Marvel Super Heroes (video game)

Marvel Super Heroes (マーヴル・スーパーヒーローズ) is a fighting video game developed by Capcom. Originally released in the arcade in 1995 on the CPS-2 arcade system, it was ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in late 1997. The game, alongside Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, was also included in the Marvel vs. Capcom Origins collection, released digitally for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2012.

Marvel Super Heroes is loosely based on "The Infinity Gauntlet" storyline of the Marvel Universe. It is the second Capcom fighting game based on characters from the Marvel Comics line, following X-Men: Children of the Atom, and was later succeeded by the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

This game was dedicated to the memory of Jack Kirby, with character artwork based on his old designs.

Gameplay


Marvel Super Heroes is a fighting game in which superheroes and villains from the Marvel Universe fight against each other. The aim of the game is to use attacks and special abilities to knock out the opponent, or possess more life than him/her at the end of the round. Throughout the match, players build up a super meter which can be used to perform powerful Infinity Combo attacks. A unique mechanic in the game are the Infinity Gems; Power, Time, Space, Reality, Soul and Mind. These gems can be earned by obtaining them from opponents during arcade mode, or by fulfilling certain criteria during versus mode, such as getting the first hit. By using these gems in battle, fighters receive enhanced effects for a short amount of time, such as increased power or defense, health recovery or additional attacks. Certain fighters will receive extra benefits whilst using certain gems. For example, if Spider-Man uses the Power Gem, he can create a doppelganger on the opposite side of his opponent for extra damage during his attacks.

Plot
Loosely based on "The Infinity Gauntlet" storyline, the game focuses on heroes and villains battling each other for the Infinity Gems. The main antagonist is Thanos, who plots to use the Infinity Gems to take over the universe.

Fighters

 * Anita
 * Blackheart
 * Captain America
 * Doctor Doom
 * The Incredible Hulk
 * Iron Man
 * Juggernaut
 * Magneto
 * Psylocke
 * Shuma-Gorath
 * Spider-Man
 * Thanos
 * Wolverine


 * Notes
 * Unlockable boss character.
 * Hidden character in original Japanese version and unlockable in Origins port.

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 * Main characters
 * Blackheart is tall and somewhat slow, but he has powerful dark magic and demon-summoning attacks. His stage is Mephisto's Realm.
 * Captain America uses his shield for most of his attacks. His stage is a post-apocalyptic New York harbor with the Statue of Liberty partially submerged and ruined in the background.
 * Doctor Doom (sub-boss) takes great advantage of his armor's abilities and uses magical attacks as well. His armor grants him the ability to do beam and energy attacks. Doom also has the ability to fly with his jet packs. His stage is a submarine of his that starts out at the bottom of the sea and makes its way to the surface.
 * The Incredible Hulk (Based on the "Professor" persona) is a slow, but powerful character. His attacks involve the use of gamma energy and strength. His stage is a desolate carnival.
 * Iron Man uses energy attacks that include beams and blasts as well as explosives. He can also fly. His stage is the headquarters of his alter ego's company, Stark Industries.
 * Juggernaut, unlike his previous incarnation, is faster in this game but has lost much of his strength and invulnerability. However, he is still slower than the other characters, he usually ignores the first hit of any combo, and his attacks can still devastate the opponent. Like in X-Men: Children of the Atom, Juggernaut can still pick up objects from the ground that he can use against enemies. His stage is an American port.
 * Magneto is also much weaker in this incarnation than in X-Men: Children of the Atom. A number of his attacks that he had when he was a boss are either altered, downgraded, or removed. However, like Juggernaut, Magneto is still very powerful. He has a great amount of agility, and his attacks are mainly magnetic and energy-based. He can also fly. Magneto's stage is Asteroid M as it approaches the Sun.
 * Psylocke uses ninjutsu and telepathy ("psi-flash" projectiles, telepathic illusions, and psychic blade attacks) like her incarnation in the previous game. She is agile and her stage in this game is the top of a moving train in Tokyo.
 * Shuma-Gorath mainly uses magic attacks as well as attacks that take advantage of his unique shape. He can also absorb life energy from another character with one of his attacks. Shuma-Gorath's stage is his own domain, the chaos dimension. Shuma-Gorath's stage also has the distinction of having no walls once the small stage barrier is broken, preventing corner traps.
 * Spider-Man's attacks are based on his web abilities as well as his great amount of agility. His stage is on a scaffold that is going up and across the Daily Bugle infinite building.
 * Thanos (last boss, main antagonist) has a great number of attacks, mostly centered around the gems. While he can use his titanic strength to do normal attacks against opponents, he can use the gems to devastate them. Thanos can perform a super move for each of the six gems. He also has great agility, which is surprising for a character of his size. Thanos's stage is his shrine to Death where Drax the Destroyer, Nova, Thor, She-Hulk and the Scarlet Witch can be seen as frozen statues. Once Thanos is defeated by any of the superheroes, the statues are unfrozen and the heroes are saved. If any of the villains defeats Thanos, the ending screen will appear.
 * Wolverine also has a lot of agility. Like in X-Men: Children of the Atom, he has moves related to his powerful brawling and clawing skills. Wolverine's stage is a wooden bridge somewhere in Canada. The bridge is breakable and will float on the raging river below, going down until reaching a waterfall which the loser of the bout will fall into.

On the arcade version of the game, Dr. Doom or Thanos can be chosen via a code at the selection screen. However, if the game is completed with Thanos, Magneto's ending text will be displayed. Artwork unique to this ending suggests that a true ending for him was planned, but not completed. Thanos has a correct ending in the console ports.

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 * Anita (from the Darkstalkers series) appears as a hidden character in the Japanese version of the game. She appears to be unfinished, since she has no name under the lifebar, her name isn't announced at the end of rounds (though it is printed on the screen), she has Thanos' portrait, win screen, and win quotes, and she's called Thanos on the vs. screen. Furthermore, she has no ending. Instead, if the player beats the game with her, the credits will be shown twice. Her attacks are very incomplete. Most of them do not have audio, and one uses the sprite of Akuma from Super Street Fighter II Turbo. She also uses Dylec, the sword that Donovan uses, in her attacks. Since this game used a similar game engine as the aforementioned game, it is speculated that Anita might actually be a leftover from the game engine code. She gains her own portrait in the console versions. For the version of the game that appears in Marvel vs. Capcom Origins, she becomes a proper character who must be unlocked, even in the non-Japanese versions of the game.

Development
Capcom included the four characters from X-Men: Children of the Atom which their market research had determined to be the most popular: Wolverine, Juggernaut, Magneto and Psylocke.

The home conversions of the game were unveiled on the first day of the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo, with Stan Lee appearing at the booth. The Saturn version supports the 1 MB RAM expansion cartridge to include extra frames of animation and slightly quicker load times.

Reception
The arcade version received positive reviews. Computer and Video Games awarded it a full 5/5 rating. Despite scoring it only three out of five stars, Next Generation gave it a relentlessly positive review, saying it "blends loads of combo-powered attacks with liquid-smooth animation to contend with some of the best fighters out there." They were also pleased with the selection of Marvel characters and the 2D graphics, saying they make a "refreshing" change from the polygon-based fighters that by this time were dominating the fighting games market. Wizard opined that "with great graphics, challenging gameplay and plenty of moves, throws and counters, Marvel Super Heroes has much to offer."

Awarding it a 95%, Rich Leadbetter of Sega Saturn Magazine praised the Saturn conversion for retaining all the scenery effects of the arcade version, and commented that "Marvel Super Heroes makes 2D graphics cool again".

In 2013, Marvel Super Heroes ranked as the 16th best Marvel video game by Geek Magazine for its "chaotic, yet insanely fun, gameplay." That same year, Rich Knight and Gus Turner of Complex included it on their list of 25 best 2D fighting games of all time, stating that the gem-collecting "mechanic was a big difference-maker for the title and, as a result, the game still feels fresh today."