My exposure to the world of Trading Card Games (TCG) is limited to just one game, Magic: The Gathering. I spent several years playing the game with friends, hunting down rare cards, building countless decks and occasionally playing in tournaments. I loved the game but after a while my interest slowly waned. The constant release of new cards, the never-ending rule changes and unhealthy obsession by some players made me look for other avenues of entertainment.  When the opportunity arose to review the Marvel Trading Card Game for the PSP I jumped at the chance to see if my interest in a TCG was still buried within.

The premise of Marvel Trading Card Game is the same as any other TCG. You compete against another player in a battle of cards. The cards represent your attackers, defenders and assorted powers/skills you can use during “combat.” All of the combat and action in the game is played out by tapping the cards to activate the skills of the cards. The loser is the first player that runs out of energy or has the lowest amount of energy at the end of combat.

The Marvel Trading Card Game plays very similar to the outline above with only a few changes. The changes are mostly superficial and impact the descriptions of the various categories in the game. For example in Magic you have to use mana to cast spells or summon attackers/defenders. While in the Marvel TCG you need resource points to summon attackers/defenders. As you play more resources you earn additional resource points to call upon more powerful superheroes. 

The way combat works is still a confusing part of the game to me. My brain is still use to the Magic way of combat, which is completely different that the Marvel TCG. In Magic once you’ve declared an attacker that character is then in use for the rest of the round, unless you had another card to allow you to use the character again. But in Marvel TCG the combat phase allows a superhero to be both an attacker and a defender.

The Attack and Defense value of your superhero will determine if your attacker will become stunned during combat. If the attacker is stunned then it cannot defend against the other player’s attackers. But the breakthrough damage you take against your endurance points (health) is based upon the difference between the attack and defense values of the attackers/defenders plus the recruiting cost of your superheroes. Now unless Magic has changed recently this isn’t how combat damage is totaled. After several games I still couldn’t get use to taking damage for the recruiting cost of my characters.

There are a few additional rules that are unique to Marvel TCG, which are explained in the in-game tutorials. For example, you cannot have more than one character of the same name on the playing table. The game will let you power up that character by discarding another copy of the same superhero card. Another feature in Marvel TCG is the ability to use Reinforcements and Team Attacks. Reinforcements allow you to increase the Defense value of your superhero by using a supporting character in your back row (called a support row).  But to perform Reinforcement both characters must have the same team affiliation. Each character in the game belongs to certain affiliation which is usually based upon their storyline. For example Spider-Man is affiliated with the Spider Friends while Wolverine is affiliated with the X-Men. Team Attacks uses the same team affiliation principal but, as the name suggests, for attacks. You can use another character in the front row to perform a Team Attack to increase the Attack strength of your superhero.  

One big issue I had with the game was due to the pacing of the “chain.” The chain is an order in which effects can be played by the players. If you can use a card then the effect of the card is placed on the chain. The chain then waits until the next player or card that can be played to be placed on the chain. The problem with the chain in Marvel TCG is that it never seems to end. Cards in your hand or in your resource field are potential cards that could be added to the chain. Sure, this isn’t different than other TCGs but in a PSP game having to keep pressing buttons to resolve possible cards to use for the chain becomes frustrating after a while.

The way Marvel TCG plays on the PSP is mix of good and bad. The interface is one example of the bad. As I mentioned the seemingly endless chain possibilities becomes frustrating. The cards are difficult to read once they are placed on the playing field/table. You have to move your cursor over a card to see a readable view of the card. The deck editor can be just as tiresome to maneuver through. The single player game plays out in a bland story mode which forgetful comic book storyboards.

One great part of the game is the almost limitless possibilities of the cards. There are tons of new cards to purchase and use in your deck editor. If you want to build a fast desk full of 1/1 characters you can. Or if you want to build a top-heavy deck full of heavy hitters it’s your choice. The possibilities are virtually limitless, except for your budget. Yes, that’s correct. In the single player game you earn money after winning battles against the computer. While in the online game you have to actually purchase new cards to use in your deck. You can have up to five desks in both the online and single player portions of the game.

The Marvel Trading Card Game is a great attempt of fitting the entire experience of a TCG into a PSP game. The burdensome interface and boggling rules are the two biggest problems of the game. Even on the PSP screen fitting all of the cards that would be on a playing table is hard to replicate properly. But having the almost limitless possibility of upgrading your decks can become addicting. When you start buying cards you hope to find that one card to complete your deck. Then you buy more and more and more cards. It’s an easy addiction to fall victim for.

Gameplay: 7.5
What more can I say about the confusing damage rules and maddening interface? But those features do play second fiddle to the core mechanics of the game. This is a TCG so you can call it a strategy game based upon luck. You build your deck of cards but you left with a random shuffle to determine which cards you get to play. Then you have no idea what cards your opponent will play.

Graphics: 6.5
The comic book-style story boards are the best looking part of the game. The cards are really too small to read once they are in play.

Sound: 5.0
The music and sound effects are a constant repeat of the same tracks and effects. Playing the game with the volume turned all the way down isn’t a bad thing.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Getting used to all of the various rules is one of the hardest parts of playing a TCG. Thankfully the Marvel TCG for PSP does a decent job of explaining most of the rules. But that still doesn’t make everything crystal clear during the game.  Playing against the computer is constant struggle of seeing the computer use the best cards all the time.

Multiplayer: 8.0
The Multiplayer options are plentiful in Marvel TCG. The game offers the standard PSP Ad-Hoc mode but also includes the Infrastructure mode for true Wi-Fi multiplayer. The Infrastructure mode connects to a completely separate game from the single player game for Multiplayer contests. You can play in rank games, purchase new cards from the online store or compete in various tournaments sponsored by Marvel, Konami or Upper Deck. If the interface wasn’t so clunky you could add an extra point to the Multiplayer score.

Concept: 6.5
This is a great first attempt of getting a TCG working for the PSP. Maybe with a new version we might get a smoother interface.

Overall: 6.7
Marvel Trading Card Game for the PSP is a novel attempt at capturing a true trading-card gameplay experience. While the interface needs some work the cards are still the selling point of the game. If you’ve never played a TCG before then you might find this game a little daunting at first. While it might be rough around the edges the core experience of a TCG is still left mostly intact.