Captain America and the Avengers

"Quite possibly the funniest 2D beat-em-up ever!"

Captain America and the Avengers was released in the 90's, but it has the look and feel of the 80's. That means corny animation, dialogue, and voice overs. That also means it's one of the funniest games you can find!

You get to chose between Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, or Hawkeye, although Hawkeye's the only one that doesn't have some cheapo advantage (Captain America's shield does a lot of damage). Whenever they talk to a villian, they simply stand up straight and point and talk. Pretty corny, eh?

The controls are simple: attack and jump. You press jump and attack simultaneously to execute a projectile attack and press forward twice to perform a dash attack. Captain America bends over and raises his arms above his back when he dashes (disco!) and Vision uses his elbow (super elbow!).

The sound department is the funniest part of this game. Before each level, it plays a dumb tune; and whenever a boss is near death someone says ''Avengers go!!!''. The boss quotes are also funny. ''Where's the laser cannon?'' ''Ask the police!'' You haven't heard dorky until you've heard Mandrin say ''See my power!''

However, the battles are too cheap. If you try to take on the enemies hand-to-hand, then you'll most likely be knocked back (in one blow) and every time you do the Avenger says ''No!''. So then you have to resort to projectile attacks which make it boring, and yet the enemies still manage to hit you when you do (on the way down if you use Iron Man's or Vision's jumping laser). The bosses are ultra fast, about as fast as Super Sonic. I don't think a muscle man like Juggernaut (who moves lightning fast) is supposed to move so quickly.

This game is very, very funny, but it's very repetitive. Still, it's funny to hear all the boss's words that are said before they fight. But if you want a good beat-em-up, then go for something like Turtles.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/00, Updated 06/27/00