Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is the best Marvel superhero game ever created, period. The Xbox 360 title is conceptually similar to the previous two X-Men Legends game -- put four superheroes together in enclosed settings, switch off your brain and start mashing those buttons to unleash a dazzling firework display of mutant powers. But instead of the usual X-Men mutants, you get to select from a generous offering of 20 Marvel Universe characters. You get favorites such as Iron Man, Captain America and Spider-Man, or less mainstream characters including Luke Cage, Elektra and Ms Marvel. Even more impressive are the wide selection of enemies and other characters you will encounter. Goofball villians such as Mysterio, Tiger Shark and Asgardian god Balder also do cameos. Even Uatu the Watcher -- a big-headed alien who does nothing but observe the universe -- pops by for a while. Later, you get to meet the biggest baddies of them all -- Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds!
Indeed, the fun of this game is trying out as many characters as you can, and unlocking all their possible powers and costumes. There is nothing as nostalgic as controlling the 1970s Astonishing (yellow and black) version of Wolverine or the black-costumed version of Captain America. Put well-known heroes such as The Fantastic Four or The New Avengers in your team and you get extra fighting bonuses. The game is gorgeous too. No more cartoonish cel-shaded graphics found in previous games. The superheroes are now modelled in full 3D with fantastic detail and realistic movements. The only gripe you\'ll have with the game is the erractic game camera. The simplistic ways in which huge boss characters are brought down and the overly-detailed environments make it hard to discern who your superheroes are actually bashing. But really, stop reading and go buy this game now.
