This game was across many platforms, but WayForward handled the DS version with their usual aplomb. But for the sake of arbitrary comic book rivalry, how does it stack up against their Batman game?

God of Thunder tells a new story in the world of the recent Thor movies. It comes after Thor 2 (but I think is a prequel to Thor 1), repurposing some characters and concepts while occasionally hinting at themes that come up in the movies. Of course it predates Thor 3 (Ragnarok), the only one I’ve seen, and adapts stuff from the comics such as Hela and Surtur that Ragnarok would end up doing differently. I like when game tie-ins expand the world of the property they’re adapting, so this is cool, but the story (mandated by higher-ups I’m sure, with more priority to the HD console version) is fairly boring and straightforward.

But the game. This is a sidescrolling beat-em-up with platforming elements. It’s very well-animated with immaculate art for character sprites and backgrounds, and controls smoothly, even if Thor often feels sluggish. You traverse several realms loosely inspired by Norse mythology, although the level geometry and enemy types are very similar between them. In typical belt-scroller style, the screen often locks so you can bash some fools. Thor has a decent variety of moves depending on tapping directions and such, so you can get creative with your hammer-swinging.

You’ll need to experiment to get through, otherwise you might fall asleep during the proceedings. I found at a certain point that a winning strategy was to stagger a group of enemies into a corner with a block-breaker, then mash the downwards hit to juggle them, eventually draining their prodigious health.  For larger enemies I often repeated the same movements of air combo->dodge until they finally toppled.

Breaking up the constant fights is some light traversal and discovering runes by breaking bits of scenery. These give you a small measure of customisation for Thor’s abilities, but not enough if you ask me. The occasional boss fights are cool, especially when they’re particularly large (the game uses both screens a la Yoshi’s Island DS, and fights that utilise both are the highlight of the game). But even these amount to performing the same actions over and over within them, a microcosm of the repetition in the larger game. As long as your patience lasts this is an impressive work, but its sleeves quickly run out of tricks.