Captain America and the Avengers on the SNES not as good as Genesis Version.

Captain America and the Avengers is a 1991 beat’em up by Data East. The game was ported to the Sega Genesis and the SNES. A version of it was brought to the NES, but that game was turned into a forgettable side-scrolling action game.

I wish I had known about the arcade game. It probably would have been one of my favorite arcade games, but I never saw it. It would be nice if someone could release a compilation of the Marvel beat’em ups. The licensing would be a nightmare, with Konami owning the X-Men game, Data East owning the Avengers, Sega owning Spider-Man, and Capcom owning The Punisher.

The SNES version isn’t as good as the Sega Genesis version of the game. The gameplay feels off. I wanted to like this game more than I did, but it made me want to play the Genesis version.

TLDR: Captain America and the Avengers is a decent game, but I would rather play the Genesis version.

Narrative

It has the same plot as the Arcade and Genesis versions. The Red Skull is trying to take over the world, and it is up to you to stop him. You’ll fight a bunch of lesser-known villains on your way to him.

Apparently, the Red Skull is using mind control to get these villains to work together. I’m sure they would’ve helped him if he just asked nicely. I don’t know much about the Red Skull aside from him being a Nazi and not liking Captain America.

The story feels like a comic book. It works great for a game like this. For a game like this, I’m not expecting anything amazing.

Gameplay

I didn’t like the gameplay as much as the Genesis version. Hitting an enemy can be a frustrating experience, and there seems to be a death zone right in front of every enemy. It makes simply lining up your attacks a frustrating experience.

There are four playable characters. This is similar to the other versions of the game, and each character has different stats. Here is the list:

• Captain America
• Vision
• Iron Man
• Hawkeye

The game has a ton of mini-bosses. It probably helped some people get into the comics. Before the internet, I had no idea who these people were. Here is the list:

• Klaw
• The Living Laser
• Whirlwind
• Sentinal
• Grim Reaper
• Wizard
• Mecha Octo
• Mandarin
• Juggernaut
• Ultron
• Controls
• Crossbones
• Red Skull
• Mecha Red Skull

The bosses are cheap. I could say this about all the enemies, but things get very annoying when you fight a few bosses at once. This is also when the issues with the gameplay come to bear.

The shoot’em up stages are also here. I still like these because they break up the monotony of doing the same thing repeatedly. These stages aren’t anything special, and they have their own problems, like having a huge hitbox, but they add something special to the game.

The same power-ups from the arcade game are here. This is a faithful port of the arcade game, but the gameplay and graphics took a hit. I also find it funny that you only have these four characters to choose from.

There are four levels, which is what you should expect from a beat’em up like this. It isn’t a long game, but none of the beat’em ups from the early 1990s were. The levels don’t feel as long as the Genesis version.

The gameplay is fine once you get used to the hit detection being off. It takes some time to get used to the game, which isn’t something I like saying about a beat’em up. While most require some strategy, they don’t require you to deal with lousy hit detection.

Visuals

This is one of the games for which I think the Genesis version looks better. The Genesis port seems more detailed, which isn’t something that I would normally say. The SNES version looks good, but not as good as the Genesis version.

The visuals hurt the gameplay. It is hard to line up attacks. This is one of the more annoying parts of this game. It’s like you’re punching through the enemies.

The cutscenes look great. I like the comic book approach to this game. It feels like it could’ve been the plot of a series of books. However, Marvel would’ve messed it up. Maybe I’m just cynical.

I do like how the game looks. It isn’t as good as the Genesis version or the Arcade game, and it has problems, but it is a good-looking game.

7/10. It looks fine, the controls are decent, but it can be frustrating at first.

Pros

• Decent Gameplay
• Decent Graphics
• It is a fun game.

Cons

• Visuals hurt the gameplay.
• Boss fights can be cheap.

Conclusion

I like the Genesis version more than this one. The SNES version doesn’t look as good, and the gameplay isn’t that great. It is still a good game, but I don’t think it is as good as it could’ve been.

There is something about this version of the game that feels off to me. I wanted to like the game more because I enjoyed the Genesis version. Unfortunately, I don’t think the SNES version of the game is as good as the Genesis version. Both of them are much better than the NES game that was released around this time.

I do like these Marvel beat’em ups. Captain America and the Avengers is an interesting one. I didn’t know it existed, but now that I do, I really like it.