Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii, 2006)

The tacked-on motion controls and lack of online support take some of the shine off this otherwise dependable superhero adventure.

The Good: Huge, eclectic cast of Marvel heroes and villains; deep, yet largely optional character-customization system; great variety of environments.

The Bad: Wii controls feel clumsy and tiresome; graphics suffer from indistinct textures, nasty aliasing; only console version without online multiplayer.

Your starting lineup in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance consists of Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, but after a few levels playing with these heroes, you're given the option to create your own custom team. At first you'll have about 18 different heroes to choose from, and they represent a good cross-section of high-profile heroes and more obscure fan favorites. Old-schoolers like the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and several X-Men are there, as are a number of heroes who are likely unknown to those who don't keep up with comics, such as Moon Knight, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, and Deadpool. As you progress you'll run into other heroes such as Blade, Dr. Strange, Ghost Rider, and the Silver Surfer, who will in turn join the cause. Part of the fun of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is the sheer variety of places the game takes you. While the X-Men Legends games seemed stuck mostly in dungeonlike corridors and sewers and such, here you'll visit some of the most spectacular and mythical locations in the Marvel Universe, including Mephisto's Realm, Asgard, Mandarin's palace, the Skrull homeworld, and, finally, Dr. Doom's sinister Latverian castle. Many of the environments really do look as if they came straight out of a comic book.

If you can get past the clumsy controls, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is a well-made and accessible action RPG. It captures the essence of the Marvel universe, an incredible feat considering the breadth of the source material, though there are just enough omissions to easily justify a sequel. Still, its control problems are fundamental, and they definitely get in the way of what is otherwise a really solid experience.