With the imminent release of the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics; which contains seven of Marvel’s best games from the classic age of gaming.

We thought it would be a great time to cover some of the best fighters and teams for the Marvel vs. Capcom games in the collection. So that way when the game releases digitally on September 12th, you’re properly prepared to head online and climb the leaderboards. Of course, many of you will have your favorites, and let us know what your favorite characters and teams are.

The collection contains the great beat-em-up The Punisher, which isn’t a fighting game. Its two playable characters (Nick Fury and The Punisher) are pretty identical, so it will be excluded from this list for obvious reasons. But when you pick up the collection, it’s definitely recommended that you play it regardless!

X-Men: Children of the Atom’s Best Fighters

Marvel’s first real foray into fighting games and the early genesis of what would become the Marvel vs. Capcom series, you can select characters to go up against many iconic villains from X-Men lore.

If you’ve never played this before, Cyclops is an easy character to get started with. If you’ve ever played a Capcom fighting game before he plays not too dissimilar to a fighter like Ryu. He’s easy to pick up and play, and easy to master. Omega Red has some great reach and can easily dish out damage from afar. If you like to grapple your opponents, then Colossus is the right character for you to play as.

Marvel Super Heroes’ Best Fighters

The great thing about a collection like this is that you can access Secret Characters from the Marvel vs. Capcom series with ease. So in Marvel Super Heroes you can unlock characters like Anita, Thanos, and Doctor Doom through the game settings. With those three unlocked they are clearly the best characters. Especially Thanos who is the end boss of the game. Those characters aside, Psylocke and Magneto are also very strong.

X-Men Vs. Street Fighter’s Best Teams

This is the game that started the Marvel vs. Capcom series of games as we know it today and it introduced the idea of teams with teams of two. It is notoriously known as a very combo-heavy game. Which can be fun (if unbalanced). Certain characters really benefit from this. The first is Gambit who can lay a lot of damage down quickly. Rogue is also great to play for this reason. So pairing those two together is not only cute given their romantic connection but also deadly. On the Street Fighter side of things, you can never go wrong with Chun-Li; pairing her with Gambit is never a bad call.

Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter’s Best Team

Yes, just one team for this entry. Why? Well, this Marvel vs. Capcom game is notoriously over balanced, with there being not many characters that stand above the rest. I will say, the only exception to this is Wolverine and Omega Red who tend to be a bit stronger than the rest, but not by a huge margin. Still, if you’re unsure of who to play as, they’re your best bet.

Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash Of Super Heroes’ Best Teams

The direct predecessor to Marvel vs. Capcom 2; which is arguably the most popular game in the series (and this collection). This game featured many decent fighters.

It’s never a bad idea to anchor your team with a heavy hitter like The Hulk. He can tank a lot of hits and deal decent damage. Then pairing him with various second team mambers can vary how you play. Morrigan is great for setting traps, which you can follow up with damage fro The Hulk. Gambit is once again in this and he’s great as always. You might even say he’s going to make a name for himself with his high speed, brutal combos, and fun playstyle. Chun-Li also fills in that great combo style that Gambit does. If you’re new to the game, pairing Hulk with Ryu is a great way to get used to the game and still put some wins under your belt.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2’s Best Teams

If you’ve played Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 at any point competitively you’ve undoubtedly either played as or played against Magneto-A, Storm-A, Sentinel-A. Why? Because of an easy-to-pull-off combo called ‘Storm/Sentinal DHC’ which almost every time takes your opponent down and all you need is two super meters. Which is relatively easy to get in a short timeframe. It’s a great team to simply pick up and play, and if you’re looking to get into multiplayer, it’s probably the easiest team to start winning with.

The next team became synonymous with Duc Do, a well-known Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 player who won the EVO 2005 tournament with Spiral-A, Cable-B, Sentinel-Y. Primarily designed to trap opponents and widdle away at their health with reliable but effective attacks. Cable is a huge source of damage output and can reliably take down trapped opponents with ease. This team is a bit harder to master than the previous team, but if you can pull it off you can get some wins under your belt.

Another team that was used by a pro player, this time Clockw0rk. His team consisted of Sentinel-Y, Strider-A, Doom-B and has seen a lot more play in recent years. Where the risk/reward comes into play is Strider. Strider has less health than most fighters in the game. So it’s easy for him to be defeated and if he does, this team falls apart. Still, you have mainly Sentinal to tank some hits and protect Strider. If you can, Strider can lock down most opponents relatively easily and can dominate most teams if protected.

Out of the three teams mentioned, this is my personal favourite as Strider is one of the highest damage-dealing characters in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2

Those are my picks. What’s yours? Let us know in the comments below and for all things Gaming keep it tuned to That Hashtag Show