Over the last week or two, the Unity guys and I had a chat about our very favorite weapons from Capcom’s long, sordid history of violence. For better or worse, Capcom’s come up with some pretty unique implements of death in their 30+ years of service.
Read on to see Team Unity’s picks in both text and video format! Then tell us your own favorites in the comments below so we can make another video showcasing some of yours!
Yuri
1) The Chain Rod (Megaman Zero 2)
“This weapon is about as versatile as you can get: you can direct its basic attack in one of eight possible directions, and it also hits on the way back! You can use it to swing around and avoid deadly gaps or reach higher ground; you can even pull away enemy shields or the enemies themselves at you and then slice them in half! Like I said, it’s got it all: mobility, unique tricks and slicing damage potential!”
↑ Here it is being used to dazzling effect. S-Rank!!!
2) Festive Fall Typhoon / Festive Rustling Rain (Monster Hunter Freedom Unite)
“This specific set of Dual Blades from Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is not only flashy, but also quite useful. Boasting a solid Thunder element AND Paralysis status effect, when paired up against the right monster, these swords can really tear it apart! Remember: a paralyzed monster takes more damage than usual, and it’s free hits for you and your hunting party. They may not be the best in the game, but they’re certainly my favorite!”
Neil (Capcom UK)
1) Jet Pack Guns (Dark Void)
“I think it’s because I was a Brit I was drawn to Dark Void, raised on a diet of war movies and comic strips where plucky heroes risked it all to save the day, none moreso than the daredevil fighter pilots who balanced unparalleled skill and death-defying maneuvers to get the job done. A jet pack alone would have been enough to get me playing the game, but when found out it was strapped with cannons!!! Dark Void may have passed a few people by, but I was there in the thick of it. Dogfighting UFOs with my jetpack, machine guns blazing, lining up strafing runs on ground targets—all of it brought me back to watching WW2 fighter pilots on TV in my childhood and I loved every second of it.”
2) Mini Chainsaws ( Dead Rising)
“Playing Dead Rising for the first time can be overwhelming. Your life expectancy was pretty short even when you’d leveled up a little, and those boss battles? A one way ticket to a restart from the last save point. That is until you met Adam the Clown, not only one of the creepiest bosses ever devised *shudders* but owner of the mini blue chainsaws that would go on to be a game changer for the rest of Frank’s time in the mall. Used sparingly, these beauties could end any further boss fight in a matter of seconds, which let you get on with the more important things in life…such as trying to survive a zombie-infested shopping mall.”
Peter
1) Spencer’s Bionic Arm (Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and oh yeah also Bionic Commando)
“A man cracking skulls thanks to the help of his (SPOILER) wife (END SPOILER) ? I’ve never heard of anything this romantic before! Also, it’s pretty fun to imagine his grappling attack as a crane game. Every time you connect, it’s like collecting a prize.”
[Editor’s Note: Literally the top search result on YouTube for “bionic arm” is a video of Peter using it to basically perform three miracles in a row. Enjoy.]
2) Yurika’s Violin and Bow (Project Justice, a.k.a. Rival Schools 2)
“There’s something about Yurika using her violin and bow to create a symphony of destruction that I just find entertaining. Not only is a tool normally used to create something beautiful used for destruction, she also hurls music notes as well! Awesome!”
Dennys (Capcom Brazil)
1) Plasma Cypher (Strider)
“A super-fast, futuristic ninja deserves an equally stylish weapon! With plasma-enhanced slashes and a very distinct and cool sound effect, the Cypher is the trusty blade Hiryu relies on to accomplish missions only a Special A-Class Strider could! And that`s not all – it seems plasma weapons are a trend among Striders, so the Cypher only makes me imagine how awesome the weapons of Hiryu`s fallen comrades were!”
2) God Hand (God Hand)
“Although not exactly a ‘weapon’, the God Hand is not Gene’s original arm (much like Spencer’s Bionic Arm favored by Peter :D), which I feel more than justifies me showing some love to this game’s namesake. With the God Hand, Gene takes brawling to another level, pummeling and spanking every unfortunate bad guy that crosses his path with vicious and relentless fist strikes (without losing his bizarre sense of humor, of course). As if that weren’t enough, the God Hand gives Gene access to godly techniques, “Home Run God” being my favorite. Now bring some heavy Capcom brawlers to see who’s the best against the God Hand!”
↑ That’s one powerful hand!
[Editor’s Note: You still haven’t picked up God Hand on PSN for ten measly clams?? Well guess what: That’s why you woke up today. Go now !
Greg
1) Nevan (DMC3)
“Nevan is the reward you receive for defeating Mission 9 in Devil May Cry 3. By this point in the game, you’ve already killed enemies by shooting pool at them (literally shooting the balls at them with a gun), surfing on them, and pole dancing at them. You’ve wielded triple-rodded nunchucks made out of the soul of a three-headed dog. You’ve been shot in the face twice without even falling over. You’ve infiltrated the insides of a colossal, living sea monster (the kind that flies, of course). You’ve thrown your sword and then shot bullets at the sword to make it go faster. And yet the Nevan still manages to surprise and stupefy with its zaniness. The fact that it’s an axe as well as an ‘axe’ (guitar slang) also plays to my terrible taste for word humor.
Oh yeah, it’s also a surprisingly unique melee weapon, emphasizing ranged and area-of-effect attacks through various directional inputs. Maybe not the best weapon with to lead with (ironic, ha), but a useful and very stylish combo linker.”
↑ Here’s a little showcase of the weapon in action, used in tandem with the Agni & Rudra swords, which are pretty damn cool in their own right.
2) Shining Laser (MML)
“As Mega Man games go, Mega Man Legends is probably one of the easiest. The game is much more about exploration, story, and can kicking, and rarely demands perfection of the player. Unlike some other, chain rod-having games under the same umbrella IP.
Even still, the game certainly isn’t what I would call ‘easy.’ The last chunk of it is practically a boss rush, and those bosses just keep getting bigger and harder. Luckily, the game throws you a big, helpful bone in the form of the Shining Laser. The weapon takes some dedicated scavenging to acquire, but once you’ve got it, you’ll be a shining, bot-scrapping dynamo. Of course, to really get the most out of the weapon, you’ll want to upgrade it fully—which costs a whopping 835,000 ZENNY. And you thought Mega Man’s outerwear was expensive. But it’s a small price to pay for infinite energy and Juno-defying firepower.
The gun made a return in Mega Man Legends 2, but due to the alarming inflation that had occurred in the meantime, it now cost an hilarious 18,249,999 Zenny to upgrade fully. That’s a whole lotta dead Reaverbots. I place the blame firmly on Y2K.”
↑ Arguably too powerful, the Shining Laser basically gives you the ability to skip the game’s end battle.
Brett
1) Daggers (Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts)
“Choosing a primary weapon in any GnG game is a little like picking a main in Monster Hunter – you need to know its precise strengths, weaknesses and how to adjust for either. I’ve always gravitated toward the daggers since you can toss three projectiles on a screen at once (compared to the javelin’s two) while dealing similar damage. HOWEVER, the fun really begins when you grab the green armor (Super GnG) and power these suckers up to the Magic Daggers and they leave a badass trail of light behind ’em. Nothing felt quite as cool as firing a few of these off mid-double jump, nailing every enemy on the screen and then safely landing on a narrow platform.”
2) Metal Blade (MM2)
“Back in the day, firing diagonally was pretty cool. Not every game let you do that, so even in games like Contra, being able to attack enemies not just ahead and above, but also at a 45-degree angle, was a noteworthy gameplay feature. The Metal Blade, however, allowed eight-way firing, which was kind of a big deal. And as it turned out, adding eight-way firing to a 2D action game kiiinda broke the whole thing, cuz you could really keep everything at bay with this one weapon. Add in a very generous ammo supply and you’ve got an amazing, empowering weapon that really rocks.”
↑ Some would say “broken,” but all’s fair in the age of the NES.
Chris
1) The Pipe (Final Fight, Marvel vs. Capcom 3)
“Isn’t it wonderful how a little consistency for over two decades has made a mundane househould item into Final Fight’s most iconic weapon?! Rendering an L-shaped pipe has been possible since the earliest of arcade days, yet casting it in the role of an offensive instrument of bloodless blunt-force trauma, to me, still feels like something exclusive to Metro City.
There are plenty of objects in Final Fight to beat people about the head and face with, but not only does the pipe feel most appropriate for dealing with street-level thuggery, there’s just a perfect harmony when piloted by the heaving, proportionate biceps of Mike Haggar. Obviously, Marvel vs Capcom 3 truly solidified the synonymity between this proud Mayor and the plumbing-industry standard, and I for one don’t want to imagine seeing Mike Haggar in the future without hearing the familiar ‘BONK’ sound of pipe meeting skull.”
2) Scrooge’s Cane (DuckTales, DuckTales Remastered)
“I certainly don’t envy the poor development team who had to come up with a way to weaponize one of pop culture’s few elderly protagonists, but none can deny the excellent job Capcom did Scooge McDuck. C’mon, he’s an aged duck with corrective eyewear and no pants! Capcom had plenty of experience with weaponry, but giving Scrooge an arm cannon, a Bionic arm, plasma sword or a screen-clearing lightning burst was obviously not on the table.
The approach to making an old duck’s cane your primary weapon was not only a bold one that helped make DuckTales a game like no other, it remained incredibly true to Scrooge’s comic/cartoon source material, which was rarely the case in those days (Case in point: What was the weapon used in Mickey Mousecapade? Exactly…) DuckTales managed to preserve Scrooge’s cane as not only an effortless extension of his established personality and mannerisms, but it also introduced it as an object of direct and indirect force. Not to discount the ability to whack objects to discover secrets or time attacks, the pogo ability alone, allowing Scrooge to reach new heights, traverse perilous terrain, pounce enemies, or avoid them entirely, made this game one of the most memorable experiences of my generation.”
Phew! That’s a whole lotta weaponry. But now it’s your turn! Let us know your faves! Link videos or images if you’ve got ’em. Got better videos of our weapons listed above? Feel free to share those too!
