Favorites - Best Superhero Video Games

Soon, I'll be playing this game... 2020 sounds like a good year to start!

Since it is the end of the year and I’m working on setting up a new blog, I thought I’d finally do something with the drafts I got over here. I got some I recently put in and a few that have been drafts for years. It was about time to let these unfinished posts get their light of day. I even got one from like 2010 I haven’t even finished yet! I’ll get to that soon, but right now, I’m going to talk about some games.

Since I’ll be in an Assassin’s Creed binge for a bit, I haven’t gotten a chance to touch the latest Spider-Man game. Yeah, I said it. It sounds quite horrible, doesn’t it? I wasn’t too worried about this game since its publisher, Insomniac, does good stuff. In fact, most superhero games have been pretty good lately. I couldn’t say that years ago, though. I still haven’t gotten a good Superman game yet, but I’m praying for it, dang it! Yeah, folk pray about sport teams, so I might as well pray about something that is pretty inconsequential to life but fun.

Years ago, an idea popped into my head: what are my favorite superhero video games? I know that I have a least played more than ten games based on superheroes. So, here is the list that’ll  cover games from all over the spectrum: old consoles, current-gen consoles,  arcade games, movie tie-ins, and independent stuff as well. I originally was going to only put 8 games on here since I’m not the most varied gamer, but I can thankfully put more on here these days. If they’re good and part of a series, I’m mentioning them too. This also isn’t in any order, but I will put my favorites at the top. First, here are some honorable mentions. These are ones I liked but never got to finish:

• Spider-Man 2 (PS2) – Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Spider-Man 2 is a good game, but I never finished the dang thing. That Mysterio boss battle always messed me up. It did do a lot of things right, though. it served as a good movie tie-in, it had the actors from the movie (Tobey MacGuire wasn’t too good if I remember), and it really made you feel like Spider-Man for the first time. Previous games did what they could, but this one surpassed them with the open-world aspect. Besides, I got a couple of other SM games for the actual list.
• Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (PS2) – I didn’t get to finished this one either, folks. I don’t know what happened. I know I rented it but this was around the time where time was scarce and I had no job. A man’s got to eat! Anyway, while my time with this game was short, this was fun. You got to run around as Hulk and cause a lot of destruction in your way. Heck, it’s in the title.
• Capcom’s Marvel series (PS1, PS3, etc) – Yeah, yeah, I know. While I don’t play many fighting games these days, I got Marvel vs. Capcom 3 around the house somewhere. Unfortunately, I’ve only put in about an hour of gameplay on it. Even though I haven’t finished that one, I still remember some of the others from the arcades and consoles. X-Men: Children of the Atom was a fun one as well Marvel Super Heroes. The one I remember the most and actually beat was X-Men vs: Street Fighter for the PS1. I may need to revisit some of these one day.

1. The Batman Arkham Series: Asylum, City, Origins, and Knight (PS3/PS4)

Rocksteady’s Arkham series really brought a lot to the table. It proved that someone could do Batman justice. Beforehand, Batman had games that ranged from horrible to somewhat decent. Arkham Asylum was something else though. Not only did it bring good gameplay and good graphics, it also had a good story and great voice-acting. You can say the say the same about the rest of the games in the series. Even Arkham Origins, which was done by WB Montreal, has great elements in them. I can also say good things about Arkham Knight even though its story left much to be desired. Overall, the Batman Arkham series is superhero gaming at its best. Of the four, Arkham City is my favorite.

2. Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2 (PS3/PS4)

Even though this series does my favorite superhero and a few others wrong, Netherrealm’s Injustice series is awesome. Heck, I’m still playing Injustice 2 on the PS4. The series looks at a world gone wrong where Superman becomes a dictator and splits the hero community in half. At least we get to play the regular Superman in the first game, though. While I may have qualms about about some characters, the story is still nice.  The gameplay is awesome. The fighting mechanics are fun and easy to do. Of the two games, I’d have to pick Injustice 2 as my favorite. It brought more to the table in terms of customization and it’s more polished than Gods Among Us.

3. X-Men Legends/X-Men Legends 2: The Rise of Apocalypse (PS2)

Now, this is going back a bit. These two games were released in 2004 and 2005 by Activision. They and the other games (Marvel Ultimate Alliance series) got a role-playing vibe to them and did the heroes right. You got to pick a set of four characters an go out to save the world. This did the X-Men’s world justice since you got to interact with the team and hang around in the X-Mansion. You got to play the coolest X-Men. In the Rise fo Apocalypse, you even get to play a couple of villains and Iron Man of all heroes. While the sequel was a better game overall, I think the first is my favorite since you got to do a little more.

4. Ultimate Spider-Man (PS2)

If you notice the title, this is based off of the Ultimate Universe Spider-Man. The story was written by Michael Brian Bendis and even uses designs from the comics. It was supposed to tie sqarely into that universe. It’s pretty much a Spider-Man 2 clone but unlike that game, I was able to beat it! Not only do you get to play Peter, but you also get to play Venom... and kill folk. This game is nuts when you’re Venom. I don’t know how Insomniac’s Spider-Man will match up with it, but I think it could still hold up.

5. Spider-Man (PS1) 

Even though Spider-Man 2 didn’t make the main list, I had to throw this one on there. This was the first game where you got to feel like Spider-Man. Even though your webs were latching on clouds or God’s hand, you got to swing around New York. The fighting was simple but cool. This also took place squarely in the Marvel Universe, so you got to interact with your biggest villains and other heroes. It may be a bit dated, but it may be still fun to play. It also probably one of the best last levels in gaming. It took me an hour to beat that level and it was Thanksgiving too.

5. The Infamous series

Now, this series isn’t based on any comic property. Still, it does go down the superhero (or supervillain) route. In the two games, you play as Cole McGrath, a guy who was imbued with powers. You get the choice to either save your cities or reign havoc on them. The stories for both games were fun and the Karma system was an interesting mechanic. While the controls took a little bit getting used to, the game play is fun. I can’t say if the first or second game is the best though. They’re both on equal footing. I haven’t finished the latest game in the series (Infamous: Second Son), but I should one day.

6. Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS2/PS3)

Next up is the follow-up to the X-Men Legends games. This time, we were playing biggest heroes from Marvel like the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and other characters. We even got some X-Men back. This time, we were up agains Doctor Doom and the evil Loki. The game pretty much felt like a copy of Rise of Apocalypse, but it did innovate in places. I never got to play MUA2 which did the Civil War storyline, though. With the release of MUA3 (on Nintendo’s Switch, unfortunately), I may have to revisit these games one day. The first one was especially fun.

7. X-Men: Origins - Wolverine (PS3) 

Now this was the game that I was playing when I first started this list years ago. I first played it on the PS2 where it… wasn’t that good. On the other hand, the PS3 version was much better. It's actually one of the better movie tie-in games out there. Of course, you play as Wolverine and you get to go all-out as the character. You're slicing up stuff left and right. This is also one I need to finish one day. Shoot, I may just devote most of next year to finishing games I haven’t completed yet!

8. Punisher: the Video Game (PS2)

If the Punisher movies or the Netflix TV show aren’t fulfilling your Punisher itch, this game should do it. I’m not even that big a fan of Frank Castle, but this was a fun game. The gameplay was pretty nice since you got to do pretty much anything to bad guys. You could even interrogate them harshly. The game also squarely took place in the Marvel Universe, so you got cameos from certain heroes. Finally, you had Thomas Jane, the Punisher from the 2004 movie, playing Castle. While it may not be the best of the bunch, you might have a good time with this one.

9. X-Men (Arcade, Downloadable from PSN)

The last one I’ll mention (the list is long enough) is the X-Men arcade game. Now I remember seeing this in different arcades and playing it. IT was based off of the 80’s X-Men pilot, Pryde of the X-Men. It’s pretty much a classic beat-‘em up in the same vein as Streets of Rage. It’s fun and you get to play some of the best X-Men. I was lucky to find it on PlayStation Network for the PS3.

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Well, I had to end this thing somewhere. There are other games I know I’m not thinking about at this moment. There are also some games that are probably good but I haven’t played them yet. I still haven’t touched the other PS3 Spider-Man titles yet, but I may do that one day. For now, I’m outta here. I need to plan what I’ll be doing in the next couple of weeks. Also, I’m wondering what a “Worst Superhero Games” list would look like. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.