(Genesis) Captain America and the Avengers
Chris Randall
an overview:
basically, Data East has done a pretty good job of adapting the arcade
title to the small screen with this new release for the Genesis. You control
one of four characters (Cap. America, Hawkeye, Vision, or Iron Man) and attempt
to defeat Red Skull and his minions before they wreak havoc over civilization
as we know it. Each character is capable of brawling (punching and kicking),
jumping, jumping attack, long range jumping attack, throwing an opponent,
and a special attack that is specific for each character.
When I first picked this one up, I did so with reservation. Sure, the
graphics looked nice, nearly identical to the arcade version, and the back of
the box promised a "picture perfect" translation from said game. I got it home
and plugged it into the system. I was pleasantly surprised.
To state plainly, this is almost an exact duplicate of the arcade game.
Each character's special move is the same:
Captain America: Throws Shield (which returns to you)
Iron Man: Shoots plasma bolts
Vision: Shoots solar beams (similar to Iron Man)
Hawkeye: Shoots arrows
Graphics are pretty decent. Granted, they suffer a little compared to
the arcade version (plus the tv at home is a real piece of crap), but for the
most part, the characters look normal and don't seem to have any major
deformities. Background graphics aren't anything spectacular, but they don't
get in the way, and don't detract from the game in any way. there has been no
slowdown to speak of, althought he game hesitates now and then when a major
boss is about to appear. Again, no major problem.
Gameplay is pretty good. the characters move fairly smoothly throughout
the course of the game. Each character can move all over the screen, as
opposed to say, Contra, where movement is restriced to left-right, up-down only.
Music/Sound is nice. they managed to bring the voices from the arcade
to this cart, and it still has that oh-so-noble sound to it. Granted, the
dialogue might be a bit corny, but hell, it's amusing at least.
Players can set the difficulty to easy, normal, or hard; can set
continues to 3, 5, or 7, and has control over the button configuration.
I think one of the best features about this game is the "training mode"
option. This lets two players go head to head in order to get used to the
controls, although it's nice just to sit back and beat the crap out of a good
friend. My friend (the honorable Mr. Kazial) and I spent more time in this
mode than we did playing the actual game. Obviously, it's not as nice as
Street Fighter II, but it's a good time.
I could say something about the relative ease of this game, seeing as
how Craig and I finished it in one sitting. However, we had it on the easy
setting with seven continues each. Even so, at the end, we were both down to
our last life. Playing alone on the normal level, I didn't get nearly as far,
so I think it has definite replay value...
On the whole, I'm gonna give this one a thumbs up.
Wow. Sonic 2, Cap. USA and the Avengers, Road Rash 2, X-Men, Streets of Rage
2, Montana 93, Madden 93, Toejam and Earl 2, Strider 2...
...it's gonna be an expensive Christmas.
email replies and comments directly to me...
Chris
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v062...@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu State University of New York at Buffalo
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"Don't just do something, stand there!"
-Tom Servo, MST3000
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