LEGO Marvel Avengers (Nintendo 3DS) Review

By Drew Hurley 22.08.2016

Review for LEGO Marvel Avengers on Nintendo 3DS

When Cubed3 checked out the full console release of LEGO Marvel Avengers everyone was blown away, since it seemed to have reached the pinnacle of the LEGO titles. So far, however, the handheld versions of the franchise have rarely lived up to their console counterparts, by usually being heavily cut down and lacking the performance of the "full" version. With such a solid base product, though, even a cut-down version holds promise. Could this be the first handheld LEGO title to be almost as good as its console cousin?

Being a LEGO title, the gameplay and mechanics are much the same as they have always been. Smash up the enemies and environments across each of the stages, building various LEGO creations to solve puzzles along the way. Each level comes with extra objectives that often require returning to previous locations in "free play" mode to complete. These mechanics have served the series well for many years and the old adage of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" has been quite apt.

The full content of the console version was never going to make it to the 3DS, because, not only does it have a considerable amount of stages but it was also home to massive open world hub zones - it's just too big to fit on such a handheld's cart. This, instead, decides to focus on the levels based around the two Avengers movies and some of the Manhattan hub area. This equates to around five hours, yet there are also the numerous collectables, unlockable characters, and the illustrious 100% to aim for, and even though there is less of each than in the console counterpart, it still adds considerable time to the lifespan.

Screenshot for LEGO Marvel Avengers on Nintendo 3DS

The main story stages manage to capture the same addictive and fun gameplay that has become a consistent aspect of TT's LEGO titles, and there's enough originality to set this apart from the original version too. It would be fine if these stages made up all of the game, but there are occasionally extra small stages slipped in which tend to make little sense and are lots less fun. These stages are usually in a small room assembling something simple or following a set path and are frankly dull. This, combined with the annoying load times and excessive cut-scenes, heavily impacts the end product.

From a presentation point of view, this also suffers from numerous flaws. The graphics don't look too bad within stages, but they do look severely dated in the open world environments, especially with the horrendous draw distances and pop in - not to mention that the framerate suffers from almost constant stuttering and issues throughout. The soundtrack is decent enough, but the voice acting - or lack thereof - is a different matter entirely, because while the console version had some original voice acting from Marvel cast alumni, this version relies on audio snippets pulled from the movies... an age old problem area for LEGO titles that rarely hits the mark.

The Manhattan area may be a pale imitation of the full version, with a much smaller area, less of a living presence in the world, and much fewer side-quests and extra missions to take on. It's impressive none the less, after all this the first of the LEGO titles to include open-world elements on the 3DS. There are races to play through, gold Loki statues to track down and destroy, even mini side missions unique to the 3DS version which need to be completed with unlockable characters. It's somewhat of a saving grace for this version.

Screenshot for LEGO Marvel Avengers on Nintendo 3DS

Cubed3 Rating

6/10
Rated 6 out of 10

Good

LEGO Marvel Avengers for the 3DS is another lacklustre conversion of a superb LEGO game. Hopefully, the rumoured NX hardware will finally give gamers the opportunity to experience the full package on a handheld. To be fair, it's not all bad, and, yes, there are some great stages, and the game is stuffed to bursting with the series signature humour and style. The low price tag helps, but overall this just feels forgettable.

Developer

TT

Publisher

Warner Bros.

Genre

Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  6/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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