Justice League Task Force (video game)

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Justice League Task Force
Justice League Task Force game cover.jpg
Developer(s) Sunsoft
Super NES: Blizzard Entertainment
Mega Drive/Genesis: Condor, Inc.
Publisher(s) Acclaim Entertainment
Composer(s) Matt Uelmen (Genesis)
Glenn Stafford (SNES)
Platform(s) Genesis, Super NES
ReleaseMega Drive/Genesis:
  • NA: 1995
  • EU: 1995
  • JP: September 1, 1995 [1]
Super NES:
  • NA: June 1995 [2]
  • EU: 1995
  • JP: October 27, 1995
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Justice League Task Force is a competitive fighting game produced by Sunsoft and distributed by Acclaim for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Genesis in 1995. The Super NES version was co-developed by Blizzard Entertainment and the Genesis version by Condor, Inc. (later known as Blizzard North).

Contents

It involves characters from DC Comics' Justice League, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, The Flash, and Aquaman. Additional Justice League members Martian Manhunter and Fire, as well as the supervillain Shrapnel, were also planned to appear, but had to be omitted due to memory limitations. [3]

Story

Screen capture of a typical round of the game (SNES version). CheetahAquamanGame.jpg
Screen capture of a typical round of the game (SNES version).

Darkseid attacks the planet Earth, destroying a military base in the process. The player takes control of a member of the Justice League of their choosing, and tracks down the other members for information, only to be attacked by them. As the hero defeats the other Justice League members, they discover that they are in fact android duplicates. Coming to this conclusion, the hero battles Cheetah and Despero for more information.

They both lead the hero to Darkseid, who then forces the hero to fight their own duplicate. Upon defeating the clone, the hero must face Darkseid himself. After the hero defeats him, the other League members are freed, and the military base is restored.

Reception

Justice League Task Force received mostly negative reviews. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the Genesis version a 5.875 out of 10, criticizing the choppy animation, limited number of moves, and most especially the poor controls, which they said made executing special moves "too much work to be any fun." [4] GamePro gave negative reviews to both the Genesis and SNES versions, similarly citing poor controls, unimpressive special moves, and sprites which look good in still frame but ugly in animation. [5]

Next Generation reviewed both ports of the game and gave them two out of five stars. For the Genesis, they stated, "squint your eyes and you could swear you're playing any of the other many fighting games, that doesn't mean Justice League is awful, it's just real normal." [6] For the SNES version: "comic book fans and fighting fans should get a kick out of it, but everyone else is likely to yawn." [7]

Action Figures

In 2024, McFarlane Toys released 7" action figures of Superman, Batman, Aquaman, and The Flash based on the game as part of the DC Multiverse line. Each figure includes parts to collectively build a fifth figure, Darkseid.

See also

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References

  1. Sega. "Sega Hardware Archive: Mega Drive: Third-Party Software List". Table, under 1995: "ジャスティスリーグ". Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  2. "List of Super NES games" (PDF). Nintendo.com. Nintendo of America, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-07.
  3. Electronic Gaming Monthly #58 (May 1994)
  4. "Review Crew: Justice League". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 71. Ziff Davis. June 1995. p. 35.
  5. "ProReview: Justice League Task Force". GamePro . No. 82. IDG. July 1995. pp. 52, 62.
  6. "Finals". Next Generation . No. 8. Imagine Media. August 1995. pp. 75–76.
  7. "Finals". Next Generation . No. 7. Imagine Media. July 1995. p. 78.