Review #780: Marvel Super Heroes

 The original adaptation of the Infinity War.... after the SNES of course.

 Not long after Capcom struck gold with X-Men - Children of the Atom, they aspired to higher heights with a new game, built on the same engine, that would break away from the boundaries of the X-men Franchise and would cover more of Marvel's finest with Marvel Super Heroes. This is a fighting game that's framed around the Infinity War, you can take any of 10 characters, 12 if you count the secret playable bosses, and duke it our while wielding the mighty power of the gems.

 Arcade and Versus, that's all you get, not more, not less. The 12 character roster is pretty skimpy as well: Wolverine, Pylocke, Magneto and Juggernaut return from Children of the Atom, the latter three that had little to do during the Infinity War but Capcom loves being lazy, joined by Spider-man, Captain America, The Hulk, Iron-man, BlackHeart, Shuma Gorath, Dr. Doom and Thanos himself. As per usual with games of this era, no in-game movelist. I have to say that I absolutely adore '90s 2-D Capcom: their colorful sprites were a sight to behold, and the music, oh god, the MUSIC! This game is classic Arcade Capcom, looks great, sounds great and plays... well...

 On paper, it plays great. 6 buttons: 3 kicks and 3 punches, you get aerial combos, super jumps, super moves that run on an energy gauge, air blocking, y'know, the usual. It plays like most Capcom fighters, it's fast and snappy. The game's unique gimmick are the Power Stones, you and the enemy can use any of the six stones to gain various temporary advantages, such as healing, super armor, extra power, extra speed, etc and some gems will power up specific moves from specific characters. You have to be careful, because if you get knocked down whatever gem you're carrying will fall and the enemy can pick it up and use if it he wants.

 On paper it plays great, but there's a little issue with the PS1 version. No, not the PS1's trademark loading times, but rather the copious amounts of slowdown that plague the game pretty much all the time. I mean, it's downright annoying at times, and pretty much any stage and any match up will produce slowdown at one time or another. Iron-man's specials and Hulk himself are pretty big culprits too.

 I'm sure the arcade original is a fine game, but this port is anything but. A very small roster, no bonus modes and tons of slowdown turn this port into nothing more than a pretty game cover. I mean, '90s comics art needs to make a comeback. Regardless, Capcom has made better games and better PS1 ports, and the PS1 itself has many better fighting games, making this one a hard pass.
 3.0 out of 10