Super Hero Squad This instant

When I first got this game as a birthday present, I was not impressed. It looked like a lackluster merchandising opportunity, and the game seemed unimpressive to say the least. However, my friends and I decided to give the game a chance since we're suckers for any four player game, and I have to say that taking the time to get to know the game truly paid off.

For one thing, the battle controls are far more sophisticated than they may seem. Unlike in Smash Bros, you're not likely to stumble upon many of the more sophisticated moves in this game by pressing a bunch of random buttons. You really need to consult the game manual and read it THOROUGHLY to discover all the combat possibilities.

While it may seem inconvenient and annoying that it's hard to discover all the battle combos on your own, as well as the fact that there are less "special" moves than in a game like Smash Bros, I think this is a strength of the game because it forces one to play with more strategy and precision. Once you and your friends have gotten to know the game, you're not likely to win a battle by mashing random buttons. You really need to know what you're doing, and I personally welcome that change.

Additionally, the characters are far more balanced than they initially seem. At first, the Hulk seems pretty unstoppable, but once you master flying, range targeting, and combo attacks, he's no better than any other character in the game. Each truly has their own strengths, weaknesses, and personal quirks. Falcon and Iron Man are the only two that I can't figure out the benefits to using, but that's probably just me.

By the way, it took my friends and I far too long to realize that you can fight CPU controlled characters by pressing the + button when players are joining for a battle. Sure the screen says this, but it's in small print on a page that people tend to fly past.

Really, the only major drawback to this game is Adventure mode, which is downright obnoxious. The stages are small, uninteresting, and ridiculously repetitive. It may take thirty seconds to reach the end of the level only to discover that you need to keep walking back and forth, unsure of what your objective is, and fighting off swarm after swarm of the exact same A.I.M. agents. I'm impressed that a clearly combat-oriented game tried to go for a full adventure mode, but it fails miserably and is entirely skip-able. Fortunately, YOU DO NOT NEED TO PLAY THE ADVENTURE MODE IN ORDER TO UNLOCK GAME FEATURES. Just playing battle mode over and over will ultimately unlock most or all of the game's characters and settings. My only complaint here is that the game is never clear about what you did (or should do) to unlock these features.

All in all, Marvel Super Hero Squad is an incredibly fun 3-D combat game with up to four players, great, well-balanced characters, and a sophisticated combat system that really requires you to learn and play carefully. The addition of unlockable content continues to make the game more exciting, as well. This is a GREAT value for under $30 and could have easily been a best-selling $49.99 game had the exact same game featured Mario characters. Look past the silly kiddie look of the game and give it a chance to wow you. It's become my favorite game to play as of late, and I nearly sold it after playing it the first two times.Get more detail about Super Hero Squad.