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Danial79

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Marvel Characters In Video Games - Part 2

By Danial79 1 Comments

 For whatever reasons, comic characters have always had a tough time translating over to video games. Due to my love of both, this has always bothered me. A recent exception has been Batman: Arkham Asylum, which has shown that it is possible. I recently ran through some of the "heavy hitters" in my "Marvel Characters In Video Games - Part 1" blog to see how I think they could or couldn't work, but now I thought I'd take a look at the second-tier characters... 
 

Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men 

These three teams feature prominently on the list, but because I've already covered them in Part 1, I won't repeat myself here. 
 

Black Panther

Black Panther might be able to hold his own in a game, but with his powers being "enhanced senses", he's not much different to Daredevil, who being the more popular character, would make the better choice for a game.
 

Bucky Barnes

I see Bucky as more or a side-kick, so would be more likely to make an appearance in a Captain America game than have his own.
 

Cable 

I think Cable would absolutely suit his own game.  His speed could allow for some cool F.E.A.R.-like bullet-time battles, and his cybernetic arm would make for some nice "special moves". He's also known for his usage of various futuristic weaponry, and the fact that he's from the future could come into it with some time-travel plot pieces.
 

Falcon 

Falcon is more of an auxiliary character to Captain America, but his list of abilities could actually make him an interesting character to play. He can naturally understand and speak telepathically with birds, which I'm sure could have many uses in a game. Also, his costume allows him to fly and has a mask that gives him sight in different ranges from night vision, infrared, magnification, and 360 degree. I know he's not very well known, but why should that stop anyone buying it if they actually made it well?
 

Ghost Rider     

No Caption Provided
Ghost Rider has actually had his own game, but as with all movie adaptations, it sucked... bad. It gathered a massive 54% on Metacritic, which is a shame really, as he has some pretty awesome abilities that I think could be cool in a game: He has the Penance Stare, which would obviously only be used on your final target, and could make for a cool cinematic ending to the fight; his cool chain that  can grow in length, transform into other weapons such as a spear, and spin fast to be used as a drill; he  has complete control over fire, he can generate and project Hellfire in massive amounts and manipulate it in anyway he likes; t hen there's his bike, which is super-fast and can even travel vertically or across water; and the one that I took most notice of, is that he can travel between Earth and Hell at will, which I'm sure could be used to some very cool effect. Now I'm not even a Ghost Rider fan, but I think there is a ton of potential right there! 
 

Iron Fist and Luke Cage 

 I've added Iron Fist and Luke Cage together because they both featured in their own series together, and also, I just think they would make an awesome game duo. Obviously it would be some sort of beat-em-up, but if you were able to switch between either at will, or have a second player co-op, I think it would be great fun, hailing back to the days of classics such as Double Dragon.
 

Jim Hammond 

Although Hammond is a robot, I think his like appearance to Johnny Storm would simply confuse people, and Johnny is more known anyway, so any developer would just simply go with him.
 

Patsy Walker/Hellcat 

Despite currently having 650 appearances, I don't think that many non-comic-readers would have heard of Patsy, or even her alter-ego, Hellcat. I know I hadn't before researching this blog. With her abilities being mystical-based, she would probably serve better within a Doctor Strange or Defenders game perhaps.
 

Silver Surfer 

The Surfer has featured in many games, but only one of his own, back in the NES days. I think the problem with him having his own game is that, 1) He can fly, even to space, which means he would have to be limited somehow, which would then take away from the feeling that you're playing as him, and 2) His powers are almost limitless, so again, you'd have to constrain them somehow. Being able to go anywhere and do anything would not make for a very interesting game, and as I mentioned, if you limit his scope somehow, then players/fans will not feel they are getting the complete "Silver Surfer Experience".
 

Ms. Marvel 

I think a Ms. Marvel game would suffer the same draw-backs as a Superman game. Being super-strong and being able to fly have not fared well for old Supes in the gaming world, so I doubt Ms. Marvel would be much different. 
 

War Machine 

War Machine is more of an auxiliary character to Iron Man than a stand-alone, and has even featured in several Iron Man games, so I don't really think he would warrant his own game. 
 

Conclusion 

I think the stand-outs of this list for me were clearly Cable, Falcon, and Ghost Rider, but do I think they will ever star in their own game any time soon (discounting the appalling Ghost Rider game), I would have to say... no :(    
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Danial79

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Edited By Danial79

 For whatever reasons, comic characters have always had a tough time translating over to video games. Due to my love of both, this has always bothered me. A recent exception has been Batman: Arkham Asylum, which has shown that it is possible. I recently ran through some of the "heavy hitters" in my "Marvel Characters In Video Games - Part 1" blog to see how I think they could or couldn't work, but now I thought I'd take a look at the second-tier characters... 
 

Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men 

These three teams feature prominently on the list, but because I've already covered them in Part 1, I won't repeat myself here. 
 

Black Panther

Black Panther might be able to hold his own in a game, but with his powers being "enhanced senses", he's not much different to Daredevil, who being the more popular character, would make the better choice for a game.
 

Bucky Barnes

I see Bucky as more or a side-kick, so would be more likely to make an appearance in a Captain America game than have his own.
 

Cable 

I think Cable would absolutely suit his own game.  His speed could allow for some cool F.E.A.R.-like bullet-time battles, and his cybernetic arm would make for some nice "special moves". He's also known for his usage of various futuristic weaponry, and the fact that he's from the future could come into it with some time-travel plot pieces.
 

Falcon 

Falcon is more of an auxiliary character to Captain America, but his list of abilities could actually make him an interesting character to play. He can naturally understand and speak telepathically with birds, which I'm sure could have many uses in a game. Also, his costume allows him to fly and has a mask that gives him sight in different ranges from night vision, infrared, magnification, and 360 degree. I know he's not very well known, but why should that stop anyone buying it if they actually made it well?
 

Ghost Rider     

No Caption Provided
Ghost Rider has actually had his own game, but as with all movie adaptations, it sucked... bad. It gathered a massive 54% on Metacritic, which is a shame really, as he has some pretty awesome abilities that I think could be cool in a game: He has the Penance Stare, which would obviously only be used on your final target, and could make for a cool cinematic ending to the fight; his cool chain that  can grow in length, transform into other weapons such as a spear, and spin fast to be used as a drill; he  has complete control over fire, he can generate and project Hellfire in massive amounts and manipulate it in anyway he likes; t hen there's his bike, which is super-fast and can even travel vertically or across water; and the one that I took most notice of, is that he can travel between Earth and Hell at will, which I'm sure could be used to some very cool effect. Now I'm not even a Ghost Rider fan, but I think there is a ton of potential right there! 
 

Iron Fist and Luke Cage 

 I've added Iron Fist and Luke Cage together because they both featured in their own series together, and also, I just think they would make an awesome game duo. Obviously it would be some sort of beat-em-up, but if you were able to switch between either at will, or have a second player co-op, I think it would be great fun, hailing back to the days of classics such as Double Dragon.
 

Jim Hammond 

Although Hammond is a robot, I think his like appearance to Johnny Storm would simply confuse people, and Johnny is more known anyway, so any developer would just simply go with him.
 

Patsy Walker/Hellcat 

Despite currently having 650 appearances, I don't think that many non-comic-readers would have heard of Patsy, or even her alter-ego, Hellcat. I know I hadn't before researching this blog. With her abilities being mystical-based, she would probably serve better within a Doctor Strange or Defenders game perhaps.
 

Silver Surfer 

The Surfer has featured in many games, but only one of his own, back in the NES days. I think the problem with him having his own game is that, 1) He can fly, even to space, which means he would have to be limited somehow, which would then take away from the feeling that you're playing as him, and 2) His powers are almost limitless, so again, you'd have to constrain them somehow. Being able to go anywhere and do anything would not make for a very interesting game, and as I mentioned, if you limit his scope somehow, then players/fans will not feel they are getting the complete "Silver Surfer Experience".
 

Ms. Marvel 

I think a Ms. Marvel game would suffer the same draw-backs as a Superman game. Being super-strong and being able to fly have not fared well for old Supes in the gaming world, so I doubt Ms. Marvel would be much different. 
 

War Machine 

War Machine is more of an auxiliary character to Iron Man than a stand-alone, and has even featured in several Iron Man games, so I don't really think he would warrant his own game. 
 

Conclusion 

I think the stand-outs of this list for me were clearly Cable, Falcon, and Ghost Rider, but do I think they will ever star in their own game any time soon (discounting the appalling Ghost Rider game), I would have to say... no :(