Lego Marvel Superheroes
The best of the Marvel bunch by far. It was like a big love letter to all things Marvel, and to New York City. It came out in 2012, during the early stages of the MCU, so it included some tidbits of what was in the films but felt nothing like an extension of that world. It had the most comprehensive roster of characters from the X-Men to the Fantastic Four to the Avengers and took you through all the big companies in Marvel world – Roxxon, OsCorp, Stark Technologies. And the villains spanned from Dr Doom to Spider-Man’s rogues gallery to Magneto and the Evil Mutants all the way to Galactus and Loki.
And once you were done with the story you could explore New York City in an open world mode and unlock everyone from the Guardians of the Galaxy to Nova to the Inhumans all the way to Deadpool. It was lots of fun with an original story and script for the main story and the side missions. It was easy to get lost in this one for hours at a time it was that fun. I’d put this only behind Lego Batman 3 for superhero Lego video games.
The only drawbacks in hindsight are that there weren’t any side quests on other planets than Earth. While Asgard and Asteroid M did show up as levels in the main story it would have been nice to see a few more places, too. But other than that this was an excellent game and a fun time to be had by all.
That would lead to the next game….
Lego Marvel Avengers
And here is when you knew the corporate overlords were in charge. Instead of Marvel Super Heroes 2 we got this MCU based sequel with 15 levels based mainly on the first two Avengers films with some parts of the solo movies from Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. But that wasn’t the only thing that had gotten revamped to fit the new corporate mission. The game roster was cleaved in half with all things X-Men and Fantastic Four related taken out. Even Spider-Man was relegated to a late addition DLC character. Yuck. This was around the time that any characters who weren’t usable in movies by Marvel Studios were being marginalized in other media as well, much to all of our chagrin. The big New York City open world was changed too, made smaller so that a universe of smaller worlds for side missions could be added.
Was the game good? Sure. On it’s own it was a good time. Running through the MCU scenes and using your film knowledge to help you navigate it was fun. But it sucked not having the full Marvel roster available, and so was being reduced to going through the motions of a story mode that was nothing more than a play through accessory for the related films. The magic just wasn’t there like it was in the first game. The best way I can sum it up is this: playing the game made me want to just watch one of the movies instead.
And now, we reach the final chapter:
Lego Marvel Superheroes 2
They went back to an original story this time, where Kang the Conqueror was trying to take over the Earth, which he’d turned into a mashup of different realms that resembled the Battleworld from the old Marvel Secret Wars comics. The levels were all original creations ripped from some old comic stories, no rehashing of MCU film or TV this time. The playable characters dug deep into the Marvel lineup with all sorts of obscure names that only the most diehard of Marvel fans would know, and brought in the full slate of Spider-Man related heroes and villains, but was still missing everyone from the corners where the Fantastic Four and the X-Men dwell.
So how was it to play? Overall it was good but it wasn’t as fun as the first one. The lack of a continuous story between each game hurt here as well. By contrast the Lego Batman games each built on the previous edition to a big culmination in Lego Batman 3. Here it felt like you were starting from scratch all over, and not in a good way. And even though it’s a goofy Lego game, this one feels like you need a deep knowledge of Marvel lore to get it all. It feels more like work to finish than a game sometimes.
Marvel isn’t Marvel without the X-Men and Fantastic Four. They can add all the bells and whistles they want but it doesn’t make up for not having those guys and gals to play with.
Final Verdict
The first game is the best of the bunch. It’s the most fun, has the best representation of the Marvel characters, and has a good script. It’s also the easiest to play and master. The other two are not bad games but just don’t have the same spirit as the first one, and aren’t as repayable. The three pack is available now so if you want that one, no problem. But if you can only get one, get the first one.
Stroke of Genius 