Top 10 Superhero Games

Video Games

Jul 8

With the cinematic and gameplay reveal of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which features both Miles and Peter (now with his symbiote suit), the opportunity presented itself to make a list of top superhero games. Players worldwide are probably hyped by what they have seen from the latest PlayStation demonstration. Gamers have been blessed during the past twenty years with lots of options from their famous comic book superheroes. While some games have left a bigger mark than others, delivering emotional stories and overall awesome gameplay, others seemed taken by initial hype. They ended up not giving the gamers what looked like a good product from initial impressions.

From my perspective as the person who put this list together, the market was overfocused on just a small slate of heroes and sat comfortably with them, not taking many chances. Therefore, characters like Batman and Spider-Man, heroes that have taken over silver screens all around the world since the beginning of the century, are saturated. This does not stop the fact that gamers will like their games when they come out. It is just a mere comment on how this market became interlaced with how well these heroes do in the cinema. Thus, others did not get solo games, just being included in team-ups (Avengers, Injustice) or in fighting games as DLCs or simply playable characters.

RELATED:

Featured

FuturLab Lays Out Roadmap for 'PowerWash Simulator' DLC

So, this list is highly subjective. Some may consider one game better than another, and our views are not going to necessarily coincide with the positions chosen for each one. The list is not going to dwell deeply on any of them, but a small description of how the experience is for each of them. Oh, and spoilers ahead.

10. Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)

This game, which was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, and the PlayStation Portable (PSP), along with the Nintendo Wii and DS, has some really good ideas. As the internet back in the good ol’ day was not so fast, gamers used to play in either split-screens against each other or in co-op mode using the same console. This is what Ultimate Alliance 2 aims for.

The game is campaign-styled, and the gameplay always revolves around a team of four, whether they are heroes or villains. The characters can be changed throughout the game. While the player can only unlock some by defeating them during the story, others can be purchased as part of DLC. The story itself is a mix of two really interesting arcs in the Marvel universe: Secret Wars, which is going to be an Avengers movie in 2026, and Civil War, a plot line already seen in the MCU in 2016.

IGN has a good comment about this game. While it has improved a bit from the past iterations of it, there are a few problems that can not be overlooked. The lack of skins, restrictive dialogue options, and repetitive gameplay (that some current games also suffer from) are important points for its position. It is still lots of fun, though.

9. Marvel vs. Capcom (2000)

This one says it all in the title. Released in 2000 for both the original PlayStation and the Dreamcast, it put Marvel characters on one side and Capcom’s on the other. If the playable roster was somewhat limited, the game had a tag-team style where most of the featured characters came out to help you during a fight. Regarding the storyline, this game followed, according to the fandom wiki page, the X-Men: Onslaught arc. This arc showed the usually calm and collected Charles Xavier losing control after sharing his mind with Magneto and getting some of his anger. Thus, a new character was created, Onslaught, which became the final boss of this game.

For Marvel, superheroes and supervillains were the go-tos. For Capcom, several of its different video game and comic-book franchises now had some space to come out of the pages and venture into a completely different situation than we were used to seeing them.

It is a solid game for something released in the year 2000. Looking back at this game with the biggest anachronical goggles possible, the playable roster was limited. Gamers had only 21 characters to choose from in both franchises. The other 22 showed up every once in a while to help you, but they were controlled by the computer. Even though there were some issues, it still holds up pretty well, all things considered. It was a fun game for people who were growing up during that time. Consoles were not that powerful in those times, so it is unfair to judge a game like that against our standards.

8. Marvel’s Avengers (2020)

Published in 2020 by Crystal Dynamics for all major current consoles (in addition to the Google Stadia), this game promised a lot but ended up not delivering everything. The first trailer showed a lot, and the hype became real pretty fast. Since the MCU had just concluded its first phases with Robert Downey Jr's death as Iron Man, an Avengers game was a good idea. How this came to practice is a different story.

The game is based on a Marvel Ultimate Alliance format. A team of four heroes takes on a campaign, working around several types of enemies and scenarios. It does a good job of entertaining the player, but it lacks in certain moments. IGN points out that most missions are full of filler situations, and it seems like the 10-hour campaign is somewhat too big considering everything. Each hero gets a good amount of skins and cosmetics, but they seem repetitive sometimes. This all leads to what could be the game’s biggest issue - the loot. The gameplay is built around this design, gifting the player different components to be able to acquire a new skin. Microtransactions are also present here, following the footsteps of most current games. These games have been trying to make the most amount of money possible in the post-launch while releasing half-done games to the public. Major downer.

Talking about the post-launch, the content lacks depth overall. Cosmetics do not help its case at all, recycling missions while adding a superficial quantity of new things for the player to do after they complete the main story. This is an essential aspect of a game. It has to maintain its active player base for at least 2 years to make the money invested back. These negative aspects make Marvel’s Avengers fall to the bottom part of the list.

7. Spider-Man (2000)

Activision’s Spider-Man is a really nice game overall. It was released for Windows, Mac, the original PlayStation, Dreamcast, the Nintendo 64, and the Gameboy color. It features some of Marvel’s and Spider-Man’s most famous characters, like Black Cat, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Scorpion, J. Jonah Jameson, and a few others. This game succeeds in giving the player control of Spider-Man in a semi-open world, allowing them to think about how to approach each scenario calmly.

It is a single-player campaign, following a plot around Spider-Man’s encounters with each villain and taking care of them. The player can unlock a few different costumes for Spidey via cheat codes, including the symbiote, Spider-Man 2099, and…Peter Parker. Yeah. Some interesting choices were made for this one.

For a first-generation console, this game has some cool features. Spider-Man has different powers and abilities, like wall-crawling and web-slinging. Besides this, the villains chosen for this iteration of the hero were a plus, in my opinion. By keeping a simple, straight-line structure, it succeeds in restricting the possibility of mistakes. Of course, it does not hold well using our anachronic lenses, but let’s face it, we all had a lot of fun playing this at our parents’ houses.

6. Batman: The Telltale Series (2016)

Batman: The Telltale Series was released in 2016 for lots of platforms. PC users, Xbox (360 and one), and PlayStation (3 and 4) got the chance to dive into an interesting experience. Presenting gamers with choices of dialogue and paths to follow, it became known fast in the industry for its high standards.

Comprising of a handful of different chapters, each including a new storyline for Batman, it was innovative in some aspects. Firstly, for people that are not acquainted with this style of gameplay, it is basically a big, interactive trailer. You (almost) never get to control the character, besides when quick-time events happen.

This, though, does not stop the game from beings lots of fun. Batman’s design is pretty slick, and he looks good and youthful. The gameplay looks like an impressive drawing but has an adult vibe to it. It is extremely different than most games on this top 10. It is designed around the story and not modern game mechanics by involving all possible buttons available on the control. Considering this aspect, the player remains deeply involved with the plot. This version of Batman is charismatic while being dark and moody. His relationship with Cat-Woman is an important part of it, remaining a constant throughout the series.

It could be higher on some people’s lists, but in my opinion, it is a niche game. The style is too specific but remains a good alternative for people who like this version and style. Highly recommend it for a good (sort of) stress-free time.

5. Injustice 2 (2017)

Improving on 2013’s Injustice: Gods Among Us, Injustice 2 gave the public a really good fighting game once again. DC was able to bring our beloved heroes and villains to consoles and PCs all around the globe. Justice League members such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman take center stage in this game, but this does not prohibit others like Flash, Green Arrow, and Black Canary from being active in missions and fights in general.

The game has a good cosmetic system for superheroes. Skins, armor pieces, and shaders can be obtained with in-game currency and can be swapped in any form the player wants. Some of them can completely change how the character looks, along with powers and abilities as well. Regarding the story, it does not disappoint. In Injustice 2, DC takes the players again through an alternate timeline where Superman has gone rogue, and the remaining Justice League members can contain him in a red sun holding cell. This story has been used a few times before in some DC movies, but seeing a powerhouse like Superman going against his strongest beliefs is cool.

A problem that Injustice 2 has is the quantity of DLC launched. Some of them are game-changers, adding to the mix of characters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hellboy, and also fighters from the Mortal Kombat universe. Cosmetics are also available here, but they do not change the game much; they just add more fun to it by bringing in more people that were not there for the launch.

4. Batman: Arkham Knight (2015)

The Arkham series has three extremely solid games, and Batman: Arkham Knight does not disappoint. It adds so much to an already vibrant world of Batman and his foes. It also brings something extra to the table: a powerful tank-looking Batmobile that is essential to the gameplay during some sections.

Batman: Arkham Knight’s single-player campaign continues in the footsteps of Asylum and City but creates and gives the player the opportunity of exploring an occupied Gotham City after all sorts of criminals go loose. Batman evens the odds with his vehicle and also brings more gadgets and muscle with a brand-new, modern, and versatile Bat Suit. The game shined as part of the then-new-gen consoles in high resolution. Gotham being rainy throughout the game helps this aspect a lot, making the city’s vibrant colors shine even more when chasing thugs throughout the desert streets.

The skins and cosmetics are also awesome. Gamers can make this buffed Batman look like several other iterations of the character, such as Batman Beyond, Christian Bale’s Batman, New 52’s, and many different ones from movies and animations. It is truly a highlight.

The game also has some dual-action moments with Batman tag-teaming with his former protegé Nightwing and his current one, Robin. This adds so much to a combat that has been perfected for years already until that moment. One fair critique of Batman: Arkham Knight is that it grounds the player too much sometimes. The game’s main storyline (along with a handful of side quests) makes the player necessarily be in the Batmobile. The vehicle becomes a safe space to drive around when the city becomes a hazardous nightmare. Overall it is a major upgrade from Batman: Arkham City, an extremely good experience, which is next on our list.

3. Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Similar to Batman: Arkham Knight, its predecessor Batman: Arkham City, brings Batman to his natural habitat. The game takes the caped crusader through an investigation inside the walls of Arkham City, a super-prison made to contain Gotham’s most dangerous criminals. The name of the game says it all. It is not simply a prison, though; the landscape looks much more like a city with buildings and houses. It allows the player to go search for Riddler question marks, interact with random thugs, and fight Batman’s worst enemies during missions.

The reason why Batman: Arkham City is above Batman: Arkham Knight on the list is pretty simple. Batman: Arkham Knight improves on a lot, of course, but it is Batman: Arkham City that builds up a solid base for what game developers gave gamers in 2015. An open world, the flying around the map, and the great number of gadgets are what Rocksteady’s Batman games are known for. Batman: Arkham City brings this in a more contained fashion, considering it was originally planned for the Xbox 360 and the PS3. This does not stop the fact that it is solid as a game can be, giving players the control of Batman again after the success of the first installment of the Arkham franchise, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

2. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

I was torn between putting this game and the 2018 version of Spider-Man in their respective positions. Spider-Man: Miles Morales adds so much to the table, even though it only does the simplest things players can ask for in a triple-A, open-world game based on our beloved friendly neighborhood hero.

A compelling story of how Miles Morales, a simple New York kid, came to be an essential guardian of the huge city he lives in. The drama surrounding his parents, his uncle, and Miles’ regular day-to-day life. This, when put together with the almost-perfect gameplay delivered in 2018 originally by Insomniac, allows gamers to sling some web around New York’s skyscrapers once again.

This game, in my opinion, was helped a lot by the 2018 movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which featured Miles as the protagonist. Not that Miles was not important or known already, but this made the game heavier, in a good sense. His story, even though told again through different lenses, is heartfelt. The losses and the victories. How we move on from problems matters, and Miles Morales became a synonym for who Spider-Man is. Not a sidekick, but his own hero that helps and is helped by Peter in the fight against crime.

1. Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018)

Wow, we finally got to first place. Marvel’s Spider-Man is just…awesome. Insomniac did an extremely good job of bringing what people have been seeing in cinemas and imagining for a long time to their consoles. Peter Parker is our Spider-Man, and he goes through a lot during the game. He has to confront some of his biggest (well, quite literally sometimes) enemies and most cunning adversaries.

Going around the city has never been more fun. Catapulting yourself around buildings and slinging with the help of cranes makes the gameplay wonderful. Peter - much like Miles had in his sole game - has lots of different gadgets and suits to choose from, some of which change his abilities a lot.

The hiatus between the release of the previous Spider-Man game (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) was enough to make players hungry for more again. This version of Peter Parker does not disappoint, delivering so much while also not doing too much. Side quests, collectibles, interactions in general, and cutscenes are what make the difference on a long-term basis. With all of these elements combined, Marvel’s Spider-Man does a great job of providing one of the best (if not THE best) iterations of the hero.

READ NEXT:

Featured