Marvel Comics has put out a lot of videogames over the years. Some, like Insomniac's Spider-Man, Square Enix's Guardians of the Galaxy, and LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 have garnered a lot of praise and attention for their color, personality, and gameplay. However, praise and attention are not guaranteed in the video game sphere, even if your game is good.
Games based on Marvel properties are not immune to this rule. There have been many Marvel games that just didn't get that much attention in their day despite being fundamentally fun and enjoyable. These games have been condemned to the dust bin of history, even when they don't deserve it.
6 The Deadpool Game Was A Quickly Forgotten Spectacle Fighter
Deadpool was a spectacle fighter developed by High Moon Studios that was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2013, with a PC port developed by Mercenary Technology. This game allows fans to take the role of Deadpool as he murders and snarks his way into helping the X-Men stop Mister Sinister.
Deadpool was shorter (and actually cost $10 USD less for the effort) and didn't do anything particularly revolutionary. However, it was still a fun game with a few good one-liners. It was aptly violent and actually made a few funny jokes at the expense of game design conventions too.
5 Neversoft's Spider-Man Was An Exciting Spidey Adventure
Neversoft's Spider-Man has received some renewed attention in recent years, but that doesn't change the fact that the game was mostly forgotten for the decade that followed its release. It came out in 2000 and was released on PlayStation, GameBoy Color, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, and PC.
It was a third-person action game that allowed fans to play as the eponymous Wall-Crawler as they take on the likes of Scorpion, Rhino, Mysterio, Venom, Doctor Octopus, and Carnage. It also had cameos from other Marvel heroes like Captain America, Human Torch, Black Cat, and Daredevil. It was an all-around fun game and shows how Spider-Man games could still work even if they weren't sandbox titles.
4 Ultimate Spider-Man Was Overshadowed By Spider-Man 2
Ultimate Spider-Man was another fantastic Spider-Man game that has largely been forgotten. It doesn't help that it came out around the same time as Spider-Man 2, arguably the greatest superhero movie tie-in game ever designed. Ultimate Spider-Man was developed by Treyarch and released on GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, with Beenox handling the PC port and Vicarious Visions developing for GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS.
The game was released in 2005 and allowed the player to take the role of Spider-Man and Venom as they uncover a conspiracy that ultimately results in the creation of Carnage. Other villains such as Green Goblin, Shocker, and Beetle show up too. It used the cell-shading graphic format that many games were using around that time. Though the graphics are fairly dated, Ultimate Spider-Man looked fantastic at the time.
3 X-Men Legends Let You Build Your Own X-Men Team
X-Men Legends was the first major superhero title that introduced a Diablo-style dungeon-crawling action role-playing format to superheroes. It allows the player to build and use their own X-Men team of four as they take on Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in their latest ploy to establish global mutant supremacy. The sequel was just as good and saw the X-Men and Brotherhood teaming up to stop Apocalypse.
The games were released in 2004 and 2005 and developed by Raven Software for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PSP, and, surprisingly, mobile and the N-Gage (though Barking Lizard developed the first game for the N-Gage). These games paved the way for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and the oft-forgotten Justice League Heroes.
2 Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction Is An All-Time Great Sandbox Game
Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is still one of the all-time greatest superhero video games. It was developed by Radical Entertainment and was released on the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox in 2005. The player took the role of the Hulk in a sandbox environment that spanned a small New Mexico town and a dense metropolitan city.
Villains in the game included the likes of the Abomination, the Devil Hulk, Mercy, and General Thunderbolt Ross. The game also used a Grand Theft Auto-like notoriety system that steadily increased the law enforcement and military response whenever the Hulk starts doing the smashing thing. Ultimate Destruction allowed players to use ultimate attacks that would destroy all opposition within the area, and it truly made them feel as powerful as the Incredible Hulk.
1 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 1 & 2 Are A Marvel Geek's Dream Games
The Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games, like X-Men Legends, are not perfect titles. The games have a lot of problems, particularly with their difficulty curves and how grindy the combat can get, particularly in boss battles. However, they are a Marvel fan's dream, as they allow you to build your own team of heroes from a vast offering of Marvel icons.
The first game, developed by Raven Software, was released in 2006 for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, PSP, GameBoy Advance, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3, with a remaster coming out for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It presents a Marvel crossover-style plot wherein Doctor Doom assembles a new Masters of Evil with the intent of stealing the power of a god from Odin himself.
The sequel, developed by Vicarious Visions, n-Space, and Savage Entertainment, was released in 2009 for the PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC. This one also received a remastering for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 was inspired by the Marvel Comics Civil War story, with Captain America and Iron Man facing off with armies of heroes over the Super Hero Registration Act. The gameplay is actually more polished and streamlined in this game, but it was still buggy like its predecessor. Regardless, both present a superhero nerd's dream of building and using their favorite Marvel heroes in high-stakes life-or-death adventures across the Marvel Universe.
The recent sequel, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order tries but struggles to capture the magic of the first two, unfortunately.