Xbox Hardware & Games

Video: 3
Audio: 4
Gameplay: 3

As you might guess from the conglomeration of characters on the front of the box, Marvel Nemesis is essentially a fighting game pitting modern versions of Marvel's classic heroes against one another, in addition to a pack of new EA creations, the Imperfects. Battle a friend two-player style, team up in Versus mode, or fight single-player through the refreshingly interesting narrative (written by comic-book biggie Mark Millar) to progressively unlock new characters, environments, videos, and more. And here is where my initial frustration began: The game does contain an incredible array of combatants, but too many must be earned and unlocked before becoming playable. The intermittent boss battles are indeed more complex and more demanding, requiring more thought and effort than the many skirmishes with nameless alien critters. Individual powers and fighting styles could have been better differentiated though, to the point that some match-ups seem almost generic (i.e., he's the stronger one, he's more of a scrapper, and so on). Still, I almost wonder why EA went to the trouble of creating so many original characters to fight, some of whom border on the bizarre. I also found the camera angles to be less than ideal in several instances, and I was not always certain what my next objective was in a given arena. Further, the push to load the locales with usable objects left some levels downright cluttered.

Even at the available 480p on Xbox, many edges display an unwelcome stairstepping effect, with many small touches lacking believable detail, even in the cut scenes, which are otherwise quite entertaining. Lighting effects, as when the unevenly rock-covered Thing moves in and out of eerie green glows, are excellent. The game also features many dark scenes, interiors and exteriors, so you will want to make sure that your TV is adjusted accordingly. Graphically, I would rate the Xbox version just ahead of GameCube one, both besting PlayStation 2 version. Xbox's Dolby Digital 5.1 delivers a pleasing fullness to the sound, both in clarity and in punch, as fighters scramble all around, with intermittent crashes and beefy explosions too. GameCube and PlayStation 2 offer less impressive but still effective Dolby Pro Logic II.

As a simple fighting game however, Marvel Nemesis does translate well to the smaller-scale platforms. On PSP, the graphics still kick butt, and the game offers exclusive characters, arenas, upgrades, and a single-player campaign. Over on Nintendo DS, with its further exclusive arenas, the heroes and their world take on a more kid-friendly look, and players can go head-to-head wirelessly. And that's really the greatest strength of Nemesis-the chance to pit Marvel legends against one another, or the occasional new freak.