Summary
He may not be the first Marvel superhero, butCaptain Americawas the hero who helped Timely Comics evolve into Marvel Comics back in the 1940s. Arguably, the Marvel Universe wouldn’t be what it is today without the creation ofCaptain America. While he wasn’t the first, he certainly led the charge for a popularity surge among The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the X-Men.
Since the 1990s, video game developers have honored Captain America’s legacy by making him a playable character in various games. These games include everything from arcade titles to high-budget action adventures, often featuring Captain America alongside other Marvel heroes as part of a diverse roster.
With Vision, Hawkeye, Iron Man, and Captain America as playable characters,Captain America And The Avengersprovidesa classic beam ‘em up experience. Up to four players can work together in a simple but addictive side-scrolling fighter in the same vein asFinal FightorTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles In Time.
Every hero inCaptain America And The Avengershas their own melee and ranged attacks, with Captain America’s, naturally, being his vibranium shield. The shield can also be used for defense, which is most helpful when playing solo.Captain America And The Avengerswas an arcade game designed to eat players’ money, so it has various difficulty spikes, especially when encountering the various villains.
Captain America is only one of dozens of superheroes to play as inLEGO Marvel Super Heroes. Even though it is a more family-friendly adventure with plenty of the signature LEGO humor, it is still a worthwhile Marvel game. From beginning to end, it feels like Traveller’s Tales respected the comics and created their own lived-in Marvel universe, with all the characters at their disposal.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroeswas also one of the first LEGO gamesto have a vast open world, with New York City being completely explorable. The many side quests, characters, and classic LEGO gameplay combined with a thrilling main story helped turnLEGO Marvel Super Heroesinto a modern classic.
DuringPhase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, every game got a video game tie-in and the results were poor. However, fans were surprised whenCaptain America: The First Avengergot a solid tie-in withCaptain America: Super Soldier, further expanding the exploits of the titular hero during World War 2, while also adapting events from the movie, with Chris Evans and other cast members from the movie reprising their roles.
In the early 2010s, many games attempted to copy theBatman: Arkhamcombat system, andCaptain America: Super Soldierdoes just that. The Star-Spangled Man With A Plan throws his shield, punches, kicks, and performs takedowns in an effective way to keep the gameplay fun. It even introduces new villains such as Madame Hydra, Iron Cross, and the Sleeper.
Where the first game stuck to a basic story about classic heroes fighting classic villains,LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2goes in a far more outlandish direction, but in a good way. With threats like Kang The Conqueror, there are more heroes and villains from across time and space to create an even more diverse roster,including The Guardians Of The Galaxyand Spider-Man 2099.
Although Captain America is not as prominent inLEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2, he still appears alongside various character variants. The game allows fans to explore New York City once again, offering even more activities and unique visuals due to the storyline events.
Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe,Marvel Ultimate Alliancewas the closest thing to a big-budget Marvel crossover fans got. With a legion of heroes to mix and match in a four-member task force, the player can create the team of their dreams and go crawling through different dungeons in the Marvel universeto stop the evil Doctor Doomfrom conquering it.
Many heroes can be chosen, but the base team inMarvel Ultimate Allianceconsists of Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, and Wolverine. They are seen in all the cinematics as they go from a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier to Asgard to other alien planets. In between missions, there are countless characters to interact with and learn about, immersing the player into a living Marvel world.
The first twoUltimate Alliancegames are nearly impossible to find or purchase due to the separation between Activision and Marvel. Fortunately,Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Ordercan still be found digitally and physically as an overlookedexclusive for the Nintendo Switch, introducing even more characters, including Spider-Gwen, Morbius, andThe Guardians Of The Galaxy.
The visuals inUltimate Alliance 3: The Black Orderblends inspiration from the comics and the movies together, but it is still the same dungeon-crawling experience. Players still select up to four characters to have on a team and face off against threats, which include the titular Black Order, Brotherhood Of Mutants, the Sinister Six, and much more.
While many agree that the hero shooter genre is oversaturated,Marvel Rivalseffectively cemented itself as one of the best. With an already large roster at launch,Marvel Rivalsportrays the many heroes and villains in a stylish and vibrant art style that mixes comic accuracy with the developers’ own twists and turns.
Captain America appearsinMarvel Rivalsas a vanguard, designed to charge in and absorb hits with his shield. The game features 6v6 gameplay with various objectives like pushing payloads and capturing points. Since its massively successful launch, it has maintained a dedicated player base, with more free characters on the way.
Captain America and Iron Man are at war with each other over the Superhuman Registration Act inMarvel Ultimate Alliance 2. The darker and more grounded sequel is an adaptation of theCivil Warcomic, with two factions battling each other and the developers took advantage of such a concept, with two different campaigns for Iron Man’s Pro-Registration and Captain America’s Anti-Registration.
Not only do the two campaigns allow forMarvel Ultimate Alliance 2to have more replay value, but certain characters are locked in their respective campaigns. Additionally,the superhero dungeon crawler gameplayfrom the first game is still present and expanded on, with new team-up abilities, thus incentivizing experimentation.
Marvel’s Midnight Sunsfeels like a throwback to classic Marvel games such asUltimate Alliance, where the developers just throw as many Marvel characters as possible into a story. However, Firaxis pulls it off by focusing on the supernatural side of Marvel,featuring an original storyabout a demon mother named Lilith trying to conquer the Earth.
The gameplay forMarvel’s Midnight Sunswas controversial when first revealed, mixing turn-based strategy akin to the developers' other franchise,XCOM, with deck-building. With additional RPG elements and a strong roster of characters with manageable relationships, Marvel’s Midnight Suns has quickly become a fan-favorite addition to the modern era of Marvel games.
