blocking:

• Every character can do a push block when they block while they're blocking. Doing this, you'll quickly give your opponent a push back so that they're out of range. This can be pretty useful when you have a quick character who's really "picking on you."

Tech-Throws: F + MP + HP before you get thrown:

• Throws are in this game, and I'm pretty sure everybody's got one, whether it's a "true" throw, or some kind of hold. You can lighten the damage that throws take away by Tech. Hitting out of them.

Variable Counter: RDP + HP + HK (requires 1 level):

• Your teammate (if they're still alive) will come in and help you out by smacking your opponent with one of their moves. After a Variable Counter, the teammate that helped out will be left fighting.

Wavedashing:

• Wavedashing is a repeated dash cancel to make for faster dashes than the normal dash itself. After dashing, push down right as it starts up to cancel the dash into a crouch. This is almost always done with the 3P dash input, rather than using the left stick to dash since it's much quicker to do. You can also wavedash backwards by simply holding back before hitting the 3P input, and is only slightly harder to do.

Uncombo Glitch:

• When performing a combo on someone, you can intentionally delay your attacks to wait until the final frame of active hitstun. When performed successfully, both the combo counter and damage scaling will reset, but the opponent will still be trapped in a combo. Note that this only works on airborne opponents, however it will work as an OTG, since OTGs register the opponent airborne. While not a real mechanic, the "uncombo" is a glitch in Marvel Super Heroes, Marvel and Super Heroes, and Marvel VS Capcom 1.

• Thanks, Spaceman!

Magic Series

One of the things that makes MvC stand out from other fighting games is the so called "Magic Series" of each fighter. This is the ability of each fighter to link their attack buttons together while attacking. To do the series though, you have to connect with the first hit. It doesn't matter if the opponent is blocking or not. Each fighter has a ground, jumping, and super jumping magic series.

1) Hunter Series:

• You can link all six buttons (or any other combination) together while attacking the opponent.
• For example, Strider's ground magic series is the Hunter series. This means that if he was on the ground and hitting Ryu, he could hit LP, LK, MP, MK, HP, HK, or he could skip a few and do LP, MK, HP, HK. However, he can not cycle backwards through the buttons such as LP, MK, MP. He can only, on the ground, go from punch to kick and only by increasing strength.
• This is essential to memorize to being a good player at this game.

2) Weakest to Strongest:

• Basically, you can link a weak (LP or LK) to medium (MP or MK) to strong (HP or HK).
• Remember, you can also just do LP - HK or MK - HP. You don't have to do all the buttons.

3) Weakest to Any:

• Able to link a weak (LP or LK) to one button of stronger strength.

4) Punch to Kick:

• You can only do one punch of any strength to one kick of any strength.
• Venom has this ground magic series. Shuma Gorath had this ground series in MSHSF.

5) Kick to Punch:

• One kick to only one other punch
• I think Blackheart had this in MSHSF. Other then that, I haven't seen anybody else with this series.

6) None: You can't link any buttons together.

• Characters, like Dan in MSHvSF, have no ground magic series.

Wakeup Data

Some characters take more time to wake up than others after they are hit by a HARD KNOCKDOWN move (HP/HK ender in an air combo or moves with this special property like Gambit's Kinect Card). One way to discover if a move puts the opponent in Hard Knockdown state is if they can't tech roll after being hit. Here is the wakeup data list in order (from fastest to slowest). Characters in the same line take the same time to wake up.

• Wolverine
• Captain America / Chun Li / Shadow Lady
• Gambit / Mega Man / Roll / Strider / Zangief
• Captain Commando / Ryu / Spider Man
• Lilith / Morrigan
• Jin
• War Machine
• Hulk / Orange Hulk
• Hyper Venom / Venom
• Golden War Machine