Marvel Super Hero Squad (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Marvel has raised their profile significantly over the past decade or so and a company that was once noted for comics is now more famous as a global movie powerhouse. The Spiderman big screen outing in particular raised hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office and late last year Disney swooped in to purchase the company outright. The company hasn't been doing too badly with games either with the recently released Ultimate Alliance 2 pleasing critics and hard-core gamers alike. Super Hero Squad doesn't take itself nearly as seriously though and the game (which is based on a TV series) features various comic book heroes but is it worth a purchase?

Gameplay

While Super Hero Squad is set in a platforming environment, it's a brawler at heart so the only way you can complete each level is to take down every henchman that gets in your way. This is incredibly simple stuff (especially on the 'easy' setting) and really doesn't last too long and, in addition to constant punching, you'll have to dodge the odd moving laser and collect keycards in order to open doors. Things only begin to get interesting when one of the century guns 'locks-on' to you making you jump and dodge to avoid its powerful missiles. There are also some rather pesky mines that will be drawn to your presence although we found the best way to deal with these was simply to throw one of the 'dazed and confused' henchmen at them. You'll also enter a 'locked' room on occasion where you must deal with a number of henchmen before exiting. The developers have actually managed to use just about every action cliché in the book. Super Hero Squad is not exactly brimming with originality.

At the end of each section you'll go one to one with one of the other Marvel characters and it's only here that the gameplay starts to get more exciting. This is a multi-platforming brawler (much like Super Smash Bros.) and offers gamers a real challenge. Yes, the combat itself is still very basic but this portion of the game shows real promise even if the rest is instantly forgettable. There's also 'a downloadable' version for a friend which sadly is a feature that seems to be coming a rarity these days.

Controls

The controls are incredibly simple which is a bit of a concern given that this is an action platformer at heart. Worse still, all the controls seem to be reversed and while platforming fans will immediately go for the A button for action and B for jump here the opposite is true which can be a little frustrating until you get used to it.

Graphics

While the limited 3D engine here does show the occasional sign of wanting to be something much more impressive, it all seems a little dated. A bit like GBA visuals pasted onto a DS game. It does have a certain charm but this style of graphics runs throughout the game and areas like the front end feel somewhat rushed and unfinished. The animation is pretty basic too and it's fair to say that Super Hero Squad is unlikely to win any awards for its visual flair.

Sound

The soundtrack is bland and instantly forgettable and in no way complements the on-screen action. The sound effects are a little generic too, in fact the only real highlights are some voice snippets that accompany the various heroes as they begin each section but this is all pretty poor stuff.

Dual screen

You'll only ever interact with the touch-screen should you manage to fill the Super Attack or Super Defend bars and this is simply a case of selecting them. It really does feel like an afterthought though and could easily have been added to the shoulder buttons.

Final comments

If you are one of the many older Marvel fans, please stop reading now, because Super Hero Squad is strictly for the pre-teen audience and even some of those are likely to find it too easy. It does show some promise but not with the Story Mode and, with a little more care and attention to detail by the developers, the often overlooked Battle Mode could easily have been something much greater. As it stands the package is reasonably entertaining but expect to see developer Halfbrick's engine again, in another game, where hopefully they've managed to address the various criticisms.

Pro: Great Battle Mode.
Con: Dated Visuals, Average Audio, Short Single Player
Final score: 5.7

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