Marvel Vs Capcom 2: The Greatest Gift of All
Gonna take you for a (sleigh) ride
I rarely received videogames, or videogame ephemera, as a Christmas gift. My parents don't like videogames. They think they're a faddish waste of time with no real longevity, and have thought that for over three decades, which doesn't really make sense. At any rate, I don't really share the Christmas gaming memories that many of the community seem to have. Except for one. The time I got Marvel Vs Capcom 2.
Yes, I duly unwrapped what I assume was some movie on DVD only to reveal the telltale blue pastic of a European PlayStation 2 game. And that game - in case you missed it - was Marvel Vs Capcom 2. I immediately looked up at my parents, darting my eyes between them, incredulous, searching for a reason. There was no way. They openly disdained my interest in videogames. Why would they buy me this? Why? I opened the case and the disc was present and correct. An anomaly, it was. A bizarre anomaly.
What a great game to get for Christmas, though. A 56-character roster! It's like getting one of those Cadbury Selection Boxes. I quickly found a team I stuck with (Cable, Tron Bonne and Strider Hiryu), but I had a ball unlocking all the characters, just seeing who was going to turn up in the shop next. I don't really do fighting games competitively ("properly", you could say), but the candy-coloured variety of MvsC2 was delightful. Bearing in mind that at the age of fifteen I'd barely begun to scratch the service of videogames, this title was something of a gateway drug for me - I recognised some characters from old games, but who the heck is Dan? Who's Hayato? Jin? Charlie? Who's Felicia, and why is her sprite making me feel funny? Oddly enough, I did know SonSon, which probably says a lot about me.
What I'd like to know is what your most memorable Christmas gaming gift was. By all means sound off in the comments. Not about the Felicia thing, though. I don't want to talk about that.
Oh, and Merry Christmas. Obviously. Unless you've been mean to me in the comments, in which case swivel.
