The general manager of Marvel Games has acknowledged Marvel's place in the fighting game canon, and says Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls was made with the goal of reinstating it as a pillar of the genre.
While Street Fighter, Smash Bros., Tekken, or Mortal Kombat is likely the series that sticks out to you when it comes to fighting games, Capcom titles based on Marvel super heroes (including Marvel Super Heroes) could be argued as one of the main pillars of the genre. While Mortal Kombat is more successful commercially, if EVO entrance numbers are anything to go by, Marvel vs Capcom is a far bigger deal to the fighting game community. And while Capcom is not at the helm, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls marks the return of the brand to fighting games.
Haluk Mentes, general manager of Marvel Games, spoke to Game Informer about the fighting game connection, saying that "from inception, the goal was to reinstate Marvel as a pillar of the fighting game community." And with Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ developer Arc System Works developing it, another goal was "to do it with a unique, anime-inspired art-style and some of the best tag-team fighting mechanics out there."
Mentes also speaks about the fairly drastic redesigns of some iconic Marvel characters in the game – with characters feeling ripped straight from a Tokusatsu show. He says that "from the get-go, we collectively started pushing the envelope in terms of design to bring out that unmistakable ArcSys identity," adding that "I particularly love how Iron Man looks in the game – super unique but instantly recognizable."
