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captainofthestars

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Every Superhero Game I've ever played, ranked from Worst to Best

When it comes to works of fiction, I have three great passions: Star Wars, the High Fantasy genre, and the Superhero genre. As I have played a fair number of video games from each of these three categories, I thought it only right to list them all. This first list is of course, the superhero games. They are listed in order of least favorite to most favorite. For those wondering why greats like Spider-Man PS4 and X-Men Legends II aren't here, its because they're games I (sadly) haven't played yet. I also won't be counting LEGO superhero games, as I think of those more as LEGO games first, and superhero games second. I similarly will not include Future Revolution, because that game got shut down before I could play anything but the opening and the Spider-Man prologue.

So happy Superman '64 is nowhere on this list ;)

List items

  • GBA version, which to be honest I had basically completely forgotten about, and even now that I remember playing it I don't remember any of the gameplay at all. Whether it was fun, tedious, so-so, nothing. Only that one level near the end was so insanely hard I never finished the game. But as to whether or not it was a good game, I can't rightly say. Hence, why it's the first one here.

  • Technically I only played a very little bit of this game, but I figured that was enough to have it count for this list. Also means I didn't have to put any games I actually liked as the worst entry here.

    In all fairness, the game IS better than the movie its based on, and is one of the better movie tie-in video games to boot, but it's still far from the best that superhero video games have to offer.

  • This is a game I had actually completely forgotten I had even played. I only just recently remembered that I had played it and so have belatedly added it. But the fact that I completely forgot I'd ever played it is telling. Not saying it's an awful game. No, if it had been awful I probably would have remembered it better. No, it's just kind of...there. I appreciate that there's a Versus mode that lets you play as a host of characters from the series (including Red X!), but on the whole this game is one I struggle to remember much about. So like the GBA Incredibles, I have to rank it near the bottom due to just not remembering it well.

  • Yes, the combat is rather mindless, button-mashing type fare, but I nevertheless sunk quite a few hours into this one and had fun with it. So basically, it's not a great game objectively, but I have a soft spot for it.

  • I feel like this is a game that everyone hates on. For my part, I do think the graphics and character models show their age some, and I also really dislike the (so far as I could tell), absence of a dedicated "Single Player Vs. AI" mode. But as a sucker for crossovers, I honestly was onboard with the premise, and also liked some of the character endings (particularly Sub-Zero becoming more like Batman in his). This game also has my favorite design for Kitana, which is a weird thing to note or praise, but it is my honest opinion. So in sum, I don't hate this game anywhere near as much as most people seem to, but having said that it is definitely overall weaker than both the MK games that would follow it, and also the dedicated DC fighting game franchise that would also follow it.

  • I love the huge cast of characters and alternate skins/costumes this game offers, and I really do think its impressive just how many faces from Marvel Comics, the MCU, and elsewhere it pulls in. But, it's also a Freemium mobile game, which seriously diminishes its appeal for me (especially given that my phone usually doesn't have the storage to play it anyway).

  • This is the Batman game that crawled so that the Arkham games could run. And that's exactly its problem: taken on its own, it's an adequate Batman game, but it's completely overshadowed by the Arkham games that would follow. Arkham Asylum alone (to say nothing for its even better sequels), just do all of the best things about this game so much better such that there's little to no practical reason to go back to this game except as a history lesson. Tragically, Batman: Arkham Asylum just rendered this one obsolete.

    Though if nothing else, I did really like the feature in the game where named representatives of generic enemies (including League of Shadows Ninjas!) could be visited in prison cells where you got bios on them. Kind of wish more games and other fictional works did that, as its one of those little things that appeals to me.

  • While I'd still say it's an overall better experience than the movie it's based on, the graphics have aged pretty poorly in my view, as have the quick-time events (one of the first of these leading to the infamous "I'm going to die" scene that became a meme). The combat I also think is a bit clunky, or at least it felt like it the last time I tried to play this game again, though perhaps I was just rusty.

    It's not all bad though. I do at least like that you get to play as New Goblin, as I think more Spider-Man games should let you play as a Goblin given how perfectly suited for a video game the Goblin's arsenal is. Rage-Mode in the Black Suit is fun, and I like that you can take pictures in this game, but I never did figure out how to look at the pictures I took later on, so that was a bummer. It also has an honestly pretty solid take on Scorpion in both design and backstory, AND gave us something the actual Raimi films didn't: Connors becomes Lizard. And this is a minor point, but I also like that the gangs you fight all have their own unique look and flavor to them (something Ultimate Spider-Man also did).

    So on the whole, I can't really call this a terrible video game, but it isn't a great one either. Among the plethora of open-world Spider-Man games (because there have been a ton of them), this one isn't really a stand-out entry .

  • Based off of Season 3 of the 2003 show, I just don't like this game as much as the first two. Which isn't to say that I think it's BAD. I don't. But the gameplay of the first two entries has been altered into what feels like a pseudo-dungeon crawler. And while the idea of a TMNT-themed dungeon crawler is an interesting one, I don't think I prefer it to a more conventional action-adventure beat-em-up, which is a format that suits the Ninja Turtles much better. Also, I confess I was never able to beat this game without enabling the invincibility cheat code. So in all, a decent Turtles game, but not my favorite one by any stretch.

  • I feel kind of guilty ranking this one as low as I have. It's rightly regarded as a classic of the Nintendo 64/PS1 era, and is based off of Spider-Man's world as it was in the late 90s. Plus, Black Cat is in it (once again voiced by Jennifer Hale, which is always nice). There's also a nice number of alternate costumes and comic covers to collect. Pretty bare-bones by today's standards, but by the standards of 2000, pretty solid. But...

    ...the graphics have aged as poorly as you'd expect, the camera can be a pain, and if there's a coherent save system to this one, I never did discover it (meaning that if I ever had to stop playing before I'd won the whole game, I would have to start from the beginning all over again. Not exactly a fun notion). Honestly, Spider-Man 3 and Future Fight both have things about them that I like more, and so I really only ranked this one above those two because of its status as a classic.

  • Probably gonna get heat for ranking this one so low, since a lot of folks love and swear on this game. And to be fair, it IS really good overall. Its art style, which is basically the art of the actual Ultimate Spider-Man comics in 3D, looks great (at least for the time), and its gameplay is an overall polished version of the ground-breaking Spider-Man 2. And hey, you can play as Venom! But...

    ...playing as Venom in free-roam just isn't worth it, given that your health drains constantly, and the instant you do pretty much anything, an endless wave of cops and then SHIELD guys go after you until you eventually fall, meaning playing as Venom is basically little more than an endurance game. But the bigger problem is the story, which is just...awful. Beetle's role is poorly explained (if at all), we have Nick Fury and SHIELD keeping secrets from Spider-Man that I don't think we the audience are ever actually clued in on, and Silver Sable manages to capture Peter in a way that makes absolutely no sense given both his Spider-Sense and superhuman agility. Also, Green Goblin and Wolverine show up just because. I get that superhero video games need boss fights, but the inclusion of these two feels...forced, to say the least.

    And no, the involvement of Trask in the deaths of Peter's parents isn't really dealt with in a satisfying way either given how quickly its glossed over and how it doesn't even seem to affect Peter all that deeply.

    Again, I get why people love this game. It IS a good Spider-Man game (certainly far from the worst). But its storytelling is so awful that I just can't bring myself to rank it higher than I have. Admittedly, it's got better gameplay overall than the next one on my list, but it also has much worse storytelling (or at least I think so).

  • This one's a heartbreaker for me. I was rooting so hard for this game to succeed, and in some respects it does. It looks pretty good (or at least I think so), and there are flickers of greatness, mostly in the story and its solid take on the ever-lovable Kamala Khan. It really does feel like one of the Avengers movies, and I mean that as a compliment.

    But here's the thing: once you've beaten the main story, unless you get the DLC stories, there's pretty much no reason to keep playing. Because none of the gear you get actually changes your look, farming and grinding for gear has no real appeal or incentive. There are a boatload of costumes for all the characters, many of which do look really good, but they're locked behind either microtransactions or a progression system that requires an unreasonable amount of grinding to unlock. And yes, I know tons of other modern video games do this too...and I hate it there also.

    With all that said, I actually don't mind the combat. It's kind of button-mashy, but I think it does a solid job of making the Avengers feel like the powerhouses they are, and even though the character's movesets aren't as unique as they seem, I do think the characters still feel unique enough (they definitely don't feel like palette swaps). I do really wish there was more enemy and boss variety though. The Marvel universe is such a vast place, that I would have loved to have seen a greater number of supervillains to fight, and even just minions who weren't AIM.

    So again: glimmers of greatness, and the potential to be for the Avengers what Spider-Man PS4 was for the web-head, but ultimately, said potential wasn't realized.

    And yes, I do think its BS that Spider-Man was a Playstation exclusive. Nuts to that.

  • It's a real shame to me that this game got delisted and is basically no longer available anywhere unless you're lucky enough to find and get a used copy. Because I honestly consider this a very underrated X-Men game that didn't deserve to fail as badly as it did. Yes, the graphics are sub-par even for the time, and yes, it could have been overall better. But honestly, getting to customize your own Mutant character is just such a perfect idea for an X-Men video game that I'm honestly amazed no one else has thought to do it before or since. I can see this premise being done again with a bigger, more ambitious X-Men game, one that could hopefully succeed where Destiny failed. But until then, this is what we've got. And even aside from the customization appeal, I think it actually boasts a decent story and writing and gets the characterization of the different X-Men more or less right. And also, you can beat up the Purifiers. And as someone who read God Loves, Man Kills (the story by Chris Claremont that introduced them), I can tell you that mowing down scores of these genocidal, bible-thumping turds is immensely cathartic.

    So yeah. It's not a perfect game, but it's one I have a big soft spot for and consider unfairly judged by most. It deserved better.

  • Oh, the mixed feelings I have for this one. The fact is, I adore the premise of this game. Enough so, in fact, that it was a major influence on the Spider-Man fan-fictions I would go on to write (and yes, I know, I'm a total nerd). But premise is, of course, not enough on its own. Execution also needs to be good. And that's where this game is on much shakier ground. The graphics (even for the time), look kind of crude, some of the animations are bad, much of the voice acting is also bad, and NYC feels like a complete war-zone even before the Symbiote Apocalypse, which is actually a problem because it makes said Symbiote Apocalypse have less dramatic weight. If NYC was already feeling like a complete war-zone, is it really making that much of a difference if the culprits are Symbiotes or purple and orange-clad gangsters duking it out?

    I do love that you get to have Spider-Man choose whether to resist the Symbiote's corruption or not, but I am very miffed that there's no option to be with Black Cat without going full-on villain. When is Marvel going to commit to a world where those two stay as a couple?

  • A classic for me, being along with the show its based on a big part of my childhood. Setting nostalgia aside for a moment or two, the game's nothing particularly sophisticated, and shows its age plenty nowadays. But it's still a game I had a lot of fun with. The combat is fairly button-mashy, but also feels like it has some weight to it as you thwack baddies around left and right. There's also an impressive amount of enemy variety and a huge number of different boss battles, way more than you see in many other video games. A little touch that I like is that some of these bosses are only faced by certain Turtles, which encourages playing through the levels as all of them. Casey and Splinter are unlockable too, so there's also that. On top of that, there's ALSO a versus mode that basically functions as a TMNT fighting game where you can play as (among others), Hamato Yoshi and the Shredder. Nice.

  • "My toes! My toes!" XD

    In all seriousness, this is a classic, fun side-scroller beat-em-up. The recent Shredder's Revenge pretty clearly owes its existence to this game also.

  • What I suspect for most people is the definitive entry in the Marvel Vs. Capcom franchise, and it isn't hard to see why. Gorgeous sprite models, a massive roster of characters, and let's face it, being the origin of all those M.U.G.E.N. fighters, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is a landmark game. I consider it tied with the next entry on my list...

  • ...its sequel. While the switch from sprites to 3D models will likely irk some, I still think overall this is a fun MVC entry in its own right, and one that definitely holds up better than the fourth entry, Infinite. I especially love all the unique interactions and trash-talk between different characters. If I had any major complaint with this game and the previous, it is the lack of any "single fight Vs. AI" mode, meaning that someone like me who doesn't do online play is basically just forced to do the basic Arcade Mode over and over again, which does kind of wear thin after a while. Hence why these games don't rank as high with me as they otherwise would.

  • Sequel to 2003 TMNT game covered above, with much of what I liked about the first game present here to an extent. So why does this one rank higher? Well among other things, more unlockable characters, including the seriously awesome Slashuur, who is basically a (mostly) heroic counterpart to Utrom Shredder.

  • I've only played a bit of this one, but honestly, I liked what I saw/did. The customization is pretty solid, and feels like something you could spend endless hours tinkering with, and that's BEFORE you start getting gear to change how your character looks. It also boasts a robust collection of DC characters from the comics, voice-acting from the likes of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, and combat that I found to be fairly satisfying as far as making me feel like a powerful superhuman. In all, the game basically does what's expected of it as a Superhero MMO. I probably should have played more of this one than I did.

  • Another underrated great. With graphics that, honestly, look pretty good by 2002 game standards (particularly Green Goblin's fairly detailed character model), combat that is essentially an improved and expanded upon version of what the 2000 Spider-Man game offered, and Bruce Campbell's delightfully sardonic narration, I have a lot of fondness for this one. The best thing though, is getting to unlock and play as the Green Goblin, who has an impressive amount of work put into him to make him play differently from Spider-Man. Heck, they even have various characters in the game's levels talk to Green Goblin with dialogue particular to him, again showing some nice commitment and attention to detail. It might be weird to say, but I think I'd say this game has the best take on a playable Green Goblin to date.

    There's also a bowling mode. Yes, seriously. And as bowling is one of the only sports I like, that's an added plus for me.

  • Gameboy version, which managed to be even BETTER than the console version, and is definitely one of the better GBA games I remember playing, with a surprisingly complex (for a GBA game anyway) combat system, and absolutely gorgeous visuals that still hold up. Nice amount of enemy variety too, which is something I always like seeing.

    And yes, the fact that I got both the console and GBA versions of the same game and played both of them multiple times each, shows pretty clearly how much of a Turtles fan I was...and still am.

  • As one of THE most iconic and beloved Superhero video games ever (much as the movie its based on is that for Superhero films), I would be remiss to not rank this one high. Never actually did finish this one (unfortunately), but yes, this is a great game. While subsequent open-world Spider-Man games expanded on the formula with things like alternate costumes, a greater number of villains, telling their own stories rather than adapting a movie's, etc., this is still the one that started it all.

  • While not as groundbreaking as the first entry, I really do like this game. I loved the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and I think overall the sequel is a solid follow-up. I like that you can now select dialogue options for a bit of light roleplaying, with said dialogue also subtly changing depending on what hero you're playing as (Spider-Man's line options are different from Wolverine's for example). And while they might be somewhat OP, I really do love the fusions you can do (even if the actual number of novel combinations is smaller than you might initially think). On top of all that, the game also loosely adapts a classic and iconic Marvel story in Civil War and, if anything, improves on it in some ways (since here the heroes actually join forces again to defeat a common foe and the game ends with either the SRA being repealed or amended).

  • While definitely overshadowed by its bigger, more ambitious sequels (and prequel), Arkham Asylum still deserves credit as the game that began what is probably the single most successful Superhero video game series ever. And honestly, the story (written by the great Paul Dini), is pretty solid, and the game being confined to the Asylum and its grounds does give the story a more claustrophobic feel that the sequels don't have as much. And yes, those Scarecrow nightmare sequences are fantastic.

  • Another great DC game overshadowed by a bigger and better sequel, but also still a great game. With a story that feels evocative of my favorite Justice League cartoon story ever, and being the first great DC fighting game ever made, this was a video game I was obsessed with for a good long while, and though its graphics sadly show their age a bit now, I think overall it holds up very well.

  • Not only is this a fun game on its own merits, (also proving that not every good Spider-Man game has to be open-world), but I'd also argue this game was hugely important for Spider-Man as a whole. Because the comic story Spider-Verse was inspired by this game. The writer wanted to take the basic idea of this game and expand on it, giving us Spider-Verse. And from Spider-Verse, we got the inspiration for one of the best superhero movies ever made, as well as several follow-ups in the comics to the original Spider-Verse event. So to repeat, this game was a huge influence on Spider-Man as a whole, and so I think is worthy of praise just for that.

    As for the game itself, it is really fun. I love how each universe has its own distinct art styles without any of them being so different from the others that it feels incongruous. Having all of the Spider-Men be voiced by someone who voiced Spider-Man in a cartoon previously was also a great idea, and the game also features many other role reprisals too (I especially love hearing Steve Blum, who voiced Green Goblin to perfection in Spectacular Spider-Man, voice Hobgoblin 2099 here). And hey, they even threw a few extra costumes into the deal. In all, I can't see much to fault with this one.

  • This game got a lot of turned up noses when it came out, and I never understood why. This is a fantastic entry in the Arkham series, with a great depiction of Gotham in winter, some of the more memorable boss battles in the series, and you get to play as Deathstroke and Ninja Bruce Wayne in challenge mode. Really that last one alone is more than enough for me. I also think it does a good job depicting a younger, angrier Batman, features several of my favorite Batman villains (including some more minor ones who get less love outside of comics), and also has a great expansion that is basically an adaptation of the iconic Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice". Seems like an overall great package to me.

  • While it does show its age in some places (the pretty simplistic and crude character models, some bits of hokey/corny dialogue, etc.), it doesn't change the fact that this game is one of the best love-letters to the Marvel Universe I have ever seen. Boasting not just a large cast of playable superheroes with distinct moves and alternate costumes but a huge number of villains, NPCs, and locations pulled from every corner of Marvel plus references galore to Marvel's rich comic history, this really feels like a game made by fans for fans. Can any of us really ask for anything more than that?

  • This one and the next are tied, because they're two parts of the same story and play pretty much the same. Fact is, the idea of a Superhero game where you can make moral choices and decisions is just a great one to me, and the Telltale Batman games really make me wonder why no one has really thought to do this before except for Web of Shadows. Even apart from the novelty and fun of getting to (sort of) mold Batman to your liking, the games also have a fun, purposefully inventive take on Batman's world that frequently changes, plays with, or subverts what you think you know about these characters. I especially love the game's take on Joker, AKA John Doe, and I even really like the Lady Arkham villain (and often seem to be the only person who does). The game also has, in my opinion, one of the very best takes on Catwoman alongside her fellow video game version from the Arkham series. So in all, I have no real complaints with Batman: The Telltale Series...except that we still haven't gotten a Part 3.

  • See above. Everything I said about the first part applies to this one too.

  • However much people love to complain about how the Batmobile was used in this game, I still consider this one of the finest superhero video games ever. Graphically, its gorgeous, its combat lands as well as the earlier entries in the franchise, and you get an impressively large variety of playable characters besides Batman in the challenge mode, including Azrael and Red Hood. I also do kind of like the story too, much as I wish they had made Arkham Knight someone other than the most obvious candidate (although it does mean Arkham Knight's cool look is an alternate skin, so there is that). It's got enough dark twists and turns to keep me engaged, plus the ever-welcome presence of Mark Hamill's Joker (here acting as deranged commentary through Batman's adventure, almost like a sadistic Greek Chorus). And while it's a shame that the nightmare sequences from the first game didn't return, John Noble's voice acting as Scarecrow is god-tier. Love the design they game him too, which is basically my favorite look for the character ever.

    The game also boasts an honestly pretty great Season Pass, with stories centering around Ra's al Ghul, Killer Croc, and Mr. Freeze that are all pretty well done, with that last one ending Freeze's story on a nicely bittersweet note. Mad Hatter's is a lot less special, but it's also nothing offensively bad either.

    In all, I love Batman Arkham Knight, and make no apologies for it. I get rather annoyed with the grief this game gets, and most of it is very undeserved. At least in my opinion.

  • You know, I could probably write a book (or at least an essay), detailing every single one of the frustrations and "yell at TV" moments this game has given me. But in the end, none of it changes the fact that I also had my triumphs and pleasures, and that regardless, Overwatch became a massive cultural phenomenon in a way that Superhero stuff that isn't Marvel or DC rarely does. The game IS addictive as hell, and I sunk tons and tons of hours into it. I may not love everything about Overwatch (*cough, cough* ROADHOG, *cough, cough*), but the game was simply too big of a time-sink and source of pleasure for me overall to be ignored. And like most people, I love the cast of characters it introduced us to (and also memes!)

  • Oh, how I was obsessed with this one for the longest time. After enduring an interminable wait for it to come out (during which I would speak, think, and speculate about it near constantly), it finally came out, and it was almost everything I had expected and hoped. As a slicker, better version of a game I loved and with superior graphics, it would have been great for that alone. But what elevated it even further, was the gear system. A delightfully addictive feature that allowed me to customize my own versions of beloved DC characters to my heart's content, it ensured that this game has basically endless replayability. Because the gear ACTUALLY CHANGES HOW YOU LOOK (take note, Avengers), there's a real incentive to keep playing and collecting gear. Plus, its (for me at least), a hell of a lot less tedious than many other games with lots of grinding/farming, because Injustice 2 doles out currency and Mother Boxes pretty generously, and completing challenges to get more Mother Boxes is honestly not that hard a lot of the time. As a result, the endless loop of playing and collecting more gear didn't feel even half as awful as it does in most other games that try this kind of thing.

    As if all of that wasn't enough, the game's story is also pretty good (at least in my opinion). I like the Injustice-verse, and so I definitely didn't mind spending more time in it. Really, this is just a perfect game for me, or else as close to it as any video game ever gets. What could possibly beat it out for the number one spot? Hm...

  • Ah right, this one. Really, I feel like there's not much about Arkham City that I can say that hasn't already been said. I could go on at length about the open world, the great combat and detective gameplay carried over from the previous game, getting to play as one of the absolute hottest and sexiest versions of Catwoman ever designed (who's also voiced to perfection by Grey DeLisle), the solid story and inclusion of multiple Batman villains...

    ...but I think you all already know about all of that. Because Arkham City is the best. That's really just all there is to it.
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