In Memory of Stan Lee

A true "Marvel" of a man, Stan Lee was first a comic book author, then took off in fame when his superheroes began starring in movies. The best movie (in my opinion) that the late Lee participated in is the animated "Big Hero 6". An interesting collaboration between Marvel and Disney Animation, BH6 is about five youths and a healthcare robot whose "superpowers" come not from some confusing and unlikely origin story, but from real science. The group must work together to stop a mysterious masked villain who has stolen the protagonist's biggest invention--an army of 'microbots' that can perform virtually any task while controlled by a special neural interface. Being both Disney characters and Marvel characters, the six have likely already been featured in video games. Here's my own take:

You start as Hiro Hamada, the movie's main character. In the opening levels, the objective is simply to navigate different puzzles using the microbots. After progressing a short ways, you unlock Baymax the healthcare robot. At first, he is just a white blobby robot who follows you around:

But as a healthcare robot, Baymax has a readily apparent role in any video game: If you, as Hiro (or later, any of the others) get hurt--which can happen as the levels get harder--simply rendezvousing with Baymax can restore your health bar.

Once Baymax is unlocked, the other characters will start to appear as NPCs. You might glimpse GoGo testing a magnetic-suspension bike, Wasabi organizing tools near his precision laser cutter, Honey Lemon doing chemical experiments, or Fred hanging around reading a comic book. You might even glimpse the robotics professor, Robert Callaghan.

(Side note: Fred in the movie is one of BH6's shout-outs to Marvel. He is obsessed with superheroes in comic books and often dresses up as a cartoon monster. A glimpse of his family portrait, and the movie's after-credits scene, reveals that Stan Lee, or at least the animated version, is Fred's father. The after credits scene can be found here.)

The cameo in the movie

Once you've familiarized yourself with the basic game mechanics, disaster strikes. In a level resembling the exposition center from the movie, Hiro suddenly has his microbot controller taken away from him (the keys the player would control the microbots with will no longer do anything) by a mysterious figure in a mask. As the villain leaves, he sets the level on fire, requiring the player to escape without the aid of the microbots. In the next level, the player unlocks two new power-ups: One is a microbot compass that will point the way through upcoming levels, the other is the ability to play as Baymax, who now has armor and a host of new karate-style moves. (these will come in handy, since there will be minor enemies made of microbots that must be fought along the way).

The masked villain puts in another brief appearance, in a level that also reunites the player with the other NPCs. At this point, they now become unlocked as playable characters; the player will now be able to switch between characters at will. Each one unlocks a new "superhero" form and powers: Gogo has special super-fast skates and a pair of returning sharp-edged disk weapons, Wasabi has precision laser-cutting gauntlets to slice through things with his hands, Honey Lemon has a purse that can launch blobs of bouncy or sticky goo, and Fred has a monster suit that can jump extra-high and breathe fire. Hiro gains a new suit that allows him to ride on the back of the once-again upgraded Baymax, who can now fly. The scenes that inspired this upgrade are found here and here.

The boss battle features the masked villain with an army of microbots and a strange portal, which your protagonist gets to travel through in the end scene, revealing the identity and motives of the masked villain. (No spoilers here!)