Captain America and the Avengers (NES) Playthrough
340A playthrough of Data East's 1991 license-based action game for the NES, Captain America and the Avengers.
Released just in time for Christmas of 1991, Captain America and the Avengers was the last NES game to be developed by Data East, and unlike the SNES (https://youtu.be/4JWmfam1QWk) and Genesis (https://youtu.be/8Qi-GqWcI9M) games, it was not based on the popular arcade beat 'em up (https://youtu.be/KNOH0s7tL6I) of the same name.
In this NES-exclusive action-platformer, Red Skull has assembled a crew (Wizard, Ultron, Mandarin, and Crossbones) to kidnap Vision and Iron Man, and so Captain America and Hawkeye battle their way across the United States in pursuit.
As your choice of either the Captain or Hawkeye, you hop from city to city, pounding thugs and collecting gems as you forge a path westward. Both characters have their own unique movesets - Captain America has a shield throw, his Charging Star move, and he can hang from pipes and ledges, while Hawkeye can fire bolts in any direction - and their abilities and life gauges can be leveled up by collecting red gems from item dispensers. Once they meet up, you can switch between them at any time from the pause menu.
In each stage, you'll collect some items, kill some baddies, find the glowing orb keys, and then make your way to the exit door, occasionally taking on a boss along the way.
The game starts out strong. The controls feel good, the level layouts are fairly large and open, the two heroes feel distinct, the music is catchy, and the graphics are quite nice. In many ways, the style reminds me of Werewolf (https://youtu.be/kojEbuXizZU), and that's no bad thing.
For the first twenty minutes or so, each stage introduces new enemies and platforming challenges, and the difficulty ramps up at a fair pace. It holds your interest, and it's fun.
It doesn't take long for the cracks to begin showing in Captain America and the Avengers' facade, though. The stage layouts and backdrops begin to repeat once you've made it out of the southeastern US, the music never changes, and the repetition amounts to little more than padding. It ends up stretching what would ideally be a good 20-30 minute game into a boring 90-minute slog.
It's not bad as far as 8-bit Marvel games go, but Captain America and the Avengers feels like an exercise in squandered potential. Given Data East's track record on the NES, this could've, and should've, been much better.
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