When I got off work early to wait in line for the Xbox One last November, I wasn’t nearly as excited as my boyfriend was. The games on my shopping list were Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Ryse, and Dead Rising. Let’s just say there is a reason I won’t be writing about the latter two games (although there is some hilarious protest on Reddit regarding Dead Rising’s lack of playable women characters).

Lego Marvel Super Heroes, on the other hand, was light hearted, inclusive fun that kept me coming back for more even when we’d completed the story mode. The list of playable women characters is outstanding (albeit there are still more men than women) and out-stripes pretty much every other game on the market. Moreover, the evil disposable lackeys were a mix of men and women. Here is a mostly complete list of the women characters:

(parentheses indicate that character has more than one outfit)

Amelia Voght red haired female acolyte

Aunt May

Black Cat

Black Widow

Elektra

Emma Frost

Gamora

Gwen Stacy

Invisible Woman (Future Foundation)

Jane Foster DLC

Jean Grey (Phoenix, Dark Phoenix in DLC)

Lady Deathstrike

Lady Liberty

Madame Hydra

Magneto Acolyte

Maria Hill

Mary Jane Watson

Ms. Marvel

Nance Winters black haired female acolyte

Mystique

Pepper Potts (Rescue)

Polaris

Psylocke

Scanner blonde haired female acolyte

She-Hulk

Spider Woman

Squirrel Girl

Storm

Wasp

Honestly, my favorite characters to play with are Galactus and Squirrel Girl. This game was my first introduction to the character of Squirrel Girl and I fell instantly in love, so naturally I am excited that Marvel recently announced The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl comic. Galactus is actually a dude (hence not on the list), and the sound of his laser attack is really satisfying.

But why, oh why isn’t Rogue on this list of characters? She is my favorite all-time super heroine and I was disappointed by that.

Speaking of disappointment, the game does need work on a few areas. The biggest one is how they animated the stance and movement of the superheroines and supervillainesses. Take for instance, Jean Grey’s resting stance:

Yes, one leg is wrapped precariously around the other one like some half-assed ballet move. Either that or she needs to use the restroom constantly. Each superheroine has some similar leg splayed and/or hippy stance that is supposed to accentuate… the non existent curves of Lego figures? I honestly don’t know what they were thinking. The running and walking movements of the superheroines have also been made “hippier” than the men. Sure, men and women run differently in real life, but these are LEGOS. Their bodies are all functionally the same! This is not reality!

Another hangup was one of the side missions called “Tabloid Tidy Up”. The mission itself is fine, but it’s the commentary afterwards that had me pulling my hair and thinking “How did this end up in the final version?!”

Doc or Coleson (I couldn’t tell which) : “Boy I never thought we’d get that dried cat food off the ceiling, but hey you could eat your dinner off that floor now.” Daily Poodle tabloid editor: “Great job ladies! I take back everything I printed about you. Doc and Coleson, I like you. You can marry my sister….”

I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

Despite these downfalls, the majority of the game is fun and there are lots of options to mix and match superpeople and supervillainpeople together on ridiculous missions and side missions. The city is filled with opportunities to utilize the unique powers of the different characters and is a lot of fun to explore. My fiance and I have spent many afternoons carefully finding every mission to unlock the next character, and we still haven’t done them all.

Have you played Lego Marvel Super Heroes yet? Share your thoughts below

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