It’s the lead-up to EVO and the main roster has finally been revealed. It’s a pretty interesting mix, with some surprising entries and omissions. The shake-up is certainly welcome, and I’m looking forward to this year’s event. Heck, I’m figuring out where I’ll be spending the ungodly hours of the EVO weekend as early as of this writing. So, let’s go through the list of titles and and see what’s up. It’s not gonna go extremely deep into the details, but here’s are some thoughts on each individual title (and the ones that went missing this year).
Ultra Street Fighter IV – This one’s a no-brainer, and given the recent announcements from Capcom and a pretty good run at Capcom Cup earlier this month, I’m expecting a pretty strong showing for this one, along with the expected updates on Street Fighter V delivered by Yoshinoro Ono in hilariously bad cosplay.
Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 – To be honest, I’m surprised this even made it, given Capcom’s loss of the Marvel license and the possible legal ramifications of running a tournament the size of EVO. If last year’s run with Justin Wong taking the title was its last, then that would’ve been one hell of a way to go out. Still, I’m glad we’re getting one more year of Marvel.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U – Full disclosure: I am by no means familiar with the intricacies of the Super Smash Bros. series. That said, I’m curious to see how this stacks up against, let alone exists side-by-side with its highly revered and apparently more technical Gamecube predecessor.
Super Smash Bros. Melee – This is proof that you can’t keep a rabidly loyal community down. At this point, I wouldn’t count an appearance at next year’s EVO out. There’s that, and the fact that some of the craziest matches from last year came out of this very game. Like I said earlier, I’m in no way entrenched with this game, but I appreciate the spectacle of mascots zipping around and beating the tar out of each other on a basic level.
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- – Two words, Daddy’s back. After seven years without a wholly new game, I’m psyched to see Guilty Gear as an EVO highlight. Sure this, may come at the expense of Blazblue, but that’s a bit I’ll save for another part of this post.
Killer Instinct – Given the continued support and updates that it’s getting, this one’s pretty much another shoo-in. With Season 2 having just premiered last October, it’ll be interesting to see what the competitive scene for this game brings to the table.
Mortal Kombat X – Taking the place of Injustice as this year’s entry from Netherrealm Studios is Mortal Kombat X. It will have been out by only a couple of months, and we’ll be having a similar situation with 2011’s Mortal Kombat 9. Still, it’s fun to watch top-level competitors can discover and squeeze out of what is possibly the freshest game of EVO 2015’s lineup. Lastly, we’ll get to see how MKX’s gameplay additions, most notably the use of character “variations” come into play in an environment such as this.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax – A surprising addition to the lineup. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some P4AU, and I’m probably at fault for underestimating the strength of this game’s competitive scene. But hey, super glad it’s part of this year’s festivities.
Tekken 7 - Interesting case, this one. If my hunch is right, then this will be the only game at EVO 2015 to be played on arcade cabinets, as there has been no new details of a console release, though it is inevitable. Who knows, maybe we’ll finally get news regarding that at EVO itself?
Now, on to the dropouts. While it’s sad to see Blazblue not making an appearance on the main stage this year, it had to make way for Persona 4. In the meantime we still have that amazing Top 8 from last year with Galileo coming back all the way from the losers’ bracket to take the title. As for King of Fighters, it can be chalked up to the scene for it not having that strong of a showing in between last year’s and this year’s EVO. The lack of any new announcements from SNK Playmore regarding the series might have also contributed to its absence this year.
So there you have it. We’ll have more updates as July 17-19 draws closer. It’s gonna be one hell of a weekend in Vegas, that’s for sure.
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