In 1996, near the end of the Golden Age of arcade fighting games, Capcom released X-Men vs Street Fighter. Featuring 17 characters taken from both the Street Fighter and X-Men universe, the game was like a schoolyard argument come to life: “Who would win in a fight, Akuma or Wolverine?” The Street Fighter formula was tweaked to include tag-team character battles, super jumps, over-the-top full-screen effects and super moves, and ridiculously drawn-out combos both on the ground and in the air. If you liked your Street Fighter turned up to eleven, this was your jam.

The game was bright, loud, and frantic, like a cartoon come to life. That was appropriate, as the X-Men characters were modeled after the animated series, right down to the voice actors used for the game. The sprites were large (for the time), colorful and well drawn, and beautifully animated, bringing the two worlds together in a way that felt utterly natural.

Spider-Man takes on Mega Man in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.

The newly released Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite feels just as ridiculous as the original did more than two decades ago. The combos are over the top, the supers are huge and flashy, and there are more particle effects flying around at any given moment than you can count. Lab monsters who love spending time in training mode finding new combos and setups will find they have more than ever to work with; the creative options are wide open.