My opinions on this are mixed. While I was expecting the announcement of new DLC I was not expecting them to make Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, well, I didn't expect it until the announcement of Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition. Hopefully they will allow you to download the game onto your pre-existing copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 like recent fighters have been doing.
Getting back to my first point though, about how I have mixed opinions on this. First, the characters, they are good choices. I thought Doctor Strange and Firebrand should have been in the game to start with (Two of Doctor Strange's villains are in the game and Capcom needs more villains representing them), and the announcements of bizarre choices such as Rocket Racoon and Phoenix Wright has made me happy. I'm also very, very happy that there are no X-Men or Street Fighter characters on the list as the game already has plenty of them.
I'm annoyed that there is no inclusion of Megaman, any Megaman, on Capcoms side, as whether or not he (or one of the many versions of him) should be in the game should not even be debatable. I'm also irked that there is no Silver Surfer, despite how he was originally going to be in the game, has not appeared in the previous Marvel vs. Capcom games, and the main boss of the game is Galactus. I mean, the two reasons they did not put him in the game is that they were struggling to program his board into the game, and did not want him to feature in the game without riding it because he would look too much like Iceman. But Iceman isn't in the game, and they were able to put Ghost Rider in the game while sidelining his Motorbike to his entry/exit and specials. Why not do the same for Silver Surfer? Seriously Capcom, you got me hyped up for my favourite Superhero featuring in this game and he is only found in the end cut scene for Zero. I also wish Ryu (Breath of Fire), Hood and Witchfire were in the game but those are just personal wants, the previous two have sufficient reasoning to be in the game.
My mixed opinions do not centre on the characters though, as I found Marvel vs. Capcom 3's character roster, for the most part acceptable. Though it was annoying to see no Fire Brand, Megaman, Silver Surfer or Doctor Strange while six X-men were present, each character fought differently, had different strategies that worked with them, and overall the game play was solid. In fact Marvel vs Capcom 3 had one of the best fighting mechanics of any fighting game I've played, it was simple and easy to get to grips with but challenging to master. Fights are fast paced and colourful, and in battle there is never a dull moment. My gripe with the game is there were few game modes to utilise the great game play. As an offline gamer I was limited to Arcade, Versus, Training, and Mission. The arcade is short, with cheaply done cut scenes as your reward, some of them being incredibly dull (The Avengers trio have the worst). The versus is only good if you can find someone capable of going up against you, the training is simply there as training, and the Mission mode is simply structured combo practise. I was at least expecting a Survival mode, or stuff to unlock. I know people get annoyed at having to unlock characters in a fighting game but it gives you an objective to strive for, and if not characters, how about stages or new costumes.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom could have all my favourite characters from Marvel and Capcom but it still won't convince me to buy it unless it offers some extra game modes, even if it's just a standard Survival or Time Attack mode. While to get such a thing will require online (I planned to eventually get it for the sake of having Shuma-Goroth but now I have extra incentive if the Ultimate version is downloadable), and will thus give me access to online matches, I would really like single player modes to fight in.
Overall the additions made so far look pretty nice and though the absent of Megaman and Silver Surfer still ticks me off the characters they have decided to add are a good set. Here hoping for some additional game modes to also be added, and give me sufficient reason to purchase this game...again...sort of.