There's something special about old-school brawling games, where friends get together merely for the sake of beating up hundreds of thugs in an effort to save the day from whatever evil is trying to destroy Earth. Fortunately, despite some attempts to prove otherwise, a brawler can still be fun in this day and age. It just depends on what's put into it, and if it remains entertaining in the long run. Fortunately, Raven Software's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is fantastic.

This time, the whole she-bang of the Marvel universe is thrown in, even the strangest little villains and the most unlikely of heroes. Doctor Doom, hated villain of the Fantastic Four and a number of other characters, has launched a new offensive that could give the league of dastardly bad guys the edge they need, and it's up to the heroic Marvel team (led by Nick Fury and his S.H.I.E.L.D. organization) to stop them.

Players start the game with Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, but have the option of mixing up the team with different members. A few heroes are unlocked right from the start including members of the Fantastic Four, but more become available over the course of the game. These unlockables include such familiar faces as Ghost Rider, Blade, Elektra, and Daredevil. The team mixing component works wonders for Alliance, as players can fine tune their team and give them balance. The Thing and Wolverine, for example, can launch major ground attacks, while Human Torch and Spider-Man work wonders with projectile maneuvers. As the game progresses, these heroes can earn power-ups and keep their health and power meters balanced out -- all by simply moving along and beating up the Doom's thugs.

There is one little snag -- the gameplay never shifts gears. Players will pretty much do the same thing in hour ten as in hour one -- using light and strong attacks against all kinds of identity-less thugs. Some push-button sequences during boss battles (like with Ymir and the supposedly-indestructible Galactus) and bomb disarms shake up the action, but otherwise, there's really nothing essentially new that wasn't covered in the X-Men Legends games.

But that's part of the brawler mentality. Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons provide the same, mindless experiences, and yet players felt compelled to knock off hundreds of mindless drones merely for some sense of accomplishment. Fortunately, Ultimate Alliance has more going for it than either of those arcade classics. And that ties into one of the game's biggest features -- Xbox Live support.

Through Xbox Live, up to four players can take part in either a cooperative game or in a competitive arcade mode. Cooperative is a team effort, where players work together to complete the missions and help save the day. It's not mano-a-mano, but rather a race to see who can knock out the most villains and collect the most power-ups.