Already you are probably thinking ‘uh oh’ when you saw that this was a film tie in game; well get those thoughts out of your head! Captain America: Super Soldier on the 3DS is only a tie in by name and license, luckily it doesn’t bother to create set pieces that ape the film. What it does do however is create a game thats rather good fun to play from start to finish.

Unsurprisingly the plot contains all the American bravado that Sega can throw your way, it does get slightly annoying but then you remember its a Marvel comic about how great the US is, so you forgive it somewhat. Its stereotyping of the Germans also becomes irritating, but once again you forgive it because of its context. Still, there are enough ‘Baron von’s’ and faux accents about the place to set up a theme park in the castle that the story unfolds in. Tasked with making sure the Hydra forces are not mass producing weapons that could be used in the war, you are sent in to destroy and defile that castle’s innards. It’s not the smartest of story lines but it is by no means the worst, it fits in well with the Marvel cannon and even features a cameo from Tony Stark’s father, Howard Stark.

As with many 3DS titles the first thing you notice will be the 3D effect. In CA:SS this is no different, the 3D visuals are sharp and graphically the title is rather impressive. Textures are rather nice to look at, and apart from the muddy trenches of the first level, there appear to be few instances where they are smeared or blurred browns. It’s really a rather pretty game to play through, and the 3D effect has very little ghosting going on so it shouldn’t be a struggle to look at; although if it does cause you trouble it’s still a very nice game to play with the 3D switched off too.

The 3D however good it is does seem rather unnecessary though. Gameplay is broken down into combat and, essentially, puzzle solving by throwing yourself around a room and pulling some levers. The puzzle side of this action game isn’t so bad; there is little there to challenge a seasoned game player other than making sure you have timed your jumps correctly. The combat side of the game is very reminiscent of a certain DC vigilante game made by RockSteady, although it isn’t quite as polished. With only one attack button, and then a mixture of counter and shield throw, you can jump around and take enemies out with combos and by jumping off platforms to give your moves some extra bite. It is satisfying enough to play but it does feel somewhat limited, this is only made worse when you see Captain America gliding across the floor to his next opponent mid kick.

The game also has some rather welcome ‘Zola Challenges’ interspersed throughout its lengthy 9 levels. These challenges can take the form of target practice, token collecting or fighting challenges, they really do break the story based gameplay up nicely as well as providing a reason to come back to past levels. Completing them unlocks you some artwork as well as granting you experience points. You can also get some concept art from saving lost PoW’s and destroying Red Skull Bombs that are hidden through the levels. Again this serves as a reason enough to go back and replay past levels if you are a perfectionist; at the end of each level a stat’s screen comes up just to entice you to go find those missed items even more. In terms of experience points you gain from doing these challenges, or defeating enemies, they will go towards giving you more combo moves, more shield moves and more health. They generally just make things a little easier for you and pump up the Captain.

The game does have its problems though. Camera angles are a pain when moving around the closed environments, with no clear way to manoeuvre it back into place easily, you regularly end up fighting enemies you can’t see. It does also suffer from instances of slowdown when lots of explosions are on the screen or enemies, this is partially due to the fact that the only loading screens appear to be between levels, so its generating the level whilst you play. A very minor point is the character voice overs, although the audio of the game is fantastic, and for the most part the voice overs are fine, it begins to become annoying when fighting or puzzle solving. The Captain will point out the blatantly obvious many times, which can be an irritating distraction from what is going on. God knows why he feels the need to talk out loud to himself, but maybe its that serum doing funny things to his head.

As far as movie tie-ins go, this is on the better end of the spectrum. Its enjoyable to play though as a game in itself, and if you loved the film then this will be a welcome accompaniment. It’s clear that this title isn’t aimed at your Battlefield and Call of Duty loving 18 year old, but for a younger audience this is a really stand out title amongst other movie related games on the DS and 3DS.

Final Score: 3/5