Review – Captain America: Super Soldier (DS)

a NintendoFuse game review by Steve (hattrick)

Game – Captain America: Super Soldier (Rated T for Teen)
Version – Nintendo DS
(also available for Wii, X360, PS3; 3DS coming later)
Obtained – Review copy from SEGA of America PR team

Following in line to what seems the summer of super hero movies, Captain America makes a showing on the Nintendo DS. The main idea is a side-scrolling beat-em-up with a bit of puzzle solving. Is this what the Captain needs to rise on Nintendo’s fading handheld?

Story & Plot
The game does not tell you much in the beginning, except for little bits at a time, which are essentially tutorials. You get updates that often interfere with your gameplay, and tutorials that keep coming back no matter how many times you have passed them. Seriously, each time you die, you go back to the beginning of the level and start over, including each tutorial and info alert. This get annoying very fast. As far as the plot goes, though, it is exactly what you would expect. Captain America goes in to save the world. It is only loosely connected with the major motion picture released this year. The Captain will go up against Red Skull and Hydra, as he does in the film. However, you do not need to know anything about the movie or story to play the game.

Gameplay & Controls
Similar to Thor, you will learn various button combinations in order to move through each stage. Some of these get fairly complicated, and the screens are not up long enough to really read them. Nonetheless, you can begin to rely upon one or two moves to make it past most of the game. You find out early on that throwing your shield is one of the most powerful attacks in the entire game. The most difficult parts are the platforming. Because the screen moves with the Captain every time he jumps, it is difficult to know exactly where to land. On top of that, the hit detection is a bit off as well. Other parts just do not make sense. Why do you have to scratch his shield to open a hatch?

Graphics & Sound
The menu system is very simple and straightforward. That carries into the actual game. The graphics are not very good, even for the Nintendo DS. They come across very grainy. The music is not bad, as it sounds similar to the movie soundtrack, but compressed, of course. The voice-acting is not bad, as many sound like they should, but the default levels have the music up too loud, making it difficult to understand the characters. In the end, the music and voices were probably the biggest redeeming factor in the game.

SCORE: 2 out of 5
Captain America: Super Soldier does not make a great showing on the Nintendo DS. In fact, because it tries to be so much more, it fails to be good at almost anything. While it is not horrible, it could have been better if it were a simpler arcade-style brawler with little to do with the movie.

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