Look, a decent review of Ultimate Alliance GBA!
This game is not so well received. It's been poorly reviewed. Now, get ready, because here's the shocker: I. LIKE. THIS. GAME!!!!!! I do! It's one of those games that...."all your other games are getting boring and you buy this one and it gets you playing again" game. But, enough snap talk, let's dive deep into my review of MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE for Game Boy Advance!
Along with my new Backlit GBA SP and Spider-Man 3 for GBA, I got this game brandy new and sealed. It, in my opinion, is really great looking on the SP. Before I begin, for real, let me do a small Pro/Con list, just like Gamespot.
PROS: *Graphics are advanced for the GBA *Handful of music tracks, but fun to listen to *10 playable characters and 6 Strikers * Lots of attacks and moves to use *You'll come across tons of other Marvel NPCs in the game * Is extremely faithful to the console versions *dialogue is a bit corny, but keeps the story together *Prestige system lets you build up your characters stats *12 levels *S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator offers for Replay value.
CONS: *Audio is a bit scratchy *Graphics are pixelated up close *Minor technical glitches *can be beaten in under 2 hours(there are 3 save slots though) *Only 5 enemy types(not including bosses) *Some enemies and bosses have insane health meters *Co-op would have added a lot to this game.
So, uh, I guess I'll start with the main story. Dr. Doom and his newly formed Masters of Evil are planning to take over the world. Big surprise. So, Head-of-S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury musters up all the supers he can find in an attempt to create an Ultimate Alliance that will defeat Doom.
The story is tied together by cutscenes which consist of a couple of characters standing there and some text on the bottom. Each is sort of fun to read as it ties the story together and leads to the next level. At times, however, there will be a smaller side-plot that gets you thinking but isn't returned to, kind of like when you drop an argument in a debate. So at the end, you'll be staring at the credits wondering what the heck happened! But, it's fun.
Now on to the graphics. The sprites are extremely advanced for the Game Boy Advance, and Barking Lizards made a nice use of their Whiptail engine to do it. The graphics are like 2.5-D. The running animations are really smooth for most characters, and so are most of the attacks. The environments are animated pretty well too. I admit, they are quite pixelated if you're playing it on a Game Boy Player(or another device allowing you to play it on a TV), but on the SP they're really good.
Fun Fact: Some of the dialogue in the console versions has been implanted into the GBA version. The story is identical as well!
Moving on to audio. There are 5 music tracks in the game, so they're re-used a lot in the levels. They could have put more in, but they are actually kind of fun to listen to. Like a lot of video game music, it's corny, but enjoyable. And another annoying thing is every time you hit an enemy, you get the same "DOH" sound from them. The same goes when they hit you, unless you're Elektra or Ms. Marvel, who obviously have different sounds because they're women.
Which brings me on to characters! Now, why would they call this game "Ultimate Alliance" if there really wasn't one, right! It may be a small portable version, but the characters are still just as fun to play. Right off the bat, you've got 8 playable characters and 2 Strikers, who you can call on in the heat of battle to wipe out all the foes onscreen. Here they are:
NORMAL: Spider-Man(who can indeed shoot his webz in this game), Wolverine, Iceman, Thor, Blade, Ms.Marvel(unlockable), The Thing(unlockable), Deadpool, Elektra and Captain America.
STRIKERS: Dr. Strange, Ghost Rider, (All of the following are unlockable), Namor, Jean Grey, Iron Man, and Silver Surfer.
So you've got a pretty hefty selection for a GBA version. And besides that, you'll encounter tons more characters who aren't playable, but are all part of the Marvel Universe. Even if you don't know a lot about Marvel, one character you know will pop up sooner or later.
Fun Fact: As Strikers, Namor and Jean Grey are exclusive to the GBA version!
So, let's chat about Basic Gameplay. Each level can take anywhere from 2 to 7 minutes on average. In the game, you have 5 enemy types: Brawler, Runner, Grabber, Gunner, and Magician. Each has different attacks. You go through 12 different levels and find items, kill these people, fight a boss at the end. And though it seems repetitive, it's actually really fun. You can switch between your 3 characters on the fly, but can only use 1 at a time. Each character has different attacks, like Cap throwing his shield or Iceman throwing his..ice, and Spider-Man with his webz. They all have different animations and do different things and damage.
Fun Fact: The "Atlantian Armored" enemy from the console versions is the Brawler in GBA version!
Second to last, we'll deal with the S.H.I.E.L.D. simulator. This has 4 minigames that you can do: Time Challenge, Boss Challenge, Scavenger Hunt, and Survival. I need not explain them since the title pretty much says it all. These give you prestige points and are necessary to unlock some characters(if you want to spoil it I have it posted in the cheats section).
And finally, Prestige. After each mission or simulator challenge, or when defeating an enemy, you get prestige points which can be used to upgrade attack, health, defense, energy and items. It makes it more of an RPG, and it's fun to build up your characters. Eventually, you're going to get to the point where your enemies will drop dead with one hit. But, I guess that's why this game has 3 save files.
I was kidding about finally. Here is the real final: the cons. First off, this game really would have been great with multiplayer. This is the only version of the game that doesn't have multiplayer, and it would have been better with some form of it. Second, the bosses can have really big health meters. One boss required me to eventually back him up into some stairs, with me at the other side, and punch him for 5 minutes because this guy would kill me in three hits anywhere else. The controls get stuck sometimes, and there's not a lot of ways to tell when you've been hit. Plus, the game is short and could have been longer.
But in the end, this is the kind of game I was looking for. It's fun, has tons of characters, and has a lot of replay value. If you are looking to get this game, please, please do your homework and find out about this game like I did. You either love it or hate it. Most hate it. But I found it an enjoyable experience, and with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the world's largest army of superheroes is under my control!