Maybe it's fair enough. There are those of us who see these games as making light of a genre which demands concentration and dedication. Who've spent the last ten or twelve years learning all there is to learn of Ken Masters, his history and his place in the Street Fighting world. Who can pull out a four hit combo into HP Shoryuken every time, at the drop of a hat and reverse the direction a fight has been taking in an instant. And then, there are those of us who get a big, stupid grin on their face when that monstrous beam of light shoots from Ryu's hands and obliterates two opposition characters at the same time, one of whom is a sombrero-wearing, maraca-waving cactus and the other a tiny yellow robot who only comes up to Ryu's knees, who drops plates as one of his special attacks.

It's bright, colourful and confused - an all out assault on the world's retinas, and certainly not really suitable as a spectator sport for anyone who isn't familiar with the game themselves. To the casual observer, the constant leaping in and out of characters, the huge and eye-popping beam supers, the perpetual super-jumping, will lend proceedings such a garish and nauseous feel that newcomers stand a good chance of feeling completely overwhelmed by the onscreen action.

Indeed, a lot of gamers, having seen it played, won't even try Marvel vs Capcom 2 for fear of it being overly confusing, which is a shame - when played, the simplified controls make for a compelling and intuitive game which most novices will take to far more easily than they would take to the latest of the Street Fighters - and there's a good chance that those who remain unconvinced by the austere and precise nature of 2D fighters will have more fun with this game in five minutes than they could in a year of Street Fighter 3.

The (essentially) four-button control system is as simple as it could be. Light punch, heavy punch, light kick, heavy kick, with two further buttons for bringing on reserve characters for a mid-battle one off attack (the type of attack is determined by the player at the start of the game, typically being of the projectile, grapple or anti-air variety). The two punches or the two kicks together will initiate a super move (far more suited to the frenetic nature of the game than the two-stick-motions approach employed in the Street Fighter Alpha and SF3 series), the two light attacks together will tag in your first reserve fighter and the two heavies together will tag in your second.

It sounds complicated, but quickly becomes second nature, and even brand new players will quickly be discovering the stunningly effective air combos which make this game unique. While the Xbox pad isn't the most comfortable in the world for this type of game in terms of D-Pad and face button placement, it works well enough; in any case, arcade sticks or controllers from other machines are easy enough to come by.

The fighting engine is what splits opinion sharply in the world of the 2D fighting elite. While the game is played by the enlightened at a remarkably high level in arcades around the world, the fans of more pedestrian and thought-provoking Capcom fare (rightly) have issues with character balance and, in particular, the potential for infinite and unbreakable combos which lead the majority of the hardcore to dismiss the game as childish, simplistic and ultimately worthless. Well, this game does sport a considerably pared down fighting engine from the pure Street Fighters, and even from older 'Vs.' series games (X-Men vs Street Fighter is still the best in the series for many). And there are problems with balance, and infinite combos do exist with the game, but the counter argument has got to be that Capcom didn't set out to make a fighter in the mould of those which had gone before. Look at what the game is, put from your mind what it is not, and lot of fun is to be had from the title.

The biggest issue with the game is how easy it is to see an end sequence playing against AI. While gamers around the world continue to be baffled by Street Fighter's arcane fighting engine, a smart selection of characters and sensible use of switching in this game can see a player complete the game on maximum difficulty without losing a character in a relatively short space of time. The final boss is most disappointing, being considerably easier to dispatch than most of the three-fighter-teams who have gone before him.

Of course, these games come into their own when played against skilled opponents, and this is no different; with a little bit of dedication, and perhaps a couple of rules about which characters can and can't be used (thus neatly sidestepping balance and infinite issues), a good and competitive game can be played, and while it might look like button bashing will get you anywhere, that's really not the case - just like in its more grown up sibling games, a skilled player will always get the better of a masher.

Despite its age, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 still looks fantastic, although a good deal sharper and (dare we say it) jaggier than the Dreamcast release. In stark contrast to the more serene and tactical nature of Street Fighter, nothing stands still in this game for more than a few seconds, and the full 3D backgrounds conspire to draw your eye from the rather old-hat - although oddly fitting - sprites (the character graphics are of the quality of Street Fighter Alpha 3 rather than the chunky, beautifully animated and angry looking ones of Street Fighter 3). Some upbeat and some more chilled out jazz numbers permeate the soundtrack, which again feels more in keeping with the nature of the game than the pseudo-rock which featured in earlier Vs games or the ultra-modernist score which graced Capcom vs. SNK.

Strangely, given the OTT emphasis placed on the rest of the game, the always reliably bizarre Capcom announcer seems peculiarly muted in this one, content to take a back seat to the oddities streaming across the screen.

While some of the menu items appear in Japanese, the game is mostly import-friendly (unless you prefer Capcom's Western naming conventions, in which case you'd be advised to seek out a US or UK release), with only some sinister-looking save/load screens to contend with. The game is all but identical to the Dreamcast release, the major difference being the option of enabling an "easy" mode in common to many Capcom fighters of this type, which was missing from the DC edition. In all honesty, though, the control system is simple enough to render this an unnecessary inclusion that adds nothing to the game.

Perhaps more of an issue is the fact that this has been a video game for a long time; however, it's still hugely popular, particularly in the US, and most fighting purists wouldn't object to the re-release of Street Fighter Alpha 2, or Third Strike, so it would be churlish to complain about this release.

There's nothing we can do about the moans from the hardcore - projectile attacks being assigned to single button presses, Cable's ridiculously overpowered beam super, some of the characters (most of the characters, if you listen to the nay-sayers) being no more than novelty inclusions - there are endless problems with this game, and clearly some people will never be satisfied with what's on offer. This is understandable - for those who see their Street Fighting as a disciplined and serious pastime, a game like this is as sacrilegious as Bob Dylan picking up an electric guitar or Manchester United giving up on the Premiership and switching to being a Sunday five-a-side team.

Those who don't take things so seriously, however, and those who are prepared to give the game a chance to work its low-brow magic, will be pleasantly surprised at how much fun they can get from a fairly staid and traditional genre which has been knocked down, rebuilt and pumped up in the form of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.