LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes Review

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Fast Facts

Introduction

LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes was initially released in 2013 and has recently been ported to the Nintendo Switch. In this title, I fought evil as many different Marvel heroes, ultimately saving the world from Dr. Doom and Loki. Is the game a fulfilling conquest? Or should it have stayed on previous consoles? Find out in this Rapid Review.

Fan Favourites

To begin my adventure, I was thrown into the Marvel world and introduced to iconic characters such as Iron Man, The Hulk, and Sandman. Though I do enjoy Marvel content, I am not the largest Marvel fan, and thus I did not have immense amounts of nostalgia for this title. However, seeing how the developers implemented these characters into one massive connected world was fascinating, and I enjoyed seeing the feuds that emerged and how the characters reacted to upcoming events. Even though I did not know every character before playing the title, I never felt confused by the story, and always felt excited to see how a new character altered the progression of the story.

I found that my true interest in the story lied in noticing intricacies in characters even though there was a decent bit of story content. LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes features a basic plot. Ultimately, it boils down to having a conglomeration of enemies attacking Earth. Obviously, I needed to stop that from happening. The story was simple, but I was very glad that it was. Since I am unfamiliar with the individual characters, I was able to appreciate the basic story because it kept me immersed.

Brand Sponsor

Still, there were homages to Marvel™. My characters used iconic phrases, I noticed the rivalries between characters who had met before, and the locations were stripped right out of the comics. This game is great at showcasing the Marvel™ intellectual properties.

LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes also does an excellent job showcasing the LEGO® brand. I adventured to regain control of the cosmic bricks, a few LEGO® pieces. They used the intellectual property well once again, and as a fan of LEGO®, I was pleased to see its inclusion. I was especially impressed by some cutscenes that show creations being built out of nowhere. Characters would hide their machinery in plain sight, but it would need to be constructed. Thus, the LEGO® branding not only provided visual appeal but furthered the story.

Though the story itself was nothing special, I enjoyed learning about the Marvel™ characters, seeing how LEGO® was implemented, and feeling powerful, with a cast of heroes at my disposal. The story might be even more engaging to serious Marvel™ fans, as though I am familiar with many of the characters, I am not extremely passionate about the franchise.

Worldwide War

LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes was my very first LEGO® game. I had a good time with it, but I quickly noticed how repetitive the game became. The main issue I had was that each level felt the same. Regardless of whether I was inside the Statue of Liberty, deep underseas, or up in Asgard, I performed the same actions, fought similar enemies, and solved similar puzzles. Most puzzles were very simple. For example, some bricks would glow a certain colour, so I would need to perform a certain action to interact with them. Some options are character-specific, and it was fun to learn how to leverage the abilities of my characters. Unfortunately, I never needed to use my character’s abilities in novel or unique ways. I could rarely experiment with my own abilities.

Even though the abilities themselves were not dynamic the larger issue was that the various characters copied abilities from the game. Thus, two drastically different characters can share the same abilities, making them less interesting to experiment with. For example, Iron Man and The Human Torch have similar skillsets in this game, despite being wildly different in practice. While it makes the game accessible, it diminished the excitement I felt meeting a new character. Still, the characters were fun to explore with.

Familiar Faces

Unfortunately, featuring generic puzzles and characters was not the only issue with the game. I did not enjoy completing many of the puzzles. They never required much skill. Many of them simply require I selected the correct character and continuously press a button to complete an activity. I found this very unnecessary. I would have preferred to be able to go through the game without repeatedly pressing a button, as it was not difficult and did not add anything to my experience.

Even worse, this same mechanic is used in boss fights. I fought Magneto by throwing objects at him, which was innately fine but picking up the objects required that I press A repeatedly various times. I would have preferred picking up items immediately, as it would have made the game feel more realistic and action-packed.

Thankfully, normal enemy encounters were more enjoyable. Waves of foes would swarm me, and I would fight them off with the help of my allies. I had simple attacks to learn, and the enemies were not difficult to face, but it signified the power my characters had, and it was always fun to take out the foes. The enemies were not special, but they helped break up the monotony of tedious puzzles.

Plenty of Content

Where the game truly shines is in its longevity. There are so many things to do, objects to collect, and characters to unlock. Even after completing the story, there are countless side-quests, bonuses to search for in each level, and a variety of things to unlock. LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes could easily keep me occupied for a long time.

Plus, the game can be played cooperatively. I enjoyed playing in this mode, as I got to enjoy my friend’s company as I went on this journey. Since the puzzles are basic, it is easy to teach newcomers to the series. The multiplayer further bolsters this title with more content.

LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes is an expansive game, with plenty of content to explore. Unfortunately, many of these features fail to stand out, and though there is much to do, much of it will be repetitive and echo things already completed in the past. Still, if you are looking for a simple game to fill time, there are plenty of engaging things to do here. LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes offers a very relaxing experience, especially for collectors and Marvel™ fans.

Heroic Beats

To supplement the entire package, LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes features a lovely visual style. Each of the characters and all the environments are made of LEGO® bricks, yet they still look incredible. I got to explore a host of environments that looked like their inspiration even with the strict visual design. Moreover, the soundtrack was sufficient. It was heroic at points, calm at others, and put me in a good mental space for the ensuing activities. The atmosphere was sculpted nicely.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed my first LEGO® video game. Though LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes had some tedious puzzles and redundant character design, the game offers a lot of content and plenty of things to reward me for playing. The cutscenes were fun to watch too, and I did not need to know much about the superheroes to have a good time. Still, someone who was more passionate about Marvel™ may have an even better time than I did.

You can purchase LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes from the Nintendo eShop here