Avengers In Galactic Storm

I was checking out a list of arcade games a few months back and discovered this little ditty: Avengers In Galactic Storm from Data East. The game was released in 1995 and it’s soooo obvious because (get this) the playable characters are: Captain America, Black Knight, Thunderstrike, and Crystal. Um… Yep. The 90s were a bad time for everyone, especially comics and especially the Avengers as this motley crew is straight outta the brown bomber jacket era of the Avengers. Black Knight, Thunderstrike, and Crystal bring me visions of foil-stamped covers. *shudders*

So the game is a 3D fighting game. And the graphics are really bad. Well, maybe they were okay for 1995, but I still say they’re pretty laughable. The game just looks cheaps and I can’t imagine it was any kind of hit because I don’t even remember it from my days at the Dream Machine arcade. Perhaps if it was a little bit better and successful, Data East would still be in business and we’d be getting the latest installment of Avengers vs. Fighter’s History on the 360 and PS3. Anyway, there’s the Versus Mode and the Story Mode, loosely based the Operation: Galactic Storm story from the comics, so we’re stuck fighting people like Dr. Minerva and Korath.

I’m perplexed as to who pitched an Operation: Galactic Storm game. You’re going to use *these* Avengers and base a fighting game on Operation: Galactic Storm? Really? First off, if you’re going to make an Avengers game, don’t base it off a storyline where all the characters involved suck. Data East should’ve given us the classic Avengers by taking a page from their 1991 side-scroller beat’em Captain American and the Avengers. To rub more salt in the wound by having to play as Avengers b-listers, Avengers mainstays such as Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man/Goliath/Ant-Man/Yellowjacket, and Vision *do* appear, but only as back-up that you can only call in for a special attack once you’re powered up enough. How’bout just making the brown bomber brigade the assist characters? And where the flip is Hawkeye ?! Where are villains like Red Skull, Dr. Doom, Kang or the Masters of Evil?



Mm hm.



Vision stands, er… floats proud while a victorious Thunderstrikes strikes a pose above the fallen Cap.



One of the games greatest moments– Giant-Man lends a hand!

The final verdict? Just stick with Captain America and the Avengers.