I’ve got a bonus review for you this week! It’s giving me an excuse to stay in the 16-bit era for just a little longer. But hey, it does have Batman in it…
Justice League Task Force was developed by Blizzard and distributed by Acclaim in 1995 for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. It’s a 2D fighting game, in the fashion of Street Fighter II with animated-type sprites, but sadly it’s not nearly as revered, though with the success of Injustice and word of the sequel confirmed, the concept was clearly a good one.
The roster comes straight out of the 1990s with no apology — mullet Superman, mullet Aquaman (pre-hook hand), Seattle-based Green Arrow, and so on. You get to fight JLA bad guy alumni like Darkseid, nekkid Cheetah, pants-wearing Despero, and evil robot JLAers.
The sprites are pretty great looking, in my opinion, and have been a source for MUGEN builders for years. A little cartoony, they are definitely more Street Fighter than Mortal Kombat, but that adds to the charm. Everybody is big and in front, and the fight stages are appropriate and arcade-y. The screen character select, health bars, and “story” screens vary a little between the two, but other than that, both versions look fine.
It’s the controls that break this party up. Sluggish, finicky, and hard to combine kept this game from being a worthy copy of the Street Fighter II formula and was relegated to the discount bins for the duration. While it is playable, and it can be enjoyable, it’s very obviously not on the same level as other 16-bit fighters of it’s time. Had it come out earlier, it might have been viewed more favorably, but by 1995 the fighting genre was running so turbo-infused, you had to be all in to keep up.
But that does lead to an upside — JLTF can be had easily and inexpensively for under $10. My Sega version is one I’ve had since the ’90s, but my SNES I picked up last year at a thrift store. And for those kinds of prices, it’s plenty of fun, and much better value than one of those Goddamn smartphone games. Seriously, Clash of Clans, and all you Candy Crush Saga friends, go play in traffic. Justice League might not be a great game, but it least it had the decency to only ask me for my money once. And that goes for you too, AAA titles that think DLC makes it okay to charge full price for half the game.
Get off my lawn!
