Captain America and the Avengers^[a] is a beat ’em uparcade game developed and released by Data East in 1991. It features the Avengers team of Marvel Comics characters in a side-scrollingbrawling and shooting adventure to defeat the evil Red Skull. The game received ports for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and Game Gear. A different Data East game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Gameplay

The Red Skull has assembled an army of supervillains and other henchmen in a plot to take over the world. Along with battling generic enemies, players also face Klaw, the Living Laser, Whirlwind, a Sentinel, Wizard, the Grim Reaper, the Mandarin, Juggernaut, Ultron, The Controller, the assassin Crossbones and finally the Red Skull himself.

Players can choose to play as one of four members of the Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Vision. Each character can fight hand-to-hand, throw select items when on the ground, and use a ranged special attack, either a projectile weapon (Captain America’s shield and Hawkeye’s arrows) or an energy beam (Iron Man and Vision), known as that character’s “Avenger Attack”. During a jump, Captain America and Hawkeye can attack with a flying kick, while Iron Man and Vision instead attack by firing their energy beams at a 45 degree angle. Other Avengers, including the Wasp, Quicksilver, Wonder Man, and Namor the Sub-Mariner, appear when special power-ups are collected, allowing those characters to temporarily assist the players’ characters.

Most game levels feature side-scrolling fighting, with free movement as in traditional arcade brawlers. Occasionally, players take flight for side-scrolling flying & shooting sequences; Iron Man and Vision fly on their own, while Captain America and Hawkeye use flying machines.