Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

"Sweet Elements, I hope the console versions have more depth than THIS throwback..."

Anyone out there remember the dawn of 3D fighters? Tekken you say? Virtua Fighter? How about the crappy fighters? You know, War Gods, Mace, and Battle Arena Toshiden (which I KNOW I mispelled, I never could remember the spelling on that title)? Remember how they wowed us with great graphics, but after a few weeks, we realized how shallow and crappy they were?

Remember their portable releases once they came home? Yes, I doubt you remember a home version of Mace (an obscure arcade fighter that DID come to consoles), but crappy fighters like Toshiden (sp?) did make it to portables, and they seemed to improve in the transfer from 2D to 3D.

Now, keep the growing pains of 3D fighters in mind. It was not until the rise of the GBA's second generation of games that truly decent 3D games began to arise, such as Star X and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, wowing us with 3D graphics on the go. Yet, these were nice attempts, but not really good 3D fighting (or shooting, in the case of Star X).

Now, with the DS and PSP, 32-bit/64-bit/128-bit fighters can be realized on the go. Only, let us hope that Marvel Nemesis is just another Toshiden.

"Wait a sec - Marvel Nemesis is not a fighter!"

Whether or not the console version of Marvel Nemesis is kin to the DS or PSP home versions in any way, I do not know. I sincerely hope that there is no relation outside of the title and characters, as this disgrace is low even for a first-gen N64 game.

To be fair, the graphics ARE nice, kin in art style to Ultimate Spiderman (any version sans the GBA) or Viewtiful Joe, mixed in with a touch of cell-shaded-esque 3D fighting. Don't get me wrong with the low-score; the graphics ARE very, very nice, possibly the ultimate highlight of this title. The animations are nice, and very rarely did I have any real issues with the graphics. Yes, the camera is hindered by walls and hard to control (if at all), but for a 3D game on the DS, I didn't find any real issues here.

Sound is, well...

Give me a sec, I'm trying to remember. The music was most kin to various old Spiderman and X-men musics. I am not a big know-it-all for these series, and have no way of knowing if any of these tunes even relate to the sources they are derived from. Yet, they never really caught on with me, and the grunts and groans didn't help much, either. When you look at games like Castlevania DS, where the music is symphonic and the squishing of bits of zombie falling on the floor audible yet flawless in graphical presentation, one must wonder why such primitive grunts, bashes, and cracking is heard. The lack of effort alone makes me want to avoid EA titles just for the apparent lack of care.

Speaking of lack of care, nowhere else in the game will you find issues that make you wonder why you bought this title than the controls. You have a jump button, two or three attacks (I tried various available characters, and could barely tell if they were attacking or blocking; half the time, I never knew my foe was defeated until the words "[character name] Wins"), but you really have no time to worry about their attacks, as you try to mash buttons fast enough to beat your foe to a pulp. Yet, the digital pad is ill-suited for this kind of set-up. Or so it seems; I didn't have a problem with Super Mario 64 DS.

It took minutes to realize that the character takes a few seconds to start moving in the direction you press, while two seconds to accept an attack command.

This was frustrating and irritating in and of itself, but when I checked the options after trying the game out, I found the default setting on EASY. Is it me, or is there something wrong with the game being default on EASY?

Had I found another to play the multiplayer with, I might have found some fun here. But then, I only had four characters from the start, with no success in unlocking anyone. Worse yet, only the "cool" characters such as Wolverine, Human Torch, and Spider Man, were deemed neccesary to have at the start, instead of Venom, the Iron Man, or someone I really wanted to use.

Replay value is limited to finding "Comic" extras, which, really, I have no idea what these are. I never found one, and couldn't bring myself to try. If I had to guess, I would think they were either the cut-scenes in Arcade mode or something of a simmilar nature. Given the Ultimate Spiderman-like cutscenes, I would have appreciated that.

Sadly, I will not even find out, as I am returning this game as fast as my legs and wheeles can take me to the store.

Final say, do NOT bother with this. If you must spend that kind of money on a super hero title for yourself or the tikes, go get Ultimate Spiderman DS; at least it is fun in a GOOD way.

Score: 3 of 10

*Best Features: Good graphics, nice animation
*Worst Features: Sloppy controls, no effort into sound, few good characters from the start
*If You Liked: Marvel Nemesis (console), Ultimate Spiderman (Console, DS)
*Guilty Pleasure: Returning this, then selecting Phoenix Wright, and THEN having to explain to the sales clerk why you bought Marvel Nemesis DS in the first place. Or is that bad? Who knows?

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 10/21/05