With a great franchise comes a great number of releases. In the case of the LEGO video games series, their multi-platform games have hit just about every major gaming console of the past 10 years. Having no desire to be left out of the series’ success, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril brings an original adventure to the Nintendo 3DS.
Like any of the other LEGO franchised games, gameplay consists mostly of button mashing beat-em-up action combined with some light puzzle solving. As you work your way through each of the game’s 15 stages, you have the ability to switch between certain Marvel characters to help defeat your foes and solve the areas’ puzzles; each of the 15 stages are broken up into three small sections including a boss battle. While the game leads you through them seamlessly as you play the campaign, having them set up this way makes it much easier to navigate and jump from one section to another when replaying. Unlike so many other games, unlocking the next stage in the story isn’t as simple as completing the one before it — instead, stages are unlocked based on the amount of gold bricks that you have collected throughout your adventure.
Many of the gold bricks available to unlock are obvious and easily earned simply by completing tasks such as reaching the end of a stage or collecting a certain amount of LEGO studs: other challenges, however, are much more taxing on the player. These other challenges range from completing a level without switching your character to saving a certain number of civilians. These challenges not only add variety to the otherwise straightforward beat-em-up gameplay, but they also force replayability on it in a surprisingly unobtrusive manner. To advance in the game, you actually have to play each stage more than once, dramatically extending this otherwise short title’s lifespan.
Stages are laid out isometrically and follow a mostly linear path. Any divergence that you experience from the main walkway usually just leads to hidden objects and studs or more destructible scenery, but each area is designed to guide you along without much hassle. The environments and characters populating them look great and obviously take advantage of the hardware’s capabilities, often showcasing smooth animation with few to no drops in frame rate. The console’s 3D effect is used to add a sense of depth to the environments which, admittedly, does make it easier to identify where characters and objects are in location to you, but it does little to actually enhance the gameplay.
The same cannot be said about the cinematic sequences, however, which look absolutely atrocious. Opting to keep mostly the same scenes from the console version, the video quality took a major hit, leaving these short sequences looking grainy, splotchy, and even discoloured. With the load times being as frustratingly long as they often are between stages, one might expect more quality to have been put into the video, but this is absolutely not the case.
The audio quality is similarly poor, maintaining a generally tinny sound as it is pumped through the 3DS’s speakers. The poor audio quality is especially unfortunate as games in the LEGO series tend to have excellent soundtracks, and this one is no exception to that. The game is fully voice acted, making each character seem like a unique personality rather than stock superheroes, but this doesn’t make up for the fact that some of the dialogue is barely intelligible. The good news is that there are subtitles displayed, so you might actually be better off silencing the game completely and playing the Avengers film soundtrack in the background instead.
The control scheme is kept simple, making this game easily accessible to players of all ages. Your character is controlled using the Circle Pad or D-Pad while attacks and dodges are performed with the A, B, X, and Y buttons. Additional controls, such as making certain characters fly or swapping between heroes, are tied to virtual buttons on the 3DS’s touchscreen with easily decipherable icons. While the touch controls are easy to identify, they’re not always as responsive as they should be, often calling for second taps and more deliberate swipes to function. Though more than one option is available regarding character mobility, we found that, due to your character’s ability to more in three dimensions, using the Circle Pad is the more accurate option when compared to the D-Pad.
Unlike the console versions, there is no open world to explore and no side missions – beyond the additional challenges in each stage – to complete. New characters and attacks can still be purchased with studs that you’ve collected, but this is all done through bland menus rather than interactive shops. There is also an unfortunate lack of multiplayer gameplay, which is easily one of the most enticing aspects of the console games. In what we assume is an attempt to make up for the lack of co-op, there is an included card collection game that utilizes the handheld’s StreetPass feature to challenge other players to unseen battles, but it doesn’t do much to captivate its audience, and it isn’t nearly as satisfying as actually playing through missions with a friend at your side.
Conclusion
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril is a lengthily titled game that provides a sweet and satisfying portable experience for LEGO and Marvel fans alike. It may not live up to the standards that the console version has set for it, but it still offers up a unique experience that will keep players of all ages entertained for a decent number of hours. Long load times, ugly cinematics, and finicky touch controls aside, the fun mission structure and engaging gameplay makes this one worth picking up for anyone seeking big fun in small bursts.
Comments 23
Better than expected
I got a copy of Lego Batman 2 on 3DS for xmas. While I loved the Wii version, I honestly was not expecting much from the handheld port. Other than the twitchy flight controls, I've been pleasantly surprised. Good enough to make me consider picking this one up.
It sounds like potentially good firewood.
Why so late on the review?
Still don't really understand the appeal of making every franchise into Lego. The only one I have is Lego City for Wii U, and while that game is fun, the lego aspect of it doesn't do a thing for me. Buuut that's just my two cents.
You forgot to mention the complete lack of jumping... I absolutely hated the demo for this. You can't jump, you can't explore, combat just isn't fun. I would prefer a watered-down edition of the console versions (like every other handheld version of a Lego game has been) over whatever this is.
I wish they'd stop going for this kind of stuff where every movie is turned into a lego game.... I wish they'd do more like Lego City. That game was fantastic and original and not based off of some crap movie.
@GoombaJMR I love your avatar. Just wanted to say that, lol. I was thinking about changing my avatar to Monokuma. I'm kinda tired of my current one.
Looks interesting, maybe I'll get it down the road.
I played one Lego game - Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 on DS... and though I did greatly enjoy it... I think one Lego game is enough for me... seems like, once you've seen one you've seen 'em all..
@Knux Except it's not wood, and if I remember right, plastic fumes are poisonous. As someone who has often been called a pyromaniac, I cannot recommend burning that.
Hanging out for Lego Tetris myself
@SkywardLink98 You speak from experience? Forget roasting ants: Nothing quite like a towering lego inferno ignited by sunlight and a magnifying glass.
@Gioku
for the Lego games about the licensed movies, yeah, when you play one, you played them all. Though if you have a Wii U, I recommend Lego City. it is totally great and not like the others
@SkywardCrowbar Aww thanks <3 You can do so if you want ^^
OK... with all this talk of burning, and then @StarDust had to mention inferno...
...here you go.
@Gioku haha! Classic!
@Gioku Nice, I loved that little game btw. It game me something to do last year when I got bored with Nintendo Land...
A 6 as expected...
I was very sad on how they changed the formula for the portable version.
After having played the console version beforehand, the demo of this was terrible. No jumping, Hulk sounds awful, sliding on the touchscreen to fly and land, and you can't even switch characters at all. Only one playable character can be on screen, while the other can come in and do a support attack every now and then. I found no way to switch between the characters I was given. Also, you can actually die for real in this version, instead of just reappearing where you were before. This forces you to restart the level. Can't say I recommend this, especially when compared to the console version.
It really baffles me how we have two handheld systems capable of games of similar to home console quality and yet can't get a good Lego game on either one. This game is awesome on the home consoles, very average on the handhelds. It makes no sense.
Tried the demo and found it horrible,so glad I got the brilliant Wii U version.
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