Minimum requirements • OS X 10.8.5 • 1.8 GHz processor • 4GB RAM, 7GB HD • 512MB VRAM

We used • 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 • 12GB RAM • Wireless keyboard/PS3 controller

Learn more… feralinteractive.com

Available from… store.feralinteractive.com

Price: £14.99/$20.99

If there were to be only one word to describe LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, it would be ‘fun’. Fun in big yellow block (ha!) capitals. As you might suspect, this gaming tie-in between two of the best loved children’s entertainment brands is a match made in heaven from the off. Like this year’s smash-hit movie proved, however, LEGO seems to have a humorous style capable of charming fans of all ages. The game then excels in the laughter stakes, punctuating a story mode with a slew of colourful cutscenes. Don’t be fooled, though – these breaks in often madcap bouts of action provide welcome breaks from a challenging proposition.

At its core LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is a puzzle game, guiding you through frequently perplexing levels bursting with energy. Characters from the Marvel universe, a whopping 150 in total, are introduced along the way to aid your quest with new abilities. The narrative throws favourites such as Hulk and Spiderman into a race to prevent Doctor Doom from assembling a villainous super- weapon. By reclaiming Cosmic Bricks, blown across Earth from Silver Surfer’s shattered surfboard, you’ll hopefully avert crisis. Suitably silly of course, but there’s real ingenuity in the plot for delivering satisfying cameos among a raft of iconic heroes. Unlocking each one pays dividends later on when the game unveils a brilliant open-world New York City, packed with collectables and mini- games. Zooming Tony Stark’s Iron Man through a surprisingly large Manhattan island is joyous.

The game’s visuals really breathe life into these environments and the rich detail is welcome. Maximise the video settings and it’s also nice to find no slow-down as you bash cartoonishly through waves of enemies. Sadly the game camera doesn’t always keep up or behave as you would hope, and most of the trickier moments stem from here. Couple this with oddly named gamepad controls outside Steam and these niggles can blight initial stages. Worth noting too that the general difficulty levels mean younger players will struggle to fathom necessary strategies. Crucially though, none of this matters enough to shift the grin LEGO Marvel Super Heroes slaps on your face. For pure good-natured enjoyment that doesn’t dumb down on skill, you won’t find many better than this – truly super!

Buy now?

Pros Perfectly balances charm and humour with tricky gameplay

Cons Minor camera and control foibles may annoy you

Verdict: