Captain America and the Avengers already existed for that NES– or Famicom system.
Captain America and the Avengers gameplay
Captain America and the Avengers is an action platform game where you can play as Captain America and Hawkeye. The game begins with cutscenes of the Mandarin attacking and capturing Iron Man and the Vision. Your main goal is to rescue the trapped pair of Avengers and stop the villains from taking over the world.
Captain America
You start the game as Captain America, but later have the option to switch between the two. Once you've completed a phase with a character that unlocks them, you have the option to switch between the two at any time. Each character has different skills, and you use all of them to advance in the game.
Save the Avenger
If you fall unconscious, the Avenger you control is "captured". Your other Avenger must attempt a rescue. Depending on when this happens, this can be a minor inconvenience or a major setback, as you have to go back between one and five levels to attempt the rescue. As such, it's important to manage your Avenger's health and switch between them as needed.
The upgrade system
Finally, the game has a character upgrade system that collects crystal power-ups. Each character has their own count, and whenever a character gains a hundred crystals, they gain more health, more damage, and their attacks change.
Captain America's moves and abilities
Captain America can throw his shield while standing. This will help you through enemies and platforms. Unfortunately, he can only throw it forward and not while jumping or crouching. He can also do this once - he must catch the shield before he can use it again. The Captain can block enemy fire. By default, he's shield up and ready to block from the front. He can also block some shots from above if you press the up button. The hitbox is small and some ammo types get through the shield, so this is not reliable. If you press down in the middle of a jump, his shield will flip down. This can protect the Captain from spikes and chemical hazards.
additional skills
Captain America can throw his shield and grab ledges that allow him to reach high areas. The Captain strikes while crouching or in the middle of a shield throw. In the air, Cap attacks with a flying kick that has a decent range. These aren't as strong as his shield and will put you within range of enemies, so you'll want to use his shield most of the time. the Captain has a dashing attack where he charges up the shield on enemies first. He can also use this to avoid some obstacles and dangers. Finally, the Captain has the ability to hold on to pipes or chains with his free arm. Some levels have areas that you can only access with Captain America. After the upgrade, Captain America's shield throw becomes stronger. Instead of just moving forward, the shield moves back once before returning to the Captain. This deals damage to enemies behind the Captain and is a great attack when surrounded on all sides.
Hawkeye's moves and abilities
Hawkeye's specialty is shooting arrows. Unlike Captain America, he can do this while standing, crouching, or in the air. He can also shoot straight up or diagonally up mid-jump. He can only shoot one arrow at a time, but these fly fast and Hawkeye can shoot another once the original arrow leaves the screen. On the ground, Hawkeye can strike if you need to attack immediately after shooting an arrow.
Hawkeye's movements
Hawkeye can shoot his arrows in a variety of ways. He commands a versatile but weaker attack. There are downsides to this versatility on offense. Hawkeye's arrows don't go through obstacles like walls, and they're much weaker than Captain America's shield. He also can't grab pipes, so there will be areas that aren't accessible with Hawkeye alone. Hawkeye's upgrade gives him explosive arrows that increase her damage. But his arrows are still weaker compared to Captain America's shield throwing attack at the same level.
Picture and sound
For an NES title, this game looked good. All the sprites are very detailed and I could easily identify them that represent real cartoon characters. The stages in the game look good, even if they were just general areas. It helped that the devs did a palette swap for some phases showing different times of the day. Despite the generic locations and some repetition, there's enough variety in the levels you explore. There are forests that are flat areas, urban areas that expand upwards, and indoor bases that expand all around. In terms of sound, Captain America and the Avengers is limited to a handful of background music. Sometimes they seem repetitive and tiring.
Passwords, difficulties and tips
The game lacks scores and a password system. Without a password system, it would be difficult for anyone to beat this game. Intermediate statuses can be saved via emulation. In terms of the game's difficulty, there are a few sequences that don't feel fair, particularly the one-hit-kill force fields scattered throughout the levels. Some of the later boss fights are really difficult. Between stages, Wasp will provide helpful gameplay tips or provide story narration to explain the next stage or mission. In the middle of the game, she starts to repeat herself and goes back to tips she had previously mentioned. It can get a little annoying as you have to beat this game in one sitting. So these wasp sequences only add to the delays.
Conclusion
Captain America and the Avengers is a solid game that has a few flaws. Its biggest flaw, the combination of high difficulty and lack of a password system, is mitigated when you play via emulation. It would be a good game to be included in game collections from Nintendo's NES online service since most collection releases have a save feature. Especially the "upgrade" system of the game is beneficial. Overall, the game gets a conditional recommendation.