Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Review – Covering Switch, Steam Deck, and PS5

Background: Announcement, Reception, and the Arcade-Crossover Gap

For followers of Capcom's fighting games, the announcement of Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics felt unbelievable given recent events and the reception of the most recent Marvel vs Capcom game. Readers whose fighting-game history starts with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Marvel vs Capcom Infinite had wanted the earlier entries for years because a few of them earned praise from competitive and casual players. The Marvel vs Capcom 2 soundtrack was another draw: official access to that music was part of why the collection mattered beyond simple nostalgia.

Months after its announcement, the collection is available on Steam, Switch, and PlayStation, with Xbox coming in 2025. That timeline turns a long gap into a playable archive, giving newcomers and returning players a way to reach the arcade versions rather than incomplete console ports.

Development: Seven Games, Arcade Versions, and Collection Features

The collection ships with seven games: X-MEN CHILDREN OF THE ATOM, MARVEL SUPER HEROES, X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER, MARVEL SUPER HEROES vs. STREET FIGHTER, MARVEL vs. CAPCOM CLASH OF SUPER HEROES, MARVEL vs. CAPCOM 2 New Age of Heroes, and THE PUNISHER. THE PUNISHER is not a fighting game but a beat 'em up, expanding the package beyond versus matches. Because the games are based on the arcade versions, players do not need to worry about missing features that sometimes appear in older console ports. English and Japanese versions are included, and selecting the Japanese version for MARVEL SUPER HEROES vs. STREET FIGHTER includes Norimaro.

The review period covered about 15 hours on Steam Deck, using both LCD and OLED models, 13 hours on PS5 via backward compatibility, and about 4 hours on Nintendo Switch. For the reviewer, who was not qualified enough to discuss the ins and outs of these games because this was the first time playing them, the pre-release fun with MARVEL vs. CAPCOM 2 New Age of Heroes justified the asking price strongly enough to create interest in buying both console physical releases just to own a physical version.

The interface and front end will feel familiar to players of Capcom Fighting Collection, and it carries over some of that collection's issues. The package includes online and local multiplayer support, local wireless support on Switch, rollback netcode for online play, a training mode, customizable options, an option to reduce white flashes or light flickering per game, various display options, and wallpaper options. The training mode is available per game and includes hitboxes, displayed inputs, and other tools that make the older systems easier for newcomers. A new one-button super option can be enabled or disabled when players search for others online.

Latest Progress: Online, Museum, Platform Performance, and Issues

The museum and gallery are a major part of the collection's value. It includes all game soundtracks, more than 200 tracks, and more than 500 pieces of artwork. The reviewer's friend, also covering the collection, noted that a lot of the artwork had never been public before, which is notable for longtime fans even though it is all new to first-time players. One gap remains: sketches or design documents do not carry translations for Japanese text. The soundtrack section also matters because 2024 finally provides an official way to listen to these soundtracks; the hope is that this is the first step toward vinyl releases or streaming releases.

Online play uses rollback netcode and network settings that vary by platform. On PC, the options menu lets players enable or disable the microphone, adjust voice chat volume, set input delay, and select connection strength. On Switch, only input delay can be adjusted. The PS4 version lets players adjust input delay and connection strength but has no in-game voice chat options, so PS5 and PS4 native voice chat appear to be the practical route. The lack of connection strength on Switch was disappointing in the reviewed build.

Pre-release testing on Steam Deck, both wired and wirelessly, against another Steam player produced an online experience similar to Capcom Fighting Collection on Steam, but massively improved over Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. Input delay can be adjusted, and cross-region matchmaking is available. The testing covered most of the games and included some cooperative play in THE PUNISHER; it worked despite the distance between the players. Matchmaking supports casual matches, ranked matches, and leaderboards, including a High Score Challenge mode. A small quality-of-life detail also helps online rematches: the cursors remain correct, so in games like MARVEL vs. CAPCOM 2 New Age of Heroes players can pick the same team again without manually moving the cursor. These touches suggest a lot of love went into ensuring the best possible experience, including for players learning the games for the first time.

The biggest complaint is that the collection uses just a single save state, or quick save, for the entire collection rather than one per game. This was a hoped-for fix from the Capcom Fighting Collection issue, but it carried over. A smaller complaint is that settings are not universal or easy to apply at once. Having options per game is useful, but players may want to enable light reduction and turn off filters across every game in a single action.

On Steam Deck, the collection is Verified already and works perfectly out of the box. Although the Verified badge removes doubt, new games still need to be tried on the hardware. On the Deck itself it runs at 720p, while it supports 4K when docked. Testing was mostly at 1440p docked and 800p handheld. The presentation is 16:9, with no 16:10 support. PC graphics options are under the PC Settings menu in options and let players adjust resolution, display mode, including fullscreen, borderless, and windowed, and toggle v-sync.

On Switch, the collection looks fine, but the biggest downgrade from other platforms is load times. Entering and exiting games on Steam and PS5 is almost instant, while the Switch version has loading for basically everything. Because the reviewer was playing on all three platforms at once, the difference was very noticeable. The Switch version does support local wireless, unlike the others, and players are still hoping for a connection strength option, since PlayStation and PC already have it.

On PS5, the reviewed version was played through backward compatibility rather than as a native PS5 title. A native release would have allowed PS5 Activity Card support, which would make switching between games from the dashboard faster. Even through backward compatibility, the PS4 version looks excellent on a 1440p monitor and loads quickly even when played from an external hard drive. Moving it to the SSD can make loading even faster, and there were no complaints about the PS4 version on PS5.

Current Stage: Xbox in 2025 and a 4.5/5 Steam Deck Score

At this point, Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is one of Capcom's best collections yet, not only among fighting games or arcade games but across everything. It offers superb extras, fantastic online play on Steam, and it has been a joy for first-time players to experience these games. The Steam Deck review score is 4.5/5. The current stage is a strong launch on Steam, Switch, and PlayStation, with Xbox coming in 2025, while the main remaining quality-of-life gap is the single collection-wide save state.