If you haven't heard, a little game called "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2" comes out on Tuesday. It's a big day for all involved in the project, including all the fine folks at Vicarious Visions, Activision and here at Marvel. On a personal level, I'm especially looking forward to seeing if you'll agree with my assessment that this is the single best Marvel video game to date.

And speaking of dates...well, playing so much "MUA2" has me kind of wanting to ask out a fictional character.

I'll have to admit that when I began working on this game two years ago, my knowledge of Songbird was about as basic as it gets: Thunderbolt. Great hair. Looks hot in blue and white. That was pretty much it. But playing "MUA2" has honestly given me a whole new appreciation for the character. Whereas my usual hero choice in a game of the "Ultimate Alliance"/"X-Men Legends" ilk is Wolverine almost all of the way (with the occasional Luke Cage or Hulk to vary things up a bit), once I decided to stick it to those no-good Anti-Registration hooligans, I was amazed at just how much I gravitated toward the lovely Ms. Gold.

"Pinkish-purple sound waves" might not immediately seem like the most intriguing basis for powers in a videogame, but just wait until you see my Mimi go! She flies (you know -- wings made of sound and all), shoots sound-pellet thingies as a long-distance attack, yells at you until it literally hurts, and -- my personal favorite -- snaps at you. Her fingers click and Cap's pals are down for the count.

If you're like me, it won't take you too long to unlock Songbird's alternate outfit, a rarely worn ensemble most prominently featured in THUNDERBOLTS #63. True story: Because of my newfound love of the character, at San Diego Comic-Con I came pretty close to dropping 550 bucks on this original cover art for said issue.

As good as that would look framed on my wall, I didn't buy it. I do, after all, intend on having a real girlfriend.

Excelsioryuken!

C-Bake