It's undeniable that Capcom has a tradition of making great fighting games. However, as good as their games are, there is one very obvious flaw that most of them possess; there is a high barrier of entry for beginners. Unless you're willing to dig in, and put long hours into perfecting super moves and multi-hit combos, you're not going to be any good, and that usually equates to a bad multiplayer experience, ruining the crux of their games."Marvel Vs. Capcom 3"is looking to put an end to all of that with the introduction of Simple mode, a new way for inexperienced gamers to enjoy one of themost anticipated games of 2011.
Russ has already done a great job of explainingwhat Simple mode is, and who it was made for, but it's reasonable to question whether or not it is going to serve as a crutch for gamers. In other words, is Simple mode going help or hinder new players by either teaching them the game, or holding them back from perfecting it?
It doesn't take much to realize that Simple mode levels the playing field of fighting games like nothing else. Anyone who played"Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom"will agree that Capcom was making strides in the direction of accessibility with that game's simplified control scheme, and two-button layout. However, Simple mode leaves in a good deal of the complexity that"Tatsunoko"removed, while at the same time making it even easier for newcomers to hold their own.
In Defense of Button Mashing
Some people may call it button mashing, but that’s where everyone starts with fighting games. You don't know what's punch, what's kick, how to throw a fireball, or pull off an awesome full-screen-super-hyper-alpha-combo move, so you just press all the buttons and hope for the best. As much as people may deny it, that's where they all started...Seth, Daigo, Justin Wong, all of them, at some point, mashed buttons.
The difference is, the Seths and Justin Wongs of the world had to stop mashing buttons to get better. They had to learn how to pull off the awesome full-screen-super-hyper-alpha-combo moves, or else they'd just be a couple of dudes hanging out at an arcade. And that's where Simple mode is going to fail gamers.
Don't get me wrong, I think Simple mode is a great way for potential new fans to get introduced to an amazing game, without the level of frustration that comes along with losing every match without taking down even one of your opponent's characters. Unfortunately, it's that frustration that drives players to practice, to compete, and just get better. It's the same argument against giving every kid in Little League a trophy for just showing up: what's the point in even trying?
Russ makes a great point in his article, stating that,"All the mode does is take the memorization of the special moves out of the equation, letting two players go at it using pure tactics and timing."He's right, but there's a bit more too it. It makes the game almost too accessible. Perhaps that's just an elitist attitude, but learning from your mistakes is one of the most fundamental aspects of being a human, and if you're not going to be given the option to make mistakes where does that leave us as a species?
A Balancing Act
Yes, Simple mode only offers an abbreviated move set for each character. Sure, you won't be able to pull off the strongest combos, but if you can still manage to take down all of your friends without those things, does it really matter? And if so, are you ever going to play without it? One possible solution to this dilemma would be for the game to turn off Simple mode as an option after a certain period of time, or if the player climbs above a certain win percentage, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.
I want to be clear; it's not that I don't support Simple mode, I'm just concerned that if players overuse it they'll never need to step up their game. While that may be fine for some people, maybe the next Daigo is going to pick up the fight stick for the first time with"Marvel Vs. Capcom 3,"and if he/she never gets past using Simple mode, they'll likely never achieve their full potential.
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