Captain America and the Avengers Longplay (Arcade) [4K]

Game Info --------------------------------------------------- Developer: Data East Publisher: Data East Year of Release: 1991 Game Review & Impressions --------------------------------------------------- The billion dollar juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe has, aside from earning a staggeringly huge amount of money, undoubtedly raised the profile of the many characters created by the late Stan Lee and other talents at Marvel. With Marvel now a massive global brand, it's interesting to look back the various super heroes' appearances in other media when they were, perhaps, not quite such a household name. Given that Konami had been something of a trailblazer with its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons arcade machines a couple of years prior, it's surprising that they didn't snap up the rights to produce a multiplayer arcade game based on The Avengers. Instead, rivals Data East put out this side-scrolling beat 'em up based on Captain America and his crime-fighting colleagues, looking to prove that whatever Konami could do, they could do better. The end result is a brawler starring four of the Avengers line-up. Players can choose to play as Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, or Hawkeye, fighting alongside each other against the nefarious Red Skull and his minions. The evil genius intends to build a giant Doomsday laser cannon, and it's up to Cap and team to put an end to his plans. The gameplay is remarkably simple: walk right and punch things until they fall down, with some chaffing superhero spandex added into the mix. Tapping the attack button throws combos of punches and kicks, whilst pressing attack and jump causes the hero to initiate one of their signature moves. It's also possible to pick up and hurl certain objects at your foes, and double-tapping the control stick initiates a dash, allowing for slides and shoulder barges, so there's at least some variety in the attacks you can perform. If you're going to make a game based on such iconic comic book characters as those from Marvel, you sure as heck best make the characters look the part. To Data East's credit, they did a good job on the overall presentation, with the assembled cast -- Avengers and adversaries -- definitely looking like their pen-and-ink counterparts. The animation is also to a high standard, and the background and level graphics are designed to mimic the style found in the comics and assorted animations. My one criticism in the art department was the decision to make the characters quite so small - I just feel that for a game based on super heroes, it would have been more exciting to have seen them up close and in greater detail. As for the gameplay, I spent a fair degree of my time playing through this wondering why I felt somewhat bored. Some of this stems from the fact I've never really been that invested in the characters or comic books as a whole, and I'm not sure there's enough variety in the enemies you face or the design of the levels to keep a single player engaged. The shooting levels that act as a bridge between the core fighting stages mix things up a little, but I think to enjoy Captain America and The Avengers at its best, you need to be playing alongside some buddies. Chapters --------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Attract mode 02:23 Stage 1 05:40 Stage 2 10:39 Stage 3 15:22 Stage 4 19:42 Stage 5 25:15 Final Boss 27:03 Ending