It wasn't the screen filled with character options the game is certain to carry when it goes gold sometime next year, but even with the truncated roster of Morrigan, Ryu, Chris (from Resident Evil), Dante, Felicia, Wolverine, Deadpool, Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk; the game was everything we'd hoped it would be.
What Street Fighter IV did for the Street Fighter franchise, MvC3 is looking to do for its franchise. Street Fighter IV took a storied franchise and brought it into the HD era. It brought new depth while still keeping that nostalgic feel. A hadoken works the same now as it did 15 years ago. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 feels much the same way. New depth and new characters make the game brand new along with a cool stylistic cell-shading, but what you knew in the previous two games still holds true in the new game.
Controls felt tight and responsive, though all the characters hang in the air a little longer than I'm used to, so it took me a while to get the timing down for combos. The game hasn't adopted the Street Fighter IV button configuration but has kept with classic Marvel vs. Capcom. You pick a team of three and build crazy combos using your allies with vibrant animations, just like normal.
No word on any advanced options or game modes yet, the demo here at E3 just had versus mode. Check out the slideshow for a massive collection of shots.
