Controls
One player may compete against the computer, or two players may simultaneousy compete against each other. Each player has an 8-way joystick and 6 buttons.
Buttons
The buttons on the arcade are typically laid out in the following fashion:
The L, M, and H stands for light, medium, and hard respectively. In general, light attacks are less powerful and faster, and hard attacks are more powerful but slower, with medium attacks in between.
Joystick
The joystick works intuitively in that pressing left will generally move your character left, and pressing right will generally move your character right. But it is more important to think in terms of relative direction.
- If your character is facing to the right, then pressing left on the joystick means backward, and pressing right on the joystick means forward.
- If your character is facing to the left, then pressing left on the joystick means forward, and pressing right on the joystick means backward.
For this reason, all instructions are given with respect to forward and backward since the left and right directions change purpose when your character switches directions.
The following directions assume that your character is facing right, the starting direction of every fight for player one, who begins on the left side:
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| Jump straight up. | |||
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| Jump diagonally backwards. | Jump diagonally forwards, possibly over your opponent's head, switching directions. | ||
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| Block an imminent attack, or move away from your opponent. | Move toward your opponent. | ||
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| Blocking crouch. | Crouch, avoiding high attacks. | ||
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| Crouch, avoiding high attacks. | |||
How to Play
Rules
X-Men Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes
Each battle consists of best-of-three round match between you and your opponent. At the start of each round, both player's life or health bars are full. The first player to drive the other player's health bar to zero wins the round. The first player to win two total rounds wins the match and moves on to the next opponent. If a single player loses to the computer, the game is over and the player must continue to rematch the recent opponent.
X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Marvel vs. Capcom
Each battle consists of a two-on-two single round match between your team and your opponent's team. At the start of each round, every fighter's life or health bars are full. Only one fighter from each team may be present at any time, and the player may switch between them freely. If a fighter's health is driven to zero, they are removed from the match. The first player defeat both members of the opponent's team wins the match and moves on to the next team. If a single player loses to the computer, the game is over and the player must continue to rematch the recent opponent.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Each battle consists of a three-on-three single round match between your team and your opponent's team. At the start of each round, every fighter's life or health bars are full. The player may only control one fighter at a time, but other members of the team can be called out to attack or switch places with the primary fighter. If a fighter's health is driven to zero, they are removed from the match. The first player defeat all three members of the opponent's team wins the match and moves on to the next team. If a single player loses to the computer, the game is over and the player must continue to rematch the recent opponent.
Attacking
To win a round, the player must use his or her character's attack moves to damage the opponent, and block or dodge the opponent's attacks. Each player may attack from a standing or crouching position, or they may jump in to the air and attack. To attack from a standing position, press any single attack button. To attack from a crouching position, pull the joystick in a downward direction (including both diagonals) and press any single attack button. To attack from the air, direct your character to jump straight up, or jump in a diagonal position, and press any single attack button in mid-air.
Blocking
To block an attack, a player must push backwards on the joystick when the opponent attacks (otherwise, pressing back on the joystick moves the player away from the opponent.) Blocking can be done standing which blocks middle and high attacks, as well as attacks in the air, but does not block attacks which are low to the ground. Blocking can also be down crouching by pressing the joystick diagonally down and back. A Crouching block will successfully block low and middle attacks. High attacks will usually go over your character's head if they are crouching, but a crouching block does not defend against air attacks.
Dashing
All fighters can dash toward or away from their opponent. There are two ways to perform a dash in the Marvel series. You can either tap the joystick twice in the direction you would like to dash (forward or backward), or you can press 
with or without holding the joystick back. Your character will then perform a run or hopping animation and move quickly in that direction. You may also attack while you are in the process of dashing. This will cause you to execute an attack while you continue to move. Most characters are vulnerable to attack while they dash, while a few do have limited invincibilities (such as Blackheart). A number of characters are also capable of dashing in mid-air. Some can only dash forward, while some can dash forward or backwards. A very limited few can dash in mid-air in all eight directions.
Super Jumps
In the Marvel series, characters can perform two different kind of jumps. They can jump as fighters normally do in other games by pressing the joystick up for straight jumps, and up and to the right or left for diagonal leaps. However, if you quickly move the joystick down and up, or if you press 
, your character will launch high into the air, and the screen will scroll along with the highest positioned character. This sometimes has the effect of removing a character that remains on the ground from the screen until the jumping character returns to the ground. While jumping through the air with a super jump, you may direct the character to the right and to the left as they move through the air.
Special Attacks
In addition to normal attacks there are attacks known as command moves and special moves. Command moves are special combinations of a joystick direction and a particular attack button that produces a different attack than when the button is pressed alone. A special move is a move that requires a more complicated joystick motion and an attack button to perform. For example, Ken and Ryu's fireball attack, called Hadouken, is performed by sliding the joystick in a circular sweeping motion from down to forward, and finished off with any punch button. In this example, the strength of the punch button used happens to dictate the speed at which Ken and Ryu's fireball attack travels across the screen. Special attacks can be blocked like any other attack, but they do what's known as "tick damage." That is, even when blocked, they removed a single hit point from your health bar. Most special moves have a pause associated with them that leave you vulnerable to attack if you miss the opponent, or "whiff".
Throwing
Another form of attack available in this game is a throw. Throws are executed by standing immediately next to your opponent, pressing the joystick either towards or away, and pressing a punch or kick button. If performed correctly, your character will grab the opponent and toss them to the ground in a manner specific to your character's fighting style. Different characters have a different array of throws, so while some characters can throw with the medium punch button, not all characters can. In general, every character can throw with the hard punch button, and no character can throw with the light punch or light kick button. Throws are unblockable.
Hyper Combos
In addition to the health bar shown at the top of the screen, each player has a super meter at the bottom. As the player attacks and damages the opponent, and as the player takes damage from the opponent, the super meter fills up incrementally. Depending on the game, the meter must either fill all the way up, or it only needs to fill up partially, in order for the player to gain access to super moves, which are known as Hyper Combos. Hyper Combos are activated by inputting similar motions to special moves along with multiple button presses. When they are successfully executed, the game will freeze for a brief moment, and then the animation and attack associated with the Hyper Combos begins. If the Hyper Combos connects and is not blocked, it will do substantial damage to the opponent. Hyper Combos can be used to turn the tide of a battle. Every fighter has at least one unique Hyper Combos.
Combos and Cancels
A combo is any series of attacks which are unblockable after the fist hit connects. A cancel is when the animation of one attack interrupts the animation of a previous attack, so that the second attack is delivered immediately after the first. The basic form of a combo is two simple attacks performed back to back, like followed immediately with . A more complex combo is an attack that links into a special move. Many basic attacks can be canceled into special moves, but this is entirely dependent upon your character's abilities. Some attacks can even be canceled into Hyper Combos. This gives you a greater certainty that your Hyper Combo will connect, since your opponent will still be stunned from the first attack and unable to block the Hyper Combo.
Chain Combos
A Chain Combo is the ability to string basic attacks together into an uninterruptable combo. Fighters possess at least one style of Chain Combo ability. There are a few different kinds of Chain Combos. The most basic is the weak-to-any combo. You start with either or and follow it up with any medium or hard attack. More complex is the weak-to-strong combo. Here, you may enter → → or you may enter → → in rapid succession for successive hits. The most complicated Chain Combo is known as the Hunter Combo (as it is taken from Vampire Hunter, otherwise known as Nightstalkers. This allows you to string all six button attacks together in the form of → → → → → . Only certain characters are capable of this kind of combo, and you may omit any part of the chain as long as you proceed from weakest to strongest.
Aerial Raves
An Aerial Rave is a kind of Chain Combo that you execute in the air after launching your opponent off the ground. Every character has a particular attack that, if successful, will knock the opponent high into the air. If it works, you must quickly press the joystick Up, and your character will immediately Super Jump and catch up to the opponent while he or she is still stunned, allowing you to execute a mid-air Chain Combo while you are both still rising. Certain attacks, however, will instantly knock the opponent down to the ground and end the Aerial Rave. These attacks do substantial damage, but they are very difficult to follow up with more attacks.