Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of the Worst Fighting Game Mechanic Ever

Wait. Stop. Before you read any further I'd like you to go to the link below and spend a little time getting your ass handed to you at rock-paper-scissors (RPS). First I'd like you to go with the 'Novice' setting and play a few rounds. Then I'd like you to reload the game but this time go with the 'Veteran' setting.

Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

So you're back. Having now likely gotten beaten soundly at rock-paper-scissors. At this point you're likely asking what was the point of that exercise? The point my friends was to use it as an illustration of how lopsided and poorly implemented what is, in my opinion, not only the worst mechanic in 'Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3' but what is also, in my opinion, in the running for worst mechanic is fighting game history in the Team Aerial Combo aka TAC. The TAC mechanic is essentially a skewed game of rock-paper-scissors in which the player initiating it has all of the advantages. Hmmm, I'm not explaining this very well. Let's get some of the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way:

• TACs are useable in most aerial combos;
• The player initiating the TAC can chose between up, down or sideways (left and right are interchangeable);
• A successful TAC tags in the next character on the players team to continue the combo;
• Upwards TAC grants a damage bonus;
• Downwards TAC gives a full bar of super meter;
• Sideways TAC steals a bar of super meter;
• A TAC can be countered only by matching the directional input the player initiating it selected (i.e. up counters up, down counters down, left or right counters left or right) AND only if the direction is input correctly within 15 frames (~ ¼ of a second);
• If you (somehow) counter a TAC the person initiating it takes a miniscule amount of damage and the combo is broken.

So looking at all of that it should be clear that this mechanic is essentially RPS but worse in that there is only one condition for each situation where you can “win” and two where you can lose whereas in an actual game of rock-paper-scissors you have options where you can win or tie (i.e. not lose). Additionally the window for countering the TACs is incredibly tight such that doing so is, in my experience, more a matter of luck than of skill. Essentially TACs are a RPS mechanic where the attacker has the deck stacked significantly in their favor. So why is this a bad thing? Well there are three reasons that stand out in my mind:

1. TACs add a (significant) random element to the game.
2. They deter players from learning actual combos (you can keep these exchanges going long enough to kill or come damn close to killing most of the characters in the game).
3. The make online play an incredibly poor facsimile of how the game actually plays.

If you've seen them in action items #1 and #2 should be pretty obvious but what's that about #3. Well #3 is the reason I had you play the RPS game linked to above twice. I would say that countering a TAC offline against a human being sitting in the same room as you would be akin to beating the computer on the 'Novice' setting after its studied you for ten rounds. Now countering a TAC online would be more like coming up with a win against the 'Veteran' level computer after its studied you for twenty rounds, i.e. a lucky guess. The reason that you don't (usually) see players going for TACs constantly against offline competition is because of the (slim) chance that they'll get countered and that they'd usually rather go with something that's guaranteed. Online, eh, not so much. Given even the most minimal amounts of latency online (lag screws up the timing for countering) TACs go from a minimal risk with a high reward to no risk with a high reward as they are practically guaranteed combo extension and bonuses and that my friends makes for a terrible mechanic. See you all next week.