Marvel Super Hero Squad (video game)

Marvel Super Hero Squad
Developer(s)	Blue Tongue Entertainment (Wii)[1], Mass Media (PS2, PSP)[1], Halfbrick (DS)[1]
Publisher(s)	THQ
Series	Marvel Super Hero Squad
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	October 20, 2009
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up, Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E10+ with Cartoon Violence

Marvel Super Hero Squad (also known as MSHS or simply Super Hero Squad) is a video game developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment^[1], Mass Media^[1], and Halfbrick^[1] and published by THQ. It was released on October 20, 2009 for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii. The game features cartoonish Super-deformed versions of the Marvel Comics characters, as seen in the Marvel Super Hero Squad toy line, as well as the television show.

Gameplay

MSHS has been split into two parts: Adventure mode and Battle mode. During adventure mode two characters (one character in the DS version) fight through a level by defeating waves of enemies. The game features on-the-fly character swapping, similar to the Lego Star Wars games, and also features drop-in, drop-out Cooperative gameplay, with AI playing the unused character during single player.^[1] Battle mode is a free-for-all fighting mode, similar to the Super Smash Bros series. Players can defeat enemies by depleting their health, or knocking them out of the arena.^[1]

Plot

The Hulk battles A.I.M. soldiers

Marvel Super Hero Squad's comic story has been simplified for children, and is set in Asgard, the Vault, Asteroid M, Villainville and Super Hero City, the latter two being exclusive to the Marvel Super Hero Squad continuity.^[2] Keeping in tone with the television show, Stan Lee voices the mayor of Super Hero City.^[2] Marvel Super Hero Squad follows the overall plotline of the television show, with Doctor Doom seeking fractals of the Infinity Sword.

Doctor Doom tried to possess the sword itself, however, Iron Man and the Hero Squad intervened and destroyed it, sending fractals of the sword throughout the gameplay universe. The game differs from the TV plot in that Doctor Doom tries to collect enough fractals to create a smaller Infinity Sword. He eventually succeeds and the Super Hero Squad must stop him.^[2]

Synopsis

It starts at a S.H.I.E.L.D. missile base, where they uncover an infinity fractal, MODOK and A.I.M. show up to take the fractal and give it to Doctor Doom so he can build his Infinity Melder (A smaller version of the Infinity Sword). The Super hero squad turn up, but, Modok still gets the fractal. MODOK decides to use the fractal to power his own giant doom cannon instead of giving it to Doctor Doom, but, Wolverine and Hulk stop him. The Fractal explodes into shards, one of which lands in MODOK's head.

In search of his bike Wolverine goes through the base getting rid of the remaining A.I.M. agents along the way, he is eventually captured and taken aboard MODOK's ship, but, breaks free and runs riot, finding his motorbike and escaping to the Savage lands below. Once there he crosses lava and battles Moloids till he reaches the shard, he touches it and it makes him feral, he is then attacked by Sabertooth and they have a battle. Wolverine wins and heads to the nearby city, Doom sends in a Sentinel that destroys Wolverine's motorbike, but, Wolverine makes short work of it. Then at the Vault Wolverine (normal again) fights Sabertooth again before the security systems try and kill him, but, Captain America stops it and they safely put the shard into the vault.

Hulk is hungry and finds a refrigerator full of ice cream, but, Abomination shows up and they fall into Mole Man's lava base below. After battling Moloids Hulk finds Mole Man and attacks him. Then he finds the shard which turns him into Grey Hulk (a slightly weaker but more intelligent Hulk), but, Abomination shows up and punches him into the Baxter Building. Hulk activates the portal and sucks him and Abomination into the Negative zone, where he has to battle Doom-bots and Abomination again until, he manages to pull himself and Abomination through another portal and into the Vault, there he is hit by the refrigerator falling through the portal behind him and is turned back into normal Hulk. Captain America puts the shard away while Hulk eats ice cream.

Thor finds the shard, but, it flies away, Hulk follows it and it lands in the hand of Storm, she turns out to be Loki in disguise, he then turns into Juggernaut and they battle, then Loki runs away to Asgard and Thor finds him, fighting off the Frost Giants protecting him, then saving Asgard from a Doom-bot invasion. Then he battles Loki once more who turns into Storm and a green version of Thor. Then Odin arrives and throws the sqabbling siblings outside. Thor freezes Loki with his hammer's new power and takes the shard to the vault.

Falcon dodges the A.I.M. planes before finding Juggernaut in the city, they battle before Juggernaut crashes through the wall dividing Superhero city from Villianville, Falcon has to protect the people trying to rebuild it and stop an accidental missile launch from Doom-bots, Falcon then infiltrates Doom's lair and gets the shard, he then dodges their attacks and escapes via the roof. Returning the shard to the vault.

Iron Man heads to a S.H.I.E.L.D. building to protect it from the A.I.M. agents and Crimson Dynamo, he then battles Crimson Dynamo on the roof before Magneto (who has found the shard) kidnaps them and holds them prisoner on Asteroid M, Iron Man escapes and avoiding the defense systems and Doom-bots he finds Magneto, battles him and gets the shard, it overloads his suit and it accidentally causes Asteroid M to explode, freeing Crimson Dynamo, he and Iron Man battle before Iron Man has to stop a missile from Asteroid M hitting earth, he redirects it and it blows a hole in the roof of the Vault.

Silver Surfer finds the last shard and opens a portal to another Dimension where Professor Doom and his Liberty Legion fight against S.W.O.R.D. and the Super Hurtful Squad. Battling through S.W.O.R.D. agents Silver Surfer opens another portal to another dimension where Doctor Doom-Doom and the Infinity Sword rule the earth, he battles Doctor Doom-Doom before going through another portal to find Galactus and an evil version of himself, The Anti-Surfer, He battles the other Surfer before the meld together to open a portal to the normal dimension and give the shard to Captain America, but, is Silver Surfer still completely good, or does he still have an evil side?

Doctor Doom arrives at the unveiling of statues to the Super Hero Squad, he has Abomination, Sabertooth and his secret army of MODOKbots and Doombots attack the Squad while he and MODOK steal the shards from the vault. The squad then attacks his lair and defeat Mole Man, but, are too late, Doom builds the Infinity Melder and flys off to the Villianville eye. There the squad battle him once more and his Doombots protecting him. Eventually he is defeated and Ms. Marvel arrives with S.H.I.E.L.D. to take him away.

After the credits Ms. Marvel is seen to be interrogating Doctor Doom, but, discovers it's only a Doombot in disguise. In Villianville Doctor Doom sits and vows that next time would be very different.

Characters

Super Hero Squad[3][4][5]
Captain America±≈ Falcon± Hulk± Invisible Woman	Iron Man± War Machine Ms. Marvel Nightcrawler	Silver Surfer± Spider-Man±≈ Storm Thing	Thor± U.S. Agent Wolverine±
Lethal Legion[3][4][5]
A.I.M Agent± Abomination Crimson Dynamo±	Doctor Doom± Juggernaut± Loki§	Magneto± MODOK§ Mole Man	Mystique≠ Sabretooth Sentinel§ Doombots

^± Character has additional costumes
^≠ Exclusive to the Nintendo DS
^≈ Character has a Wal-Mart exclusive costume
^§ Non Playable Character

Cast

• Charlie Adler - Doctor Doom, Professor Doom, Alternate Doctor Doom, Doombots, Alternate Doombots, Sabertooth
• Troy Baker - A.I.M. Agent #2, S.H.I.E.L.D. Soldier #2, Civilian #3, Delivery Boy
• Alimi Ballard - Falcon
• Ted Biaselli - Mole Man, Loki, Male Computer Voice, Moloids, Lava Men, Civilian #2
• Steven Blum - Wolverine, Abomination, Heimdall
• Dave Boat - Thor, Thing
• Grey DeLisle - Ms. Marvel, Female Computer Voice
• Jess Harnell - Crimson Dynamo
• Lena Headey - Mystique
• Tom Kane - Magneto
• Stan Lee - Mayor of the Superhero city
• Josh Keaton - Spider-Man
• Mikey Kelley - Silver Surfer, Anti-Surfer
• Tom Kenny - Iron Man, Captain America, MODOK, Juggernaut
• Nolan North - U.S Agent, War Machine, A.I.M Agent #1, Asgardians, S.H.I.E.L.D. Soldier #1, Fireman #1, Frost Giants
• Liam O'Brien - Nightcrawler, Male Cop, S.H.I.E.L.D. Controller
• Tara Strong - Invisible Woman
• Cree Summer - Storm
• Erin Torpey - Female Cop, Female Civilian
• Travis Willingham - Hulk, A.I.M Agent #3

Crew

• Jamie Simone - Voice Director

Development

MSHS marks the first game developed from a licensing agreement between Marvel Comics and THQ.^[6]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	53%[7]
Metacritic	51%[8]
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	C+[9]
IGN	5.8/10[10]
Worth Playing	6/10[11]

The game was received rather poorly by most gaming sites.

Sequel

Main article: Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet

A sequel titled Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet was released November 16, 2010 with many modifications made. The first game's developers were changed to Griptonite Games, and the consoles the game would be played on changed; the game was still for Wii and Nintendo DS, but PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles were changed to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Main article: Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat

Another sequel was produced afterwards, requiring a uDraw GameTablet.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Chiappini, Dan (2009-07-26). "Marvel Super Hero Squad Hands-On Impressions". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/psp/adventure/marvelsuperherosquad/news.html?sid=6214193&mode=previews. Retrieved 2009-08-03. "Blue Tongue is spearheading the lead version of the game for the Wii, while PlayStation 2 and PSP versions will also be available at launch and are being handled by developer Mass Media. A DS version is also in the works and being handled by fellow Aussie studio, Halfbrick." 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Casamassina, Matt (2009-05-28). "Pre-E3 2009: Marvel Super Hero Squad Story Details". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/987/987325p1.html. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Miller, Greg (2009-05-28). "Pre-E3 2009: Marvel Super Hero Squad Hands-on". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/987/987293p1.html. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Marvel Super Hero Squad". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/objects/142/14252938.html#aboutThisGame. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Marvel Super Hero Squad". Marvel Comics. http://marvelshsgame.marvel.com/. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
6. ^ "THQ and Marvel Enter into Licensing Agreement for Games Based on Marvel's Super Hero Squad". GameSpy. 2009-05-08. http://wii.gamespy.com/wii/marvel-super-hero-squad/872546p1.html. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
7. ^ "Marvel Super Hero Squad for Wii - GameRankings". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/wii/946219-marvel-super-hero-squad/index.html. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
8. ^ "Marvel Super Hero Squad for Wii - Metacritic". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/marvelsuperherosquad. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
9. ^ Sanchez, Tina (2009-10-26). "Marvel Super Hero Squad (Wii)". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3176649&p=44. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
10. ^ Bozon, Mark (2009-10-20). "Marvel Super Hero Squad Wii Review". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/103/1037005p1.html. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
11. ^ Hilderbrand, Brad (2009-11-04). "Wii Review - 'Marvel Super Hero Squad'". Worth Playing. http://worthplaying.com/article/2009/11/4/reviews/69935/. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 

External links

Video games portal

• Official website
• Marvel Super Hero Squad at Internet Movie Database