Super Hero Training

Do you want to take control of the most powerful super heroes in the universe? Then you are in the right spot. Before you take on villains of all shapes and sizes, it is a good idea to take some time to see what you are getting into—and how to use your great powers for your great responsibility. This chapter provides an overview of what you need to know to get started in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes.

Flow of the Game

The action in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes starts right away with the first mission—Sand Central Station. After completing the first few levels, you find yourself in Manhattan—the largest hub area in LEGO games’ history. You can then continue playing more missions as well as explore the city.

Story Mode

The first time you play a mission, you are playing in Story mode. In this mode, you play as two or more preselected heroes. They vary from mission to mission. In some missions, you may be Spider-Man and Captain America while in others you are Iron Man and the Hulk. Your default heroes for each mission have all the abilities to complete the mission; however, they lack some of the abilities needed to find all of the collectibles in the mission.

Free Play Mode

Once you complete a mission in Story mode, you unlock Free Play mode for that level. That means you can go back to that level and play it again. The difference is that in Free Play mode you can use any of the characters that you have already unlocked to help you get all of those collectibles and tasks you could not complete in Story mode. To go to any of these previously played missions, go to the map view and select the location of that mission. You can then play it again either in Story mode or in Free Play mode.

Manhattan

Manhattan is the setting for the game. Almost all of the levels take place in the area around Manhattan—or above it. After each mission, you return to the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, which serves as your base of operations. Go down the elevator on the deck of the helicarrier to access different areas where you can activate Deadpool bricks, create custom characters, and much more. From the helicarrier, you can jump off one of the jump ramps to skydive down into Manhattan. Then, once on the ground, you can use the map view to select destinations. A hologram and a series of hologram studs then lead you to where you want to go.

As you beat the Story mode missions, you begin unlocking different activities and collectible earning opportunities in Manhattan. By the time you complete the entire 15 mission campaign in Story mode, every collectible is available for you to find and unlock.

In addition to those activities available throughout the city, there are also 11 hub missions. These are mini-missions where you have to complete a task such as defeating a villain. These hub missions are played initially in Story mode with a preset group of heroes. However, after you complete them in Story mode, you can go back and play them in Free Play mode, where you can use all of your unlocked characters. This is important since you will need them to get Character Tokens for unlocking more characters, more Gold Bricks, and the ever-popular Deadpool bricks.

Super Feats

Super heroes are defined by their actions, not just their fancy suits. In LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, there is no shortage of super feats that your characters can perform.

Fighting

Since most villains are not willing to stop their illegal actions and come quietly, your super heroes will need to use force and break them into pieces to defeat them. Most goons and henchmen can be defeated by one or two punches. However, the more powerful villains are tougher to defeat and require more hits or specialized attacks. Press the attack button when adjacent to an enemy to punch or attack.

Some characters have special attacks or abilities that can also be used in a fight. For shooting projectiles, press the attack button while at a distance from enemies. Or you can hold down the attack button to make a cursor appear. Drag the cursor over targets and then release the button to fire. Several characters, such as Iron Man, can target several enemies or objects at one time. Then when you release the attack button, they fire off projectiles at each target in turn. Some characters also have special abilities which are activated by pressing the use button. These can be heat beams, cold beams, electric attacks, and more. Play around with each character to learn all of their fighting techniques.

Breaking Stuff

While it may seem more villainous then heroic, smashing stuff is a great way to discover hidden goodies and studs—the currency in LEGO games. Attack everything in sight and see how much property damage you can cause.

Some objects can’t be destroyed by normal attacks. They require special abilities, which only certain characters have. Let’s review:

• Silver LEGO objects can be destroyed only by explosive attacks, such as Iron Man’s rockets or Hawkeye’s explosive arrows.
• Gold LEGO objects must be destroyed by heat attacks such as the Human Torch’s heat beam or Cyclops optic blast. To use these, hold down the use button and keep the beam on the gold target until it heats up and is destroyed.

Building Stuff

After breaking up an object into pieces or even while simply strolling along, look for bouncing LEGO pieces on the ground. This is a clue that those pieces can be assembled into something. Almost all characters, with the exception of the big characters such as Hulk and the Thing, can assemble pieces by holding down the use button. These new objects are usually necessary for completing a task, so if you ever get stuck and don’t know what to do, break things and then look for bouncing pieces to assemble.

Switches and Control Pads

To progress through many levels, you will need to activate a switch, lever, control pad, or a panel at some point. Most of these interactions are obvious; just approach the switch and press the use button to activate them. Some switches require special abilities to activate them. For example, control pads require the tech ability and transformers much be charged up by a character with the electricity ability.

Using Abilities

Special abilities and gadgets are what make a character a super hero. In LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, almost every character has at least one special power they can unleash. Most abilities are used by holding down the attack or use button; however, some abilities are passive in nature and simply function all the time. The jump button is used by those characters who can fly or hover as well as web-slingers. Tap the jump button twice to take to the air. See the previous chapter to learn all about each character’s unique abilities.

Saving Stan Lee

Have you every noticed that Stan Lee has a cameo in every Marvel movie? Why should it be any different in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes? Unfortunately Stan Lee is always in peril in the game. Look for him in each of the 15 story levels and the 11 hub missions. He is trapped and needs to be saved. For most of these rescues, you will need heroes only available in Free Play mode to save him. But try to get him in some of the Story mode missions as well. In addition, Stan Lee gets himself in trouble out in Manhattan, so be sure to look for him while you are exploring the large city and help him out. It is important to save Stan Lee since you are rewarded with a Gold Brick—read on to learn why these are important.

Heroic Rewards

Even super heroes deserve to be rewarded. Check out what you can earn by completing heroic tasks.

Studs

Studs are the currency in LEGO games, and Manhattan is chock-full of them. You’ll find studs just lying around, waiting to be collected, and you can discover many more simply by smashing stuff. Studs come in four colors; each color has a different value.

Collect as many studs as you can since you need them to pay to unlock some characters so you can begin using them. Some characters can be quite expensive, so if you want to unlock all of them and work toward 100 percent completion for the game, you need to amass a considerable amount of studs.

Minikits

Minikits are glowing, canister-like objects with blinking lights. They are worth collecting! Every Story level in the game contains 10 minikits for you to find, for a grand total of 150. However, most minikits are tough to find and require you to play the level again in Free Play mode so that you can use characters with specific abilities to get them. It is important to collect these minikits because you get a Gold Brick when you find all 10 in a level.

Gold Bricks

Gold Bricks are important collectibles that can be obtained in many ways. There are 250 Gold Bricks to acquire in the game, so you’ve got your work cut out for you.

Collect Gold Bricks by doing the following:

• Find them in Manhattan while exploring.
• Beat a level or hub mission in Story Mode.
• Collect all 10 minikits in a level.
• Achieve “True Believer” in a level or hub mission.
• Save Stan Lee in the levels, hub missions, and in Manhattan.

Deadpool Bricks

Deadpool bricks are extremely rare collectibles. There are only 11 of them in the entire game. One Deadpool brick can be found in each of the 11 hub missions. Most can be acquired only by playing those missions in Free Play mode. These bricks let you activate special powers such as stud multipliers, detectors to help you find collectibles, and more. Once you find a Deadpool brick, return to the helicarrier and go to Deadpool’s room to activate it.

See the “Hubs” section of the “Manhattan” chapter to find out how to get all 11 Deadpool bricks.

Getting 100% Completion

As you play through LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, the game keeps track of your progress, showing the percentage of the game that you have completed. Even after completing the 15 levels of the Story mode campaign, you will find yourself not even a quarter of the way to completion. This may cause you to ask, “What do I need to do to get 100% completion?” In simple terms, the answer is “everything.” You have to complete each and every level and collect everything you can collect. Here is a quick rundown of what you need.

• Complete all 15 levels in Story and Free Play modes.
• Complete all 11 hub missions in Story and Free Play modes.
• Achieve “True Believer” for all levels and hub missions.
• Collect all 150 minikits.
• Collect all 250 Gold Bricks.
• Collect all 11 Deadpool bricks.
• Save all 50 Stan Lee in Perils
• Unlock and collect all 153 characters in the game.
• Unlock and collect all 40 vehicles in the game.

Tips for Getting 100%

While you can just play through the game until you get 100% completion, there are a few tips to help you get the achievement quicker and more efficiently.

• Complete all of the levels in Story mode. This unlocks most of the characters you need for Free Play mode.
• Collect the Deadpool bricks with stud multipliers. The sooner you can get these, the more studs you can collect as you play through the levels. Be sure to activate these bonuses in Deadpool’s room.
• Complete all of the levels in Free Play mode to get the minikits and Stan Lees. These also provide Gold Bricks.
• Complete all of the hub missions.
• Explore Manhattan to find all of the collectibles such as Character Tokens and Vehicle Tokens.
• Complete all of the races and quests in Manhattan—these earn you Gold Bricks!