By Marigold K.
So the first video game system I ever really got to have and get new games for was the PlayStation 2, and one of the best video games I ever got for it was an action role-playing game (though it was more of a beat-'em up if you ask me) based in the universe of a major comic book company's super heroes, that took me through a fun and engaging story starring all my favorite super heroes from my childhood.
That game was Marvel Ultimate Alliance - a game which met so much success that DC Comics must have taken a look at it and said to itself "I want some of that!" And so, Justice League Heroes happened.
Hilarious opening jokes aside, Justice League Heroes wasn't anything less than a fine game, all things considered! Sure, there's nothing it does that Marvel Ultimate Alliance doesn't do better, but it's not a bad game. It's at least an above-average effort from DC Comics and Snowblind Studios, and I'm certain I'm not the game's only fan - it did much too right for that not to be true.
I loved how they included every character from the then-still-airing cartoon show Justice League (pre-unlimited, but let's not try and keep up with Unlimited's cast of heroes), I loved the unlockable characters, I loved the bosses, I loved the voice actors ("Ron Perlman as Batman" is an unusual sentence, but we are all lucky to be in the universe where this happened), and the game overall was solid! I would say it's still one of the better DC Comics video games out there--although those are less rare with the Arkham games out now.
One of the main things that drew me to it was that I was (and, to an extent, still am) a DC Comics girl. I grew up with the Batman and Superman and aforementioned Justice League Animated Series', and, despite my dad's best efforts to get me into Marvel through his expansive backlog of comic books, it just clicked with me more than Marvel did! So, like, Justice League Heroes has sort of an edge over Marvel Ultimate Alliance, for me, at least.
On top of all of that, there's support for two-player! That means I got to play with my DC-loving sisters with this game! So awesome! It's so fun, getting to decide who gets to play as who, pretending to be the characters, just having a good, fun time with the game. I've already played through this whole entire game dozens of times with my little sister, it was a blast each time, and it's so great having a game like this with her and all.
Oh, and we play on the Xbox 360 with the original Xbox copy we got later. This only adds to the fun, as we get to spot and point out each and every graphical error that comes as a result of the faulty emulation that Microsoft put in and left for the Xbox 360, and it's awesome 'cause it'll never get fixed so it'll last forever! Anyone else who has this setup, I have this to offer: try on the toga outfit for Wonder Woman. You will see the greatest thing ever.
Overall, even though this is a flawed game, I still love it to pieces. It's got its moments of badness, but it's got a lot of great moments too! Especially once you get to the parts where you get to choose your hero! It's awesome, I love it, and I actually do prefer it over Marvel Ultimate Alliance, even though the latter is technically more well-made.
Let me know in the comments below if you ever got to play this game, please! Who do you like to play as? Do you prefer DC Comics or Marvel? Do you prefer Marvel Ultimate Alliance? Have you seen the amazing Toga glitch? Let your voice be heard!... I dunno what else to put here, the Justice League don't really have a main catchphrase...
Justice.