head to head

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes cover artvsStreet Fighter III: 3rd Strike cover art

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of HeroesvsStreet Fighter III: 3rd Strike

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes leans Execution (Grand Arena); Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike leans Reads (Competitive PvP).

EXECUTION9 /10READS8 /10VARIANCE1 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of HeroesStreet Fighter III: 3rd Strike

Axis by axis

Execution9 vs 9

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads8 vs 10

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike leans harder on reads: Parry is a pure real-time read against an adapting human - the defining mechanic

Variance1 vs 1

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization6 vs 6

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

full breakdown

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike