Though it seems like a no-brainer in retrospect, the best-selling X-Men Legends was the first real console attempt at giving gamers a more RPG-like experience with popular comic book characters. Combining the action heavy fight scenes and engaging story of the comics with an RPG's slower progression, team-based fighting and level building, developer Raven Software (with the backing of publisher Activision) was able to capture the true essence of the X-Men unlike anyone had before them. Following this up with the equally great, though very similar, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, the formula was beginning to taste a bit stale. If there was to be a sequel, the formula needed to be mixed up to be successful again.

The Wii version of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is in the hands of Vicarious Visions, and as with the other versions, the formula has not only been mixed up - it's been rewritten from the ground up and mutated like some of the X-Men's finest, in hopes of outdoing Raven's previous efforts. There is nothing held over from the previous games returning without some sort of tweak or makeover; everything from graphics to fighting to story interaction has all seen their share of changes - for the better. Need more in-depth recommendation before you bite into my fresh, piping hot hype burger? Then step this way!

Ultimate Alliance opens with a phenomenal CGI video that puts every single video in X-Men Legends to shame. Dr. Doom, now leading a super-villain super group known as the Masters of Evil, is laying an attack down on Nick Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Fury calls into action Captain America, Thor, Wolverine and Spider-Man to take care of Doom's robot army and protect the helicarrier. As Captain America hands out orders to the group, and Wolverine tells him to shove it and heads off to rip apart robots as he pleases, we are treated to the stylish destruction left in the wake of professional super heroes.

Though I was never a fan of the former games' CGI videos, finding the characters hokey and having almost no resemblance to their in-game selves, Ultimate Alliance takes an extremely realistic look, as if they were being designed for a movie and not a game. Check out the video on the official Ultimate Alliance website - every inch of it screams of a professional Hollywood production and only standing it next to the real thing could the authenticity of these videos be challenged. Close your mouth - it's not good for your keyboard to be covered in drool.

Up until last week, no one other than Vicarious Visions and Activision knew how the Wii version's graphics engine was shaping up. With the Wii being considered only slightly more powerful than its predecessor, 'glorified Gamecube games' has been the fun term tossed around. However, now that we have the first official screens of the Wii version in action, I can say that you will be pleasantly surprised.

While no match for the spectacular Xbox 360, PS3 and PC graphics, the Wii easily surpasses the PS2 and Xbox versions. Characters are more detailed, helped greatly by clean and clear textures. The Fantastic Four make for a great example of this; with the Thing you can clearly trace the grooves around the many rock scales of his body from head to waist, and while the Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic and Johnny Storm don't have rock skin and grooves to trace, details on their costumes that would have otherwise been smooth really stand out, such as pant seams and muscle outlines, thanks again to those crystal clear, clean textures.

Just as the characters have benefited from the improved textures, so have the levels; the textures used on the floors and walls have not only been upgraded over the PS2 and Xbox versions, but they are also much clearer with more definite features. In one of the unidentifiable levels, the metal-plated floor has discoloration from wear, while the holes where the screws were drilled in appear to be sunken. These things don't look like part of a texture stretched out; they appear to have actually been built there. These are details originally not thought possible on the Wii, yet there they are.

Before you head off to fight the Masters of Evil, you have to pick a team of super heroes to control. At the beginning of the game you can choose between 20 superheroes (including two characters exclusive to the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions), hitting most of the perennial Marvel favorites such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, Human Torch, Ghost Rider, with even more to be picked up as the game progresses. While you can play by constantly changing out your characters, Raven has implemented a new universal team upgrade system to reward those who stick with the same group of characters for most of the game. You create a team from scratch, or recreate existing teams in the Marvel canon, then give your team a name and logo. As you make your way through the game, your team gains a reputation not only for what they do but how they work together. The higher the rep, the better the bonuses provided.

Now you are ready to take your team out into the world and beat the teeth out of any and all baddies that cross your path. The story itself will take you to over seventeen different locales ripped straight from the pages of the comics, giving you the chance to interact with over 140 different Marvel characters. You'll go underwater to help Namor and the sunken city of Atlantis. On the home planet of the alien Skrull, you'll fight the giant, world-eating Galactus. Visit Murderworld, Arcade's vicious and violent madhouse, which thankfully borrows no visual cues from the lame 16-bit version seen in X-Men/Spider-Man: Arcade's Revenge.

Though it is unknown at this time if these will up the total of locales, there are also character-specific classic comic book battles, known as Heroic Missions, that can be unlocked along the way. By finding comic book icons hidden throughout the game, you will be able to unlock and play through these missions, which are being labeled on the official site as "legendary Marvel battles." Raven and Activision are keeping the exact details on these missions close to their chests, but look here for more details on this awesome extra as it is released. All I can say is any comic fan reading this will have their brain working overtime to think of what battles they would like to see relived digitally - I know mine is!

Story progression no longer consists of your team running through each level, completing objectives and moving on with no consequences, as Ultimate Alliance forces you to face the consequences of the choices you make; the missions you accept or pass on, the objectives you complete or fail, the characters you welcome into your fold or refuse - all of these will factor into how the story unfolds and which of the multiple endings you receive. This would have been harder to implement using the X-Men, as they are mostly an inclusive and cohesive team, but when you tap into an entire comic book universe for your game, there are too many different opinions and beliefs held for everything to work out 'just right' every time. This is a wonderful addition that will create a different experience each time you play through, greatly increasing the replay value.

The fighting system and character progression have also seen their share of changes. Combat is the one thing that has seen the least changes from X-Men Legends, but the addition of charge attacks (such as being able to throw and control Captain America' shield!) and the ability to attack while flying and underwater (hopefully this means your characters won't die if they fall into water any more) should add something to the tried and true action-RPG formula. Grappling and destructible environments are also being touted as features, but how they have changed from the previous games, other than being able to pick up a big sword to chop up baddies, I have yet to see.

How you control combat has been completely retooled to take advantage of the Wii controller; there are five principle gestures you can use for your basic attacks, each using the Wii-mote - thrust forward for a heavy attack, shake for a light attack, swipe back and forth for a trip move, tip down for a stun move, and tip up for a popup move. You can now use combo-ending moves, such as the popup, at any time - a feature not possible on any of the other systems. For special moves, of which each playable character has up to five, simply hold the B button and proceed to use any of the above gestures, such as shaking the Wii-mote to make Spider-man shoot webs. This allows you to have use of all of your super powers at one time, another feature not possible on every other system, where special moves must be mapped to buttons.

Even though the Wii-mote gets all of the attacks, that doesn't mean that the nunchuck control is being left out of the fun. Originally the nunchuck controller was going to be used for movement using the analog stick and camera control by tilting the controller. However, Vicarious Visions didn't think that was enough, so they created another set of gesture moves to compliment their original ideas - jerk up to pick up objects, swing towards an enemy while holding an object to toss it in the gestured direction, tilt up to open doors, while next to an enemy bring the controller up to block attacks and while running jerk in a direction to execute a roll or dodge move.

The experience point and upgrading system have been completely ditched; in its stead is a 'skin' system. Instead of earning points to spend on upgrading skills or learning new ones along with upgrading stats, you will unlock new skins, be they different looks or just different costumes to equip. Each new skin is based upon costumes worn in the past by each character and Raven is hoping to have each one play differently, with different stat bonuses and skills. How many skins will be available, as well as how many per character, are still under consideration while balancing issues are worked out; I can understand the problem, as not every one of the 20+ playable characters has as many different skin/costume choices as characters like Spider-Man and Wolverine.

Unlike just about every other version of Ultimate Alliance, the Wii version contains absolutely no online components. You can still play through with up to three other players however, choosing between either cooperative or competitive modes. Cooperative has you playing through the game from beginning to end as you'd expect, whereas Competitive sees you playing like regular co-op, except you are trying to earn more points than the other players by getting the most kills, doing the most damage and so on.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is shaping up to not only be an excellent game itself, but an excellent launch title for the Wii. Not only does it feature innovative and intuitive controls, but it also features a solid graphics engine that gives hope to those wondering just how Wii games will look compared to both the next generation. Wii supporters, Marvel fans and true believers - playing as your favorite superheroes may never be the same after Ultimate Alliance.

Previewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).