Marvel Trading Card Game

"“A very underrated game!”"

I've always had a great love for Collectible Card Games. Even though I'm not a fan of the cartoon, I have quite a few versions of Yu-Gi-Oh! on my various Nintendo systems. I've been playing Magic: The Gathering Online on and off since its inception.

On top of that, I am also a huge comic book fan. As you can imagine, seeing the Marvel Vs. cards turned into a video game was the perfect fit for me as a gamer. But, the constant delays, and the less that stellar reviews for this game were definitely turn offs. I ended up picking this up on a whim. I am glad I did. This game won't land in my top ten games all time, but it's a solid title that's a lot of fun, and keeps me coming back for more no matter how many hours I put in.

Graphics: 6 – Even for a DS game, Marvel Trading Card has pretty basic graphics. Some of the avatars are pretty unrecognizable at times (THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE CHAMELEON??), and this version doesn't have the battle animations that the PSP version has. That said, they make terrific use of the duel screens, and the card art all looks solid. This isn't really the type of game when graphics matter all that much, but Marvel Trading Card Games graphics are functional.

Sound: 7: - No voice acting, and the music isn't all that memorable, but it's also not annoying, which is a plus. I typically have the volume off on my portable systems anyway. Again, it's functional. It doesn't really add to the experience, but it takes nothing away from it either.

Gameplay: 8 - The first time I played this game, I was just about ready to return it. The tutorial does a nice job teaching you the card game, but a lousy job explaining how it works in the video game format. Too many times, I would not be able to figure out how to things to work the way I wanted them to work. It doesn't help that the game lacks a go-back feature, so once you make a mistake, even a simple one, it can really lead to devastation.

The first hour or two, it felt much more like work than it did playing. In fact, this game has just about the biggest learning curve I've ever had to overcome in 20+ years of gaming.

By now, you're probably wondering how I could possible give it an 8 after that negative start. Once you start getting used to the game, and figuring out how things work, it becomes a much smoother experience. You are going to make a lot of mistakes in the beginning, and not just in strategy, but also just in basic control mistakes. But pretty quickly on, everything clicks for you, and the game's design just makes sense. Granted, the tutorial could definitely use some work, but the cleverly designed puzzles make up for it. I learned more trying to beat each puzzle than I would have ever expected.

The AI on this game is surprisingly solid! A few times I've seen the opponent's come up with clever combinations that I wasn't expecting. Each opponent really seems to know their deck well and how to take advantage of their cards. You will find yourself being challenged even by decks that you should overwhelm. You'll constantly be reworking your deck and coming up with new strategies to beat your opponents.

I highly recommend changing the Auto-Pass option in the game to suit your needs better. The default manual setting will lead to you constantly pressing the skip button, and you will skip parts of the turn than you are not trying to. Once I did that, all my mistakes came from bad planning, not because of bad controls.

Fun Factor: 9 - The sheer variety of the cards in this game and opponent's deck keeps me coming back over and over again. I keep looking for new combinations and new ways to win, and there seems to be a limitless variety of combinations.

Typically, I have to charge my DS every few weeks. Since I've bought Marvel Trading Card Game, I've out so many hours into it, I've had to charge my DS every three or four days. I haven't even had to play against other people over the Wi-Fi to have a great time with this game.

Despite all the hours I've put into this game, I am still only on the 6th chapter of the Hero Campaign. There is a whole second campaign to play, with more packs of cards to choose from.

Plus, this game is really made for fans of the comics. I can't believe the variety of obscure characters who get some spotlight in this game. Frog Man is one of the cards in your starting Hero Deck. FROG MAN!!! Squadron Supreme, Thunderbolts, X-Statix, and other characters who haven't had the benefit of movie or cartoon exposure also pop up in the game. It's nice to see a bigger variety than Wolverine, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and Punisher, though there are still plenty of versions of those cards for the fan boys.

And there is plenty of unlockables to keep you coming back for more. There are two complete campaigns for you to play through (I am still on the first and it's is long and a lot of fun), challenging puzzles for each chapter, more card packs, and different back drops to purchase using points earned from victories. Plus a challenge mode where you can take on the variety of opponent deck's you will encounter in the game, and online capability to play with opponents using the DS version of the game.

Overall: 8 - A very solid title. It definitely has its flaws, but once you get past the huge learning curve, it became a game I was very glad that I bought. I would definitely want to see some kind of expansion or sequel for this, especially one that allows you to play with some of the DC cards. If you are a fan of collectible card games, this is definitely a title worth playing.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/15/07