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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9093_front.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:'''[[TitleScream THIS IS X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER!]]''']]
3In both ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'', Creator/{{Capcom}} inserted one of their characters ([[Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma]] in ''X-Men'', [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Anita]] in ''Marvel Super Heroes'') as {{Secret Character}}s. ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' featured a hidden fight wherein Ryu and Ken faced off 2-on-1 with M. Bison. Sensing the potential for a moneymaker in those two disparate ideas, Capcom soon developed a full-fledged multimedia crossover with a tag team focus, and in 1996, it unleashed ''X-Men vs. Street Fighter''.
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5The 17-character playable roster is composed of Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Gambit, Sabretooth, Juggernaut and Magneto in the X-Men side; and Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Charlie, Dhalsim, Zangief, Cammy[[note]]in her Shadaloo costume, way before it was properly introduced in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha 2 Gold''[[/note]], M. Bison, and (not-that-hidden character) Akuma in the Street Fighter side.
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7''[=XvSF=]'' introduced the tag-team fighting dynamic that became the trademark for the VideoGame/CapcomVs series of games: players choose two fighters, then switch between them on the fly in the middle of battle. This removes the usual best-of-three-rounds structure started by ''Street Fighter'' in favor of a one-round fight, as the fight ends when one side loses both fighters. Each teammate has their own lifebar, and when switched out, the inactive fighter will heal some of the damage they've taken until called back into action. The game also allows players to use a two-person Hyper Combo where both fighters on a team perform a Hyper Combo at the same time for massive damage... provided the team still has both fighters available, of course.
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9The game had a non-existent story to back up the action; a player's chosen team would simply fight their way through various CPU-controlled teams before facing down a gigantic version of ''X-Men'' villain [[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse Apocalypse]]. (Storm's ending implies that Apocalypse has been abducting mutants and street fighters alike for undisclosed reasons, probably to experiment on them or force them to join him.) After defeating Apocalypse, the player fights against the tag partner using whatever character landed the final blow during the boss battle, and if the player wins, they see that character's ending.
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11Capcom followed this game with 1997's '''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter'''.
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13----
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15!! ''X-Men vs. Street Fighter'' contains the following tropes:
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17* AdaptationalWimp: Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu uses only one level of the super bar and does a normal amount of damage compared to its other versions.
18* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:Dhalsim's ending. He actually dreamed the whole thing while he was neck deep in meditation, and wakes up when Sari and Datta call out for him.]]
19* UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents: Rogue's winquotes are written with Southern accents.
20* AndIMustScream: In Charlie's ending, [[spoiler:he's kidnapped by Shadaloo and [[FateWorseThanDeath gets attached to]] [[PlayingWithSyringes nasty experiments]]]]. Then we see [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Guile]], who is searching for him. This is {{foreshadowing}} for [[spoiler:Charlie [[BrainwashedAndCrazy becoming Shadow]] in [[VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter later]] [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes games]]. It also serves as the basis for Charlie's much darker characterization and enhanced abilities in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', though there it is the result of betrayal (as per his ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Alpha 2]]'' ending) and Charlie's subsequent revival at the hands of [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII the Illuminati]].]]
21* AssistCharacter: [[BadassFingersnap With a snap of his fingers]], Sabretooth can call for Birdy ("Birdy!"), his partner at the time in the comics whose telepathy had a pacifying effect on him, to step into the fray ("Yes, Boss!") and light up Sabretooth's opponent with her [[{{BFG}} oversized firearm]]. He even has a Hyper variant where Birdy fires off a volley of rounds.
22* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Apocalypse [[{{Sizeshifter}} grows to a gargantuan size]] for his boss fight, large enough that his fist is now approximately the size of your character while and his arm and head serve as [[AttackItsWeakPoint his only weak spots]] (a setup reused for [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes Onslaught]] and [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3 Galactus]]), though he's not quite a BackgroundBoss.
23* AttractMode: Par for the course for games of [[TheNineties the era]], it shows small parts of some matches along with images of two of the default character pairings (Ken/Gambit and Cammy/Rogue) facing off before ending with the very iconic shot of Ryu and Cyclops shaking hands. For the home ports, the game's intro also [[LightningReveal reveals the identity of the final boss via lightning]].
24* BadassInDistress: Apocalypse's stage has several of the X-Men and Street Fighters who aren't playable trapped in PeopleJars around the edges of the stage. [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/b/xmvsfsto.htm Storm's ending]] explains that several X-Men and Street Fighters were captured by Apocalypse, though the exact reasons aren't known. (One bets that he intended to use them in experiments or try recruiting them for his cause.) Storm herself is tending to her then-boyfriend Forge, while Sakura befriends Gambit and Dan Hibiki runs around in the background.
25* BadassNormal:
26** Zangief. [[KiManipulation Banishing Flat]] aside, he arguably has the most "normal" powerset of the cast ([[ProWrestlingIsReal pro wrestling skills honed in the harsh climate of Siberia against bears]]) yet can hold his own against the likes of Magneto and Storm.
27** Chun-Li's ending has her being invited to join the X-Men. Ryu is also invited to join both the X-Men (in this game) and the Avengers (in ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter''), but politely declines both offers. Though quite less "normal" than Zangief, the most they have on their side is -- like most other ''Street Fighter'' characters -- a combination of KiManipulation and SupernaturalMartialArts and/or CharlesAtlasSuperpower.
28* BigBad: Apocalypse.
29* BilingualBonus: Some of Gambit's winquotes are written in French:
30--> ''"Je suis le meilleur!"'' [[labelnote:Translation]]"I am the best!"[[/labelnote]]
31--> ''"La tournament est fini."'' [[labelnote:Translation]]"The tournament is over."[[/labelnote]]
32* BlindIdiotTranslation: [[http://rq87.flyingomelette.com/RQ/Marvel/XSF/faq.html A number of the translations here are a bit spotty.]]
33* BlowYouAway: Storm uses wind attacks as a few of her specials, and combines it with AnIcePerson for one of her Hypers.
34* CallingYourAttacks: You'd expect this with the FightingGame characters, naturally. But it even extends to the Marvel {{Superhero}}es, among others.
35* TheCameo: Many characters from both universes make appearances in the endings and stages.
36* CombinationAttack: Double Hyper Combos, known in-game as a Variable Combination. In the original arcade release and Saturn port, these moves would also cause the player to [[SwitchOutMove tag out]] to their partner on standby.
37* CompositeCharacter: Akuma's intro is the same used by Shin Akuma in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha 2''.
38* CounterAttack: Variable Counters. Like the Alpha Counters of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'', they require the player to input a certain command while blocking at the cost of meter, though this will call in the second member of a team to jump in to deal the retaliatory blow. As with Variable Combinations, all versions sans the [=PS1=] port allow the player to swap places with their teammate in the process.
39* DeepSouth: Rogue, sugah.
40* DuelingPlayerCharacters: In the single-player story mode, after defeating Apocalypse, the player takes control of whichever character landed the final blow and [[LetsYouAndHimFight must then fight their tag partner in a one-on-one match]]. This turn of events goes unexplained.
41* EarlyBirdCameo: This game introduced Shadaloo-era Cammy (aka Killer Bee) before the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' series did.
42* ExcusePlot:
43** Random... ahem... street fights due to the interdimensional rift. The instruction manual for the [=PS1=] version expands on this by stating that various mutants and street fighters have mysteriously disappeared, with rumors placing the blame on either Bison or Magneto, so many of the playable characters have teamed up to investigate, [[GoodVersusGood though not]] [[HeadbuttingHeroes without some]] [[EnemyMine teamwork issues]]. See BadassInDistress for the closest to a concrete excuse aside of that.
44** The bios from the action figure line claim that Apocalypse opened a portal to the ''Street Fighter'' universe in hopes that the street fighters and the X-Men would destroy each other, allowing him to conquer both worlds without resistance.
45* FightingYourFriend: In the event that the two characters in the above DuelingPlayerCharacters scenario have some kind of positive rapport with one another (as suggested by several of the endings), the final battle with your CPU teammate after defeating Apocalypse becomes this.
46* AGodAmI: M. Bison and Magneto's endings have this. In the latter's case, [[spoiler:[[QuirkyMinibossSquad Sagat, Vega, and Balrog]] join him, switching from Shadaloo to the Acolytes.]]
47* HuskyRusskie: Obviously, Zangief. [[spoiler:{{Exaggerated|Trope}} in his ending, where [[BashBrothers he teams up]] with Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin to capture a recently escaped Arkady "Omega Red" Rossovich... meaning that we have '''three''' {{Husky Russkie}}s suddenly in the same place...]]
48* IJustWantToBeNormal:
49** In Rogue's ending, [[spoiler:Bison promises her that he will make her human if she joins him, something she rejects. Then, Rogue has a talk with Chun-Li, where she asks how it feels being human. Chun-Li answers that she can throw fireballs, and asks what's normal about that]].
50** Similarly, in Gambit's ending [[spoiler:she tells him about her woes, but Gambit hugs her and says "You're perfect JustTheWayYouAre"]].
51* AnIcePerson: Storm in some of her attacks.
52* IncomingHam: Apocalypse's pre-fight intro consists of him dramatically announcing "I AM APOCALYPSE!", followed by an EvilLaugh as he disappears, [[{{Sizeshifter}} only to suddenly take up half of the screen]].
53* KamehameHadoken: The second part of the trope's name comes from the version of the Shinku Hadoken that made its debut in this game, which is the best known of many, MANY, '''MANY''' instances.
54* KickChick: Chun-Li and Cammy.
55* KissOfDeath: One of Rogue's special attacks, it allows her to [[PowerCopying steal an opponent's special attack]] (or in Akuma's case, the [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Shun Goku Satsu]] itself).
56* {{Leitmotif}}: As stated below, none of the returning X-Men have their themes carried over from ''Children of the Atom'' or in the case of Wolverine, Juggernaut and Magneto, ''Marvel Super Heroes''. By contrast, the ''Street Fighter'' representatives have their themes taken from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' or, in Charlie's case, the ''Alpha'' series. The only exception is Cammy, who has a brand-new theme to represent her Shadaloo-era portrayal which would follow her into ''Alpha 2 Gold''.
57* MechanicallyUnusualFighter: Rogue has the unique ability to [[PowerCopying copy other fighters' special moves]] through her Power Drain attack and keep them for the rest of the match or until she gets K.O'd. As a bonus, she can also perform Akuma's Shu Goku Satsu along with his midair Zanku Hadoken.
58* MsFanservice: Rogue gets this the most out of all the female characters. One of her special moves is kissing her opponents, and her win poses consist of her blowing a kiss at the audience, quickly changing into one of three sexy outfits, or showing off her rear for the camera.
59* PeopleJars: [[spoiler:In Apocalypse's stage, several captured characters from both franchises are seen locked in pods. The "roster" includes Psylocke, Blanka, Dan Hibiki, Forge...]]
60* PowerCopying: Rogue has this as a unique ability -- using her KissOfDeath, she can copy another fighter's special move and use it for the remainder of the match.
61* PowerCreepPowerSeep: Invoked. Capcom intentionally altered the fighting styles of the ''Street Fighter'' side to put them on par with the ''X-Men'' cast, resulting in changes like Ryu's Shinku Hadoken becoming [[KamehameHadoken a literal Kamehameha-style laser beam]] or Chun-Li's Kikosho turning into a SphereOfDestruction.
62* PoweredArmor: Apocalypse.
63* PsychoticSmirk: Though his sprites are lifted from the ''Alpha'' series, Bison's normal stance is changed for this series to always wear one of these.
64* RecurringRiff: While none of the assorted X-characters have their themes from that game carried over, the character select music is a remix of the one found in ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom''. In turn, Storm and Magneto's themes in this game would get carried over into ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''.
65* SecretCharacter: Sort of. Akuma's icon on the character select screen isn't normally visible, but becomes selectable simply by taking the cursor to the top row and pressing up. ''VideoGame/SuperGemFighter'' would later do something similar with its character select screen.
66* ShockAndAwe: Storm's primary form of offense. Many other characters have at least one shock/stun move.
67* {{Shotoclone}}: Ryu, Ken, Cyclops, and Akuma.
68* ShoutOut: Check [[ShoutOut/CapcomVs the page]].
69* ShowWithinAShow: [[spoiler:In Ken's ending, we have him and his son playing the game before having dinner.]]
70* SpectacularSpinning: Zangief. Exhibit A: [[SpinAttack Double Lariat]]. Exhibit B: [[FinishingMove Final]] [[MeteorMove Atomic]] [[SpinningPiledriver Buster]].
71* {{Stripperiffic}}: On the ladies' side, Cammy. On the men's side, Dhalsim and Zangief.
72* TagTeam: It's the first game in the series which incorporates this feature, predating a lot of future games. Also unique to this game is the CPU uses set teams rather than the randomized teams of the future games. These include:
73** Ryu & Cyclops
74** Ken & Gambit
75** Chun-Li & Rogue
76** Cammy & Rogue
77** Cammy & Wolverine
78** Charlie & Storm
79** Dhalsim & Sabretooth
80** Zangief & Juggernaut
81** M. Bison & Magneto
82** Akuma & Wolverine
83* TakeThat:
84--> '''Sabretooth:''' ''"This ain't no Franchise/{{street fight|er}}! You lose..."''
85* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Some of the game's Hyper Combos will have an opponent take all the hits, even if KO'ed by the first hit.
86* TwoGirlsToATeam: Rogue and Storm on the X-Men side, Chun-Li and Cammy on the Street Fighter side.
87* UrExample: For TagTeam {{Fighting Game}}s.
88* WorthyOpponent: What Wolverine considers [[spoiler:Ryu]] as. As it turns out, [[spoiler:Akuma]] considers ''Wolverine'' to be this for them and [[spoiler:seeks Weapon X out for a DuelToTheDeath in his ending]].
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