Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

"Recommended only for hardcore Marvel Comics Fans"

Before I go into this review, I just want to say that I'm a fan of fighting video games and also a fan of Marvel Comics. That being said, I'm going to give it to you straight.

There aren't many fighting video games for the PSP (in the US, just Darkstalkers) and right now, the top fighting game at this time is the Japanese import game "Bleach 2", but if you aren't familiar with the anime, don't buy imports nor can you read Japanese, this really can't help you at all until the newly revised "Street Fighter Alpha" comes out for the PSP here in the U.S..

Upon reading many reviews, "Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects" has received dismal reviews on the consoles. But how does the PSP version rank?

GRAPHICS:

Graphically, it's ok. I love the character designs that show up on the pre-fighting screen and possibly, I wouldn't mind even seeing cel shaded versions of the characters but the 3D versions are ok. Some say it's great but until I see Tekken, Virtua Fight, Soul Calibur made to PSP, I'm not going to say MN is great. It's just ok.

GAMEPLAY:

This is the big one. I enjoyed it for the fact I like the characters BUT there is a lot of problems with gameplay. As you probably have read, you start off with THING and then you have an imperfect - Johnny Ohm. Beat the 10 levels with THING, you open up Imperfects - Brigade. Beat it with Johnny Ohm, you open up SPIDER-MAN. And so forth... Beat the game with an imperfect, open up a hero. Beat the game with a hero, open up an imperfect. You can't just play who you want until you beat it with each character.

Knowing this, you can't control stages. Where in most fighting video games, you know that there are a lot of characters to open, so a fast way to do it is put the rounds to 1 and minimize the time.

You can't do it on this game. Thus by playing a full game...expect to play for an hour or so. Good news is that each time you beat a character, it saves and you can go back to where you last started.

Another thing that hurts this game is that you battle the same roster over and over again in the same order.

The storyline is simple but leads to no ending video. No opening video. No video whatsoever.

If there is one positive, you can add cards to each character. May it increase their power, their regeneration for super powers, their healing power, etc. You start off with two slots and you can get up to 4. You may need the cards but really, it's not too hard of a game to beat without using them.

DIFFICULTY:

The PSP version is not difficult. Strategy to defeat opponents is easy to find out. Get them in a corner and pummel them (in combination if you have a super power and in this case shoot them down) and you win. Going against Brigade or THING requires you to shoot them down or if you can, throw as many cans or objects at them until they get weak. And of course the cheapest is to get a ring knockout which happens on some stages.

People not familiar may have difficulty with some characters but really, this game because more of a button masher. No juggle combos...no combos... So, you don't have to worry as much. For those wanting an indepth fighting game, this is probably a major negative.

CHARACTERS:

The PSP version gets rid of Daredevil and Human Torch. In their place, you get Captain America and Dr. Doom. As you may have read, there are objects you can throw. Some characters can throw anything, some can't. Despite Spider-Man being a powerful person in the comics, this is not the same on the game. He can't life a car and he and another strong character in the comics, STORM are made into weaklings. Even Wolverine is not that great. So, those expecting a "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" type of balance into the characters where characters are balanced are not going to get this in the game. That's a shame because I was surprised by using the Thing vs. Storm, it took very few punches to win the stage.

As for the Imperfects, I would say that I wasn't digging them at first but some character designs are cool and their powers are cool. I got used to them.

SOUND:

Some music is cool. Reminded me of some songs from Spider-Man the movie but there is no voice and the sound is terrible. No taunting? No voice? Just basic grunts and who knows...they may have been by the same man and woman with adjusted pitch. And the powers...the same situation. EA is known for sound for their other games but this???

CONCLUSION:

EA has created many great games that I can say is warranted the $49.99. With music and extra bonuses on their sports and racing games, I'm a bit surprised how little they did in giving gamers more for their buck in "Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects". No video. Sucky audio. Non-balanced characters. No combo system. Pretty much the gamble is taking popular Marvel characters in a fighting 3D video game system with limited capabilities and banking on that. I just want to say that this is nowhere near "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" in fun factor.

But I bought this game for the main factor that I wanted a fighting game and that it made it more of a "buy it" because it featured Marvel-based characters. I will recommend this game to hardcore Marvel fans and those who want quick battles. I recommend downloading the gamesave on Gamefaqs to get all the characters because th game is very tedious and once you go through the first two and the next four...you start to realize that it's the same characters, in the same order and it's too tedious. Without a indepth system and storyline and knowing THERE ARE NO EXTRA BONUSES when you beat the game (Aside from opening a character and getting a special card...whoopee!), I can't recommend this game for those who just want a fighting game knowing that "Darkstalkers" and "Bleach 2" offer so much and are much more fun.

+ Recommended for Marvel comics fans
+ Characters are fun and great if you are a person short on time and want quick battles
+ Big environment to roam with areas that can be destroyed, thrown and used as areas to trap your opponent for pummeling.

- No in-depth fighting system. No combos. Just fight, throw and super power.
- No bonuses or any extras that you come to expect from other fighting games. It's pretty simple.
- Start with only two characters and from beating each level, you can open more characters up. Should have been 8-10 characters available at start and then able to open up levels and extra characters.
- Characters are not balanced and on equal footing. Yes THING is supposed be uber-strong but Spider-Man is not supposed to be that weak. Nor is Storm and Wolverine.
- Doesn't include the bells and whistles that EA puts on all their console and even portable games.
- Very tedious
- Sound is bad
- No video or major storyline.
- You fight the same characters in the same order, no random character battles.

That being said, more negatives than positives but if you are fan who has money to burn, go for it. Especially if you are wanting a fighting video game now. Otherwise, save your money.

Until a "MARVEL Contest of Champions" that features more Marvel characters and not new characters, tag team or 3-on-3. I hope EA listens to the fans, makes another Marvel-based fighting game but give us the same love to the Marvel franchise like they do with their sports and racing games.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/05