iGeeks Assemble!
Box office records weren’t the only ones smashed by Thor’s hammer over the first weekend in May - the lines. Oh, the lines. It was sort of like being at Disneyland, the lines were so bad; at least the ride lasted more than half a few minutes.
But while it’s unlikely that we’ll see anything this epic again (in terms of lines, I mean) it’s still useful to have a few thematic time wasters on the ole iDevice. Besides which, Batman and Spider-Man both come out later this year, right? Better to be prepared.
Gameloft is up to its old tricks and has put out a trio of licensed beat-em-ups for Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man. None of them are worth your time or your hard-earned nintey-nine cents (or as many as 500 pennies if you don’t get 'em on sale).
As is true of essentially all Gameloft titles, each one is a knock-off of a superior game with licensed IP thrown on top to distract you. (Further and differing opinion here - editor) How this company ever released the excellent Dungeon Hunter series we may never know. Regardless, stay away. (There is a quite-competent Spider-Man action brawler from the same company, and we may talk more about that another time.)
Instead, let’s take a look at 3 games that are worth knowing about, though not for obvious reasons.
The Good: Marvel vs Capcom 2
By this point, you either love Street Fighter or you hate it. The franchise got an unexpected iBoost in 2010 with the stunningly-realized Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter IV Volt, the latter sporting online play against opponents across the globe and featuring artwork so good it even looked impressive pixel-doubled on the iPad. Now Capcom has released a straight up Universal port of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, the fan-service special known for ridiculously responsive controls and screen-filling special attacks.
From a purely technical standpoint, there’s pretty much nothing to complain about here except a lack of WiFi multiplayer support. The graphics are upscaled and a joy to behold. As with SFIV, Capcom has managed to distill the essence of the complex Street Fighter control scheme into something that not only works well on a touch screen, but even gives neophytes a leg up with a simplified combo system.
The game is a straight port of the downloadable version released on console markets last year, so all 56 playable characters are present (though you will have to unlock 20 or so). Finally, bucking a trend that has become alarmingly prevalent in the space, this is a game you only have to pay for once - there aren’t even any short cuts to pay for, let alone exclusive DLC.
If there is a downside, it’s that unlocking absolutely everything means replaying many, many times. That shouldn’t be a problem if you’re a fan, though quite a few favorite characters (notably Chun Li and Storm) are locked from the outset, so expect some frustration if you aren’t a Wolverine fanboy. But for anyone who spent hours pumping quarters into arcade machines in their misspent youth, this will be a welcome (if bruising) trip down memory lane.
The Pretty: Batman
Arkham City Lockdown
(yes, we know Batman isn’t a Marvel hero. Deal with it - this remains one of the best superhero games iOS has to offer.)
No one expected the console Batman Arkham franchise to be any good, let alone as spectacular as it was. They were good games in their own right and bar none the best super hero games to which we’ve been treated. Phones aren’t consoles, though, so don’t go into this expecting a straight-up translation of one of 2011’s contenders for Game of the Year.
Rather than trying to recapture the sweeping, epic scale of an Arkham game, Lockdown focuses on the combat. Through a series of levels, you go face-to-cowl with a nigh on infinite assortment of thugs and 6 of the more memorable faces out of Batman’s Rogues Gallery: Two-Face, Solomon Grundy, Deathstroke, The Joker, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. There are gadgets to unlock, combat moves to learn, and (sadly) achievements tied to DLC, obtaining all of which will more than double the cost of the game.
The core of the gameplay is sort of a stripped down version of the quicktime event-heavy combat seen in the Infinity Blade series. You tap to dodge and swipe to attack, gaining experience points for efficiency, brutality, and clever use of your gadgets. The whole “detective” aspect of Batman’s character is absent here, but the gorgeously textured, fanatically detailed Unreal engine models look fantastic, and on a platform known mostly as the home of Angry Birds, that counts for a lot.
The game does weigh in at a whopping 1.6 gigs, making it one of the highest-footprint items in the App Store; you’re probably better off downloading it to your PC and then transferring it locally. With that said, there’s plenty here for fanboys to chew on, and even if you’re not a die-hard fan of swipe-based combat, the Retina-ready graphics alone make this a stand out showpiece to demonstrate to skeptical friends what the iPad can do. As an added bonus, since the control scheme (mostly) doesn’t require precise touches, this is a great one to plug into an HDMI adapter and enjoy on a big screen.
The WTF: Marvel KAPOW!
Think of this one as WarioWare: Marvel Heroes edition. In a game that was unquestionably designed with touch screens specifically in mind, KAPOW! puts the powers of six of Marvel’s best and brightest at your fingertips - literally. The plot, such as it is, revolves around a desperate attempt to stop Dr. Doom and his baddie buddies from taking over the Internet.
This can be done by blasting missiles as Iron Man, deflecting satellite-born projectiles as Cap, and so on. Each of the heroes has their own style of mini game against a specific (and usually thematic) foe - so Cap must play a modified Breakout with his shield against Red Skull’s satellites, Iron Man must play a modified Space Invaders against missiles lobbed by Iron Monger, Wolverine must play a modified Fruit Ninja against metal...things...lobbed by Magneto, and so on.
Once the basics are introduced, powers and villains start to mix and match, requiring you as the player to keep track and bring the appropriate counter measure. You will perform the required tasks until an arbitrary meter fills up (what this is supposed to represent beyond an uninspired game mechanic isn’t clear) at which point you’ll get the next level with its own combination of good vs evil.
So why is this game on this list? Two reasons. First, you get to play as almost all the Avengers at one point or another (there’s no Hawkeye or Black Widow, though Spidey and Wolverine, both fan favorites, appear to make up for it) and there is a “lite” version with ads between levels that can be had for free. So if nothing else, this should help gear you up for Avengers while you’re waiting in line.
So go and be mighty, true believers! Also, keep an eye peeled - Spiderman: Total Mayhem tends to go on sale for a buck every so often, and is widely regarded to be worth that asking price.
