Highlights
- Marvel's early video games faced mixed success, with some forgotten titles slipping under the radar due to the passage of time.
- Iron Man & X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal and The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga received negative reviews for outdated graphics and lackluster gameplay.
- X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse and Fantastic Four also received criticism for their poor graphics and gameplay, while Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems stood out with its balanced characters and iconic storyline.
Home to The Avengers, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and many others, the Marvel franchise has a wealth of superheroes and comic lore to bring to life in video game format. The first Marvel video game would arrive on the Atari 2600 in 1982 with Spider-Man. After that, it would take some time before Marvel’s comic book iconography could be rendered sufficiently in video game format. Spider-Man's entries across the 2000s and late 2010s would prove smash hits, and numerous side-scrollers in previous decades would prove memorable.
7 Forgotten Spider-Man Games
With Spider-Man games becoming more and more popular as the years go by, it's easy to see why some of them have been forgotten.
This being said, with many movie and animated series tie-ins, not all were successful, and many slipped under the radar of public attention. Given the large list of Marvel games out there, it makes sense that even the most hardcore fans may never have heard of them. Some may even have forgotten that said games exist due to the passage of time.
8 Iron Man & X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal
Releasing across multiple platforms in 1996, Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal is a side-scrolling shooter that provides fans with a rare franchise crossover. The plot has the player teaming up with Iron Man and X-O Manowar together to protect the Cosmic Cube from a gang of supervillains. Collecting pick-ups and punching and kicking one's way through enemies and obstacles is the game's main offering, with cooperative gameplay also available.
Ultimately, the game would receive widespread negative reviews as many thought it felt and looked dated at the birth of 3D console gaming. Available on the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and handhelds of the time, not a single platform release received outstanding reviews.
7 The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga
Eidos Interactive released The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga in 1997 on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The game would attempt to give a much sought beat ‘em up format to the 3D generation of home consoles, yet the formula on display is lacking. While the environments and some obstacles are 3D, both the Hulk and the enemies are rendered 2D sprites in a graphically lacking game. Despite the Hulk seeming the perfect character to attempt a satisfying 3rd person beat 'em up, the game is let down by sluggish controls and dull visuals.
The plot uses considerable comic book lore, with Hulk taking on the U-Foes and Trauma, but ultimately, this is not enough to save a flat offering considered one of the worst in video game history.
6 X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse
A rare instance of the first-person shooter genre coming to a superhero game, X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse released on PC in 1997. However, most commentators would point out that first-person shooting did not remotely fit the superhero mythology and the game hardly captured the license. Running on the Quake engine, The Ravages of the Apocalypse has players shooting their way through 14 levels of X-men clones. While the game arrived at a high time for PC shooters, the graphics, level design, and awkward fit of the license leave much to be desired.
Given a freeware re-released in 2006, with patches and mods to address some glitches in the original, this game is only a curiosity for the biggest fans of the franchise.
5 X-Men: Mojo World
X-Men: Mojo World was released on the Sega Game Gear and Master System in 1996. This side-scrolling platformer allows the player to play as Wolverine and Rogue, with several other playable X-Men once unlocked. Set in the lore of the Mojo World, the X-Men are pitted against their fiercest enemies to give TV producer, Spiral, a chance to bring all citizens of Mojo under her control. The game puts the Game Gear’s surprisingly quality 8-bit color graphics to good use, though the level design is repetitive and far from imaginative.
A title only for Game Gear enthusiasts and rabid fans of the X-Men franchise, this side-scroller is neither the strongest in the genre nor the franchise’s offerings.
4 Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four was released on the PlayStation in 1997 to a lukewarm response. Acclaim Entertainment would bring the Fantastic Four to video game life through the 2D beat 'em up genre. Unfortunately for Acclaim and this use of the Marvel license, the genre was long done come the late 90s. The title would also be beset with a shoddy graphical presentation and some dodgy controls. All four of the titular superheroes are available to play, though this dismal side-scroller hardly presents them in a favorable manner.
A Sega Saturn version of the game was announced, only for it to be canceled amid IGN claiming it to be among the worst games ever made. If there’s one redeeming feature, it’s the game's amusing choice of a funky jazz soundtrack, which is completely out of place with the gameplay on offer.
3 Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems
Based on the events of The Infinity War, Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems was released on the SNES in 1996. A beat ‘em up platformer, the player can play as Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, or Captain America as they battle their way through Earth and outer space. One of the game's strongest assets is the balancing of the 5 superheroes, all weighted differently with a range of abilities and assets.
The 30 Best Spider-Man Villains of All Time, Ranked
From Kingpin to the Green Goblin, these fantastic Marvel villains have given Spider-Man plenty to think about over the years.
Based on the Marvel Super Heroes arcade game, the game would take on the gameplay formula of the iconic Final Fight. Levels include a pantheon of enemies made up of figures from the franchise, including Daredevil, Doctor Doom, and Silver Surfer. Even Thanos makes an appearance in this title.
2 Avengers in Galactic Storm
Avengers in Galactic Storm is a fighting game released by Data East in 1995. One of the developer's last fighting games ever made, this Avengers title would be the first fighting game to introduce assist characters to the one-on-one format. Featuring large 3D rendered sprites and crisp colorful visuals, this fighting game is a fine entry in the mid-90s pinnacle for the genre, reminiscent of Killer Instinct. Playable characters include Captain America, Thunderstrike, Doctor Minerva, and numerous others as assist characters.
Spider-Man: 11 Best Marvel Cameos In Spider-Man Games
Across the decades of Spider-Man games, the amazing wall-crawler has seen a few guest appearances from iconic Marvel characters.
Set in the "Operation: Galactic Storm" series of comic books, this fighting game would inspire later, more famed entries of the franchise including Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.
1 The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback!
This curious Game Boy entry for the Marvel franchise was released in 1991 by Acclaim. A rare genre to see on the platform, The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback! brings an on-rails shooter to the compact handheld format. Once again, Frank Castle is after the mafia to take revenge for the death of his children and wife. In a charming piece of cross-branding, Spider-Man makes cameos across the game in cutscenes and to save hostages once the player has laid their captors to waste.
This game was a handheld translation of the NES that was released during the previous year. Both were on-rail shooter entries for either platform, with villains including Hitman, Sijo Kanaka, Colonel Kliegg and Jigsaw all making appearances.