If you were comic book fan in 1991 and wandered into an
arcade (which, having lost their appeal to both addicts tired of the stale
games and pedophiles who now used the Internet to troll, were slowly dying out
at that point), you may have become speechless upon catching sight of Captain America and the Avengers. For me, it was akin to discovering the
pillars of Atlantis. Why? Because you could sink your quarters in and
play as Vision, Iron Man or Hawkeye (and let’s not forget Captain America, but
I’ve never been a fan). Those were a few
of my favorite Avengers! What wasn’t to
love? Not only could you play as those
characters, but you would get assistance from the likes of Wasp and Wonder Man
as you fought villains like Whirlwind, Klaw, Ultron and the Grim Reaper. Was there anything to dislike about the
game?
Well, yes.
As games went, it was a simple side-scrolling basher with
little in the way of variation. Punching
things or attacking with your powers over and over didn’t matter when you were
Hawkeye, though. Or Vision. Or Iron Man.
(Again, screw Captain America.)
It could’ve been a cooking game where the object was to boil eggs and it
would have been fine because you were playing as those characters. Hell, if they threw in a playable Black
Panther, Hellcat or Scarlet Witch I would’ve stolen the damn game.
I used to play this game while waiting for my girlfriend to
get off work. It was housed in a
Redding, California mall, and it was the four player model. Sadly, it was neglected most of the time,
which was lucky for me, but did mean that its days were numbered. One day I went to play it only to find that
the machine was gone and nothing was in its place.
I haven’t seen it since those Redding days. I know it exists for consoles, but I doubt
the experience would be the same. I am
certain, however, that if this game had come along just five years earlier it
would have been a huge success that would still be talked about to this day. Instead, it is relegated to an empty memory
slot in most people’s brains. Comic book
games have grown since then. Some are
incredible. Others a step back in time
to the Atari 2600 days. This game, being
as mediocre as it was, barely registers as nostalgia for most, but for me it
was an oasis in the Hell that was Redding, and for that it will always be
remembered.
