As you might have guessed, Captain America: Super Soldier has little to do with the movie that it’s based on, apart from the likeness (and vocals on some versions) of star Chris Evans, though it apparently takes place in the same universe. As the movie goes into great detail showing off a puny Steve Rogers came to be the First Avenger and takes on the villainous Red Skull, the videogame must take place sometime just afterwards, as you’ll control a fully bulked-out Captain and the main antagonist here isn’t the Red Skull. The plot centers on guiding Caps and his team as they investigate the advanced weaponry coming that’s been shipping out from Castle Zemo in the Bavarian Mountains, no doubt at the bequest of the terrorist organization Hydra that’s being funded by the wealthy Baron Von Strucke.

Like its superior Xbox 360/PS3 counterpart, Super Soldier on the Wii takes some of its inspiration from what many call the superlative superhero game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, especially with its single-location setting and emphasis on hand-to-hand-to-shield combat system. Unfortunately, it also takes inspiration from any number of mediocre movie-game adaptations that reduce our favorite heroes and stories into button-mashing marathons. Like many cross-platform games on the platform, Super Soldier on the Wii sports a super-deformed look that transforms the photorealism of the HD versions into a cartoony alternative.

Super Soldier on the Wii sees the First Avenger racing through the endless corridors and pathways of Castle Zemo, taking out throngs of Hydra soldiers and leaders while pulling switches, deflecting bullets with your trusty shield, and smashing the engineered mechanical madness crafted by the evil Arnim Zola. Telegraphed platforming moments help break up the tedium of defeating rooms and rooms of soldiers and simple puzzles, though the game seems unable to handle any combination of these elements successfully.

Similar to Arkham Asylum’s robust combat system, Super Soldier employs an attack, block, and parry system that gets the job done, but has been cut back drastically from its high-definition counterparts. Simply mashing the attack button will get you through most situations, though it’s possible to grab and parry attacks when you’re rumbling in a crowd. The game’s single-biggest strength, Cap’s shield, is also available to help break up crowds and defend against bullets, beams, and other projectile attacks. The real treat, however, is being able to lock onto baddies and objects – often several at the same time – to take them out with your shield’s boomerang-like ability. At least, this should be the game’s shining point amidst otherwise repetitious gameplay.

Case in point: what should have been the Wii version’s defining gameplay element, Cap’s shield, has been thoroughly muddled thanks to inaccurate controls and a targeting system that simply doesn’t work like it should. Holding down the Nunchuk’s C-button makes Cap go into ‘force mode’, which switches the view to a Zelda-style perspective and allows him to target enemies and objects in slow-motion. Only the starred targeting seldom locks onto the targets your reticule is hovering over, and good luck if any of the baddies comes at you machine guns blaring.

Another needless frustration is the horrendous camera, which seems to have been designed for the sole purpose of making your adventure a living hell. You’ll often turn a corner and walk into waves of baddies just waiting to cut you down, or the moments when you’re tasked with accurate platform jumping while fighting off machine-gun toting Hydra soldiers; it’s like the camera is consciously fighting your progress and wants you to fail.

It’s strange that High-Voltage Software should brag about their expertise with the Wii hardware when so many of their games look so unimpressive, almost as if they think having a smooth frame-rate (which the game does have) makes up for bland design and a grotesque misuse of color. Elements are so profoundly ugly they almost look like they came from a hi-res Nintendo64 game, with blocky characters and sparsely-decorated corridors and claustrophobic levels that just look bad. Tragically, the HD version’s cinematic combat, which featured stylish slow-motion close-ups, has been reduced to zoomed-out explosions of rainbows and sparkles, which look more like something out of the 1960s Batman television show than anything resembling the new Captain America movie.

The audio is generally high-quality, especially the booming theme that continually plays in the background, although star Chris Evans’ boy scout-like delivery comes across a bit uninspired when it should sound heroic. Likewise, listening to your baddies continually drone on and on about the failings of America while championing their master race grows tiresome quickly, as does the execrable dialog about surpassing human evolution, blah, blah. This isn’t Resident Evil, guys, though I did find their cries of “Heil Hydra!” pretty funny.

The Wii version does add a few elements missing from its HD bigger brothers, specifically the addition of Zemo Challenges, which is deeply appreciated as the setting takes place entirely in Baron Zemo’s Castle (who is conspicuously absent in the HD version). Here you’ll engage in small challenges to unlock concept art and other goodies by defeating enemies, performing combos, etc., though many will rely on the strategic use of Cap’s force-mode enabled shield targeting (which seldom works as it should). There are several upgrades that become available as you earn experience, but these felt tacked on and included

Fans should be aware that Captain America: Super Soldier on the Wii is a pale, inferior imitation of the superior version that’s available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as High Voltage Software has transformed that version's gritty realism into an oversaturated mess of super-deformed visuals and rainbow sparkles. Worse still is the gameplay, as that version's interesting and generally satisfying combo system has been reduced to practically button-mashing, and comes coupled with a broken shield targeting system. These should have been the Wii version's strong points, and there's really no excuse for this other than ineptitude or laziness. Perhaps the end of the Wii will finally bring about the end of these shoddy, rushed ports of typically shoddy, rushed games.