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The Avengers is set for release in theaters on May 4th and fans couldn’t be more excited. Now, usually with a property like this, a video game is right around the corner, right? Evidently, not this round and I’m sure many are glad that some slap-dashed, crappy game wasn’t made revolving around the new movie. Sure, there was the cancelled project that was leaked a few months back but personally, I’m glad it was canned as an FPS style superhero game is…well, awkward. However, let’s go back in time for a moment.

Back in 1991, Data East developed a game called Captain America and the Avengers for the Arcade and brought it to the SEGA Genesis in 1992, followed by the SNES and Game Gear versions in 1993. The NES version was also released around that time but it was nothing like the original. Rather, it was a side-scrolling action game that was actually quite good. Ok, back to the original beat-em-up version. I fondly remember playing the SEGA Genesis version constantly with my brother, who’s a huge comic book fanatic, and enjoying the hell out of this game. You were able to choose from Captain America, Vision, Iron Man and Hawkeye, all of which had specific attacks that pertained to their traits. You had your basic attack and jump button, along with a projectile attack at your disposal.

Recently, my brother and I booted the game up again for old times sake and have to say, while some of it is laughable, the game is still badass! The character cameos were pretty cool, especially when you went up against the Sentinel. The sprites replicated the characters pretty well and the animations were ok, especially considering it was a release for the SEGA Genesis back in 1991. Even the soundtrack was still as catchy now as it was when I played it years ago. Back then though, it wasn’t about drooling over the visuals and muttering “…so real…” to how it looked. Back then, it was all about challenging gameplay and having fun.

So now, here’s the question. With the Avengers movie releasing in a matter of hours (if not already based on when you read this), where is our HD version of this game? We’ve seen HD versions of X-Men and the Simpsons Arcade Game, granted both were made by Konami, not Data East. However, since there was no game tie-in to the upcoming movie, why not just have an HD version remastered with online play for the PSN and XBLA?

What do you guys think? Should Captain America and the Avengers get re-released via PSN/XBLA?

Did you play Captain America and the Avengers back in the day? Sound off in the comments below!