All Superman game jokes aside, it’s a difficult proposition to bring a storied comic book hero to digital life, let alone an entire group of them. With each superhero’s fan following, there’s just too little room for error. That’s what’s so intriguing about Midway’s recent Justice League: Injustice for All: not only does it attempt to capture the antics of classic DC villains, it also tries to recreate the entire Justice League, from Superman and Green Lantern to Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. Miss a single step, and the game would basically be committing digital hari cari.
In most respects, the game succeeds: the heroes resemble their comic-book counterparts, the villains are appropriate for each character, and the in-game “exposition” does a good job of re-creating a comic book story, all the way down to the choice of font. It’s a shame, then, that with all these pluses the game fails in the sound and gameplay variety departments, the latter of which is particularly important for a superhero game. With a little more variety in both categories, this game could’ve been really quite special.
Gameplay
Justice League recreates a classic tale of super villains, led of course by Lex Luthor, who are using technological gadgets to control citizens’ minds in a diabolical scheme to achieve world domination. You know, your standard villainous fare. Consequently, you take control of every member of the Justice League to face off against the comics’ most storied “bosses.”
In each of the game’s 12 levels, which range from the urban center of Metropolis to volcanic underground lairs, you have the opportunity to play as two members of the Justice League. This feature requires in several cases that you employ a little strategy, which on paper would seem to deepen the gameplay.
For example, in at least one scenario you’ll benefit by having Batman around to execute wall-jumps in order to reach otherwise unattainable bonuses (energy powerups, coins, extra lives, etc.). When you want to switch between characters, simply press the Select button, and the new superhero comes along.
The rest of the game’s controls are equally simple: the D-pad moves your character, the L button uses a special move, the R button lets your character fly (if he or she is able), the A button jumps, and the B button does a simple attack when pressed once, a combo attack when pressed twice and a massive charged attack when held down.
Unfortunately, though, despite the ability to change characters and use what sounds like a good variety of attacks, the actual handling and attacks for each character are virtually identical, which means that if the game had been a Superman-only game, you’d never have known the difference.
You’d also not notice that each stage’s boss is different if it weren’t for the new outfit. Each one has a unique attack, and some can even fly, but once you learn a boss’ pattern (it’ll take all of 10 seconds) you can make relatively quick work of each one. They all also share a common vulnerability pattern (if he does not blink, you must go hit), which seriously detracts from the gameplay challenge. In all, you’ll probably be able to beat the game in a good three to four hours, max.
Graphics
Justice League is a GameBoy Advance game, but even for GBA standards, the overall graphics for the game are iffy. The backgrounds are overly simplistic, the buildings look rather flat and the palette could’ve used an extra color from time to time. The bright spot in the environments, though, is that the relative movement of distant objects in the background is spot on each time the object pans across the screen.
Where the environments are sketchy, though, the characters excel. Not only do capes flap in the wind and individual costume logos appear where they should, but the effects associated with charging up an attack or using a special move have an iridescent quality to them that seems beyond the graphical nuances in many GBA games.
Sound
Clearly the biggest non-gameplay disappointment, sound in Justice League is virtually absent save for the game’s grating soundtrack. All dialogue is delivered by on-screen text, the only voice is the occasional grunt when getting hit, and no special move has an associated sound effect. If the sound effects had taken a hit to allow for some extra time on the environmental graphics, I could accept the poor audio. Unfortunately, it’s just poor audio.
Replayability
This isn’t the type of game you’re likely to pick up after beating it. It’s not that the game’s overly bad, it’s that the superheroes at your disposal for each level are predetermined, and the order in which you play levels is relatively determined as well. Combine that with no connectivity to another GBA for multiplayer battles, and you get a game with relatively limited shelf life.
Overall
Justice League is a fine game for GBA owners who happen to be DC fans, and it ultimately does a good job of recreating the feel of an old-school comic book. Yet when you couple that with the amazing absence of any gameplay variety and a soundtrack most enjoyed when muted, Justice League is little more than a good introduction or nice refresher course for the DC world.
See more screens at the Justice League: Injustice for All web site
