Gaming Lessons for Marvel Vs Capcom 2 on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3

Players select three fighters from the roster of Marvel and Capcom characters and fight one-on-one until one of the teams have no remaining players. Each character has at least one super combo and the entire team shares a single super meter. The characters can draw on this (at a minimum cost of one super meter level) to perform their super combos or other special super moves.

Control is similar to the previous Vs. games, which itself derives from the Street Fighter games, except that the screen is now wider. The major difference is that instead of three punch/kick attack strength, there are only two (like the SNK-style format), with the last two buttons being replaced by assist buttons. Most often, a weak attack can chain two different hits. The second is a medium attack which was featured in the previous games.

The player can also call in an off-screen character to do a selected special move by pressing the corresponding assist button. Each character has three assist types which cause them to execute different special moves (or in some cases, a regular move); this is chosen before the match. The player can call an assist at any time, except during a super jump or when executing special or super moves, and the assist character is vulnerable to attack or even death. The characters receive double damage than normal when attacked during an assist.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 introduces the ability to force an opponent's teammate into the fight with a move commonly called a "snapback", which requires one super meter to execute. The character will flash for a moment and do a normal attack which will knock the opponent out of the playing field if it's not blocked. If successful, the current character will be knocked out of play and the next available partner will enter the fight on their behalf. If the move connects with both the active and an assist character, it introduces the possibility of the assist character being knocked out without the opponent being able to defend him/her.

The arcade version features an "experience" system which unlocks hidden characters after a certain number of experience points are earned. This system was removed in the console versions in favor of the "Secret Factor" menu, where the player can buy hidden characters, backgrounds, and artworks using points (earned through normal playing). In the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 version, all characters are unlocked from the start