A beat'em up game like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance sounds like it would be a recipe for a surefire hit. Take a large number of well and lesser known Marvel heroes, pit them against the countless villains of the Marvel universe, mix in an experience system that provides new and more powerful attacks over time, and call it a game. The formula works, but the Wii's unique controller throws a wrench into things. Despite the presence of two different control schemes -- one motion-based and one reliant upon button presses -- both fail in their efforts to create an engaging experience.

From a technical standpoint, the motion control works well. Swinging the remote side-to-side results in a side attack, flicking up an uppercut, and thrusting forward a forward lunge. With each movement triggering a respective attack at any time, this ability to freely mix up moves is actually superior to previous versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, which only allow the execution of certain moves at the end of attack combos. Special attacks, meanwhile, are a simple matter of holding the B trigger and moving the remote accordingly.

However, a few problems keep the motion-based attacks from being effective, chiefly the game's emphasis on combat. Non-stop fighting makes the constant use of the remote tedious and tiring. Even worse, performing all of these moves yields very little rewards, as watching the same canned animations gets old fast.

In addition, the alternative control scheme oversimplifies things. Here, players repeatedly mash the A button to attack, select a special attack by pulling the B trigger, scroll through the available powers, and then press the A button to activate the selected ability. However, to scroll through the powers, players must use the directional pad, requiring the thumb's removal from the A button, which literally forces one to stop fighting enemies in order to struggle with the inadequate control scheme. Furthermore, the one-button attacks lack the variety of motion control, again giving combat tedious and repetitive properties.