Lego Marvel Super Heroes is an action game that brings together over 150 Marvel heroes and villains from various franchises, with the player controlling the good guys to save Earth from a team of evil forces led by Galactus. The game features a blocky cartoonish visual style and gameplay reminiscent of LEGO adventures.
The game world consists of an explorable open-world Manhattan, as well as a hub that includes the Marvel HQ, and several self-standing story mode levels set in the worlds of Asgard, Bifrost, and Asteroid M. Players can explore Marvel-related buildings in New York, each with its own storyline narrated by Deadpool.
At the start, players control Iron Man and Hulk, soon joined by Spider-Man. Other characters are unlocked by advancing through the game or collecting Gold Bricks, which can be found exploring Manhattan, completing side quests, or completing story mode levels. Players can also collect additional characters, bonus levels, outfits, vehicles, and extra features by collecting Character tokens, Vehicle tokens, Minikits, and Deadpool bricks.
The game features a total of around 150 playable characters, with more than 100 to be unlocked, each with their own Super Powers and Super Moves that affect gameplay. In-game dialogues are voiced by a cast of 27 people. The game also features a unique two-player mode on the Xbox 360 console, where one player can use the GamePad's display while the other uses it without a split screen.