Luke wrote:Ack, I gotta say that beating Cap&The Avengers is quite the feat. That game is relentless and as difficult as most of the games on my list. Beating it in single player mode is a chore and so much more difficult without a pal to play with you. And there are limited continues (like the Gen port) right?
Kudos. That's a beast of a game to beat.
That's right, there are five continues, fewer than the Gen port. But there are some tricks to learn to help with things:
First, learn the proper positioning for the shmup sections makes stages 2 and 3 significantly easier. And these sections include powerups which increase health or enable the Wasp to show up. Note that Vision and Iron Man flying have the same size hit box as Captain America and Hawkeye on speeders.
Second, learning the differences between characters' moves can mean the difference between getting a pounding and beating the game. Here are some examples:
Captain America's shield returns, and it travels much faster than the other characters' projectiles. It was because of this that I ended up favoring him the most.
Iron Man and Vision can effectively float while raining down laser blasts if you tap the button right. While Hawkeye and Cap can jumpkick to avoid danger, it's also more likely that they will get caught on the way down by one of the relentless enemies.
Control wise, Vision felt the most sluggish. It may just be a personal thing about wanting to play as other characters, but I liked playing him the least.
Third, enemy types are actually very limited, and once you understand how to defeat them, they are considerably easier. Here's a brief breakdown:
Gun Robots - shoot in a pattern. Avoid being horizontal to them and don't jump in front of them. They enter an animation before shooting, so you can easily dodge when you see it.
Shield Robots - slow. Don't bother with projectiles, just walk through them vertically while punching to take them out.
Frog Robots - Dangerous when close but also slow. Hit them with a projectile once when they hop, and you should KO them.
Gorilla Robots - Tends to favor horizontal charges. Do NOT go near them, but take them out with projectile attacks from afar. The weaker variety should go down in one or two hits, but the harder variety will take some dodging. And when I said do NOT go near them, I MEAN IT. They will grab you almost 100% of the time.
Robot Soldiers - The biggest problem with the game is that the standard footsoldier is really tough. But if you can get them to clump, you can easily jumpkick them to death or pop a few with projectiles for a couple of hits to wear them down. Don't bother trying to punch these guys, because they'll inevitably hit you back.
Fourth, watch out for terrain with varying height. You can and will occasionally bump into a lip and realize it just in time to take a mechanical fist to the face. And throwing objects? Forget them. They waste time lifting and using, and they have very specific ranges. Work around them.
After that, learn the bossfights. Certain bosses have obvious patterns(such as the Sentinel, Whirlwind, the Grim Reaper, and the first form of Red Skull). Most can(and must) be jumped over at some point in their pattern. As for some of the other bosses...well, truth be told, I know who they are supposed to be and still can't figure out who is who. Juggernaut is absurdly tough, just run like Hell. And if Mandarin is the boss I think he is, good luck. That fight is brutal, and I hate it. Once you get to Red Skull, be happy: he has two forms, but the first is a cakewalk and can easily be done without taking damage as long as you pay attention to his tells. The second form, you must jump to hit, and he will catch you in this web-crap that holds you in place, but if you spam buttons, you can get out without him hitting you. He's a cheap bastard though.
Oh, and finally, one last thing: if and when you beat this game, you will NEVER want to play it again.
