The Incredible Hulk may be one of the most well-known comic book characters in existence, but for some reason, he isn't often considered to be one of the most popular. Despite first appearing all the way back in 1962, having multiple beloved comic runs, and featuring in a variety of TV series and movies, Hulk just isn't as beloved as industry staples like Spider-Man and Batman. However, the Hulk is far from being a Marvel unknown, and over the last two decades or so, his popularity has been steadily increasing - though that has little do to with the character's video game outings.
While the 2003 Ang Lee-directed Hulk and the MCU's The Incredible Hulk introduced the character to modern audiences, it's Mark Ruffalo's iteration of the character that modern fans have really grown an attachment for. From The Avengers all the way up to the Disney+ She-Hulk show, Ruffalo's Hulk has become increasingly popular, and many fans would assume that that would pave the way for more video game adaptations. However, that isn't quite the case, with only a handful of Hulk games released over the years, and just a few being of any real quality.
The History of Hulk Standalone Games On Console and PC
The very first Hulk standalone game, meaning one in which he's the main playable character, was 1984's Questprobe Featuring the Hulk. Developed by Adventure International, Questprobe Featuring the Hulk is an early graphic adventure game that sees the player control the Hulk via text inputs as he makes his way through the Chief Examiner's underground laboratory. Releasing for the ZX Spectrum and other competing PC platforms, Questprobe isn't the most technically-impressive game, but critics of the time were fairly positive of the title, heavily praising the game's large and bright graphics which were designed by Marvel artists themselves.
The next Hulk standalone game wouldn't release for another decade, with The Incredible Hulk for the Sega Genesis and SNES hitting store shelves in 1994. Developed by Probe Entertainment, The Incredible Hulk is a bit more of what fans would expect from an early Hulk game, with it being a side-scrolling beat-em-up platformer. On their way to find and stop The Leader, players will smash their way through a small variety of enemy units, using a handful of iconic Hulk moves to defeat them. The Incredible Hulk does have one particularly interesting mechanic whereby if the Hulk's health, or "Gamma Level," drops below 5% then they'll change back into Bruce Banner, who can only use a pistol to defend himself. The Incredible Hulk received pretty mixed reviews, with critics praising the game's variety of attack animations and moves, but criticizing the lack of enemy variety and the stiff controls.
In 1997, the Hulk made his debut in the 3D gaming landscape with the release of The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. A barebones third-person beat-em-up, The Pantheon Saga is widely considered to be one of the worst superhero video games out there, with incredibly repetitive gameplay, awkward controls, low-quality music, sub-par character models, and bland environments.
2003 finally marked the start of an era of quality for Hulk video games, with Hulk, the tie-in game to the Ang Lee movie of the same name releasing that year. While Hulk was yet another 3D beat-em-up, Radical Entertainment managed to put its own creative spin on things, and ended up making a solid movie tie-in game with plenty of variation in both gameplay and visuals. Hulk was the first video game to really show the character's destructive potential on a large scale, which Radical would go on to use in one of the most beloved Hulk games of all time.
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction hit store shelves in 2005, and quickly became the best Hulk video game outing of all time, with many fans still considering that to be the case now. Putting player-freedom first, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction allows players to free-roam around a variety of large open environments, destroying buildings, vehicles, and structures along the way. Ultimate Destruction set the bar for future Hulk games, featuring all of his iconic moves and allowing players to get creative with how they went about wrecking the city.
One of the early Sega MCU games, The Incredible Hulk released in 2008 for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii. Developed by Edge of Reality, The Incredible Hulk tries to capture the magic of Ultimate Destruction, but doesn't quite hit the same heights as its beloved predecessor. While the open-world destruction was pretty solid, the game's main story mode was not, with some extreme repetition, dull boss fights, and strange difficulty spikes hampering the experience. 2008's The Incredible Hulk was the last home console standalone game for the Marvel hero, and in this current age of team-ups, it doesn't seem likely that fans will get another strictly Hulk game for some time.
The History of Hulk in Standalone Games on Handheld
The Hulk has also appeared in a few handheld-exclusive titles over the years, again to varying levels of success. The first of these, The Incredible Hulk, released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. Hulk's back for another beat-em-up here, but this time it's from an isometric perspective. The Incredible Hulk for GBA is pretty simplistic, but its visuals and bright and detailed, and it has all the combat features fans would expect. The Incredible Hulk even has a "Hulkmatch" multiplayer mode in which two players go head-to-head.
The second Hulk standalone game for handheld is 2008's The Incredible Hulk for the Nintendo DS. While this game may have had the same cover art as its 2008 console counterpart, its gameplay couldn't be more different. As opposed to a third-person, open-world action game, The Incredible Hulk on DS is a side-scrolling platformer, but with a unique twist. The Incredible Hulk encourages players to speed through each level as fast as possible, while also destroying as much of the environment as possible. This can lead to some uniquely chaotic gameplay which looks pretty impressive on the Nintendo handheld.