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We intended to showcase a diverse offering of titles but ended up with four Batman games and six Spiderman games. So to challenge ourselves we decided to make it spicy.
Not too spicy though, the original title of the article was "Top Ten Superhero Games That Don't Feature Batman or Spider-Man" but apparently Spider-Man is in everything even resembling a Marvel game and good Batman-free DC games simply don't exist.
So with all that said, here are our top ten Webhead and Caped Crusader Lite SuperHero games.
So with all that said, here are our top ten Webhead and Caped Crusader Lite SuperHero games.
The Punisher
Like with The Punisher, Raven software completely understood what you want from a Wolverine game. Far more so than the film, the game is bloody, violent and completely over the top. It owes a fair amount to God of War but what modern hack 'n' slashers don't?
The level design is simple and, in honesty, it gets repetitive, but the production values and star power of Hugh Jackman and screen legend Will I Am give it an impressive Hollywood sheen. It's also impossible to tire of watching Logan's mangled body slowly regenerate after a brutal encounter. Thirteen years later the effect is still amazing.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
It's a quality dungeon crawler beat 'em up but it's the sheer quantity of content, references and surprises that make it one giant love letter to Marvel. Two sequels followed but neither matched the sprawling story and fantastic character roster of the first entry.
Ultimate Marvel v Capcom 3
And look one of Hawkeye's moves sees you shoot Ant-Man at your foe, who punches them in the face, grows fifty feet then stomps on them. If that doesn't twixt your nethers what will?
Lego Marvel Superheroes
The sequel has more characters but due to dopey licensing agreements does not feature The X-Men or the Fantastic Four. I mean what are we even doing?
Saints Row 4
The one thing that most licensed superhero games lack is the ability to really muck around. It would break the story somewhat if Captain America could throw cars at civilians. Volition isn't beholden to someone else's IP giving you permission to go mad, flying, racing, and leaping across entire sections of the map. It always makes me laugh when I remember this game has vehicles in it.
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is the ultimate Superhero sandbox. Turn a taxi into boxing gloves. Flatten a bus and ride it like a skateboard. Yank a turret off a tank and use it as a bat. Smash an army truck into a bowling ball and launch it at another army truck. Do enough damage to the surroundings and entire buildings will collapse. There was probably a plot but that's not what this is about.
This game needs a current-gen follow-up. Why Jeff Bezos is wasting his money on space rockets when he could be funding this is beyond us.
Guardians of the Galaxy
The gameplay is competent but the presentation is immaculate. It's a gorgeous-looking game, taking some cues from James Gunn's films but being distinct enough to step out of that pretty big shadow.
To everyone's amazement, the writing and characters rival their big-screen counterparts, elevating it beyond what initially looked to be something of a cash grab. Your teammates are constantly bickering as you scour various planets and berate and heckle you during combat. What's most impressive is how much dialogue there is. I played for hours and can't recall any repeated quips or insults.
Sadly, it kind of slipped under the radar after The Avengers' botched launch. A real shame as it's by far the superior game.
Injustice 2
This spot should have gone to Infamous or something but I just really like The Punisher.
Someone explain why we've got a remake of the barely ten-year-old The Last of Us but no one has greenlit a remake of, or even a sequel to, this beaut. While The Punisher is officially a tie-in to the 2004 Thomas Jane vehicle, a voice-over from the star aside, the game has very little to do with that film. It's for the best as it allowed Volition to have a bit of fun with the character and run with it. Really run with it.
Like the best superhero games The Punisher just "gets" Frank Castle, perfectly distilling Garth Ennis' pitch-black humour and injecting a frankly absurd level of "real world" violence not really seen in mainstream gaming outside of maybe Manhunt. Feed goons to sharks, throw lackeys head first into a furnace, lower mobsters into a woodchipper, it's all in a day's work for Marvel's most iconic maniac.
To spare the children the developers were forced to cut the game to black and white during some of the nastier sequences which... I dunno... a guy getting a power drill through the face in black and white is still a guy getting a power drill through the face.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Like the best superhero games The Punisher just "gets" Frank Castle, perfectly distilling Garth Ennis' pitch-black humour and injecting a frankly absurd level of "real world" violence not really seen in mainstream gaming outside of maybe Manhunt. Feed goons to sharks, throw lackeys head first into a furnace, lower mobsters into a woodchipper, it's all in a day's work for Marvel's most iconic maniac.
To spare the children the developers were forced to cut the game to black and white during some of the nastier sequences which... I dunno... a guy getting a power drill through the face in black and white is still a guy getting a power drill through the face.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Being better than the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie isn't the highest bar to clear, what with it being appalling and all, but this movie tie-in has the distinct honour of being among the best movie video game adaptations ever made.
Like with The Punisher, Raven software completely understood what you want from a Wolverine game. Far more so than the film, the game is bloody, violent and completely over the top. It owes a fair amount to God of War but what modern hack 'n' slashers don't?
The level design is simple and, in honesty, it gets repetitive, but the production values and star power of Hugh Jackman and screen legend Will I Am give it an impressive Hollywood sheen. It's also impossible to tire of watching Logan's mangled body slowly regenerate after a brutal encounter. Thirteen years later the effect is still amazing.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
When Raven software set out to make their "sort of" sequel to X-Men Legends they took the "More is More" approach. More characters, more villains, more locations. If you have a favourite Marvel character the chances are they make an appearance in the game. From Atlantis to Wakanda, from Asgard to Hell every corner of the Marvel universe is represented making for a truly epic and grand comic book adventure.
It's a quality dungeon crawler beat 'em up but it's the sheer quantity of content, references and surprises that make it one giant love letter to Marvel. Two sequels followed but neither matched the sprawling story and fantastic character roster of the first entry.
Ultimate Marvel v Capcom 3
Not just the best superhero fighter but frequently named among the best fighter games period. Frenetic, flashy and boasting an iconic soundtrack, the Marvel v Capcom series is so bonkers it frequently manages to make Street Fighter look like a relaxing game of Mahjong. UMvC3 perfected the title, tightening up the punishing combat and rounding everything off with fan-pleasing moves and ridiculous pairings. Deadpool and Dead Rising's Frank West is the team-up we never knew we needed.
And look one of Hawkeye's moves sees you shoot Ant-Man at your foe, who punches them in the face, grows fifty feet then stomps on them. If that doesn't twixt your nethers what will?
Lego Marvel Superheroes
Heartbreaking as it is to admit, it's unlikely we're going to get a Howard the Duck game anytime soon, so Lego Marvel Heroes is going to have to do. I praised Marvel Ultimate Alliance earlier for its vast number of playable and non-payable characters, but Take-Two apparently took one look at that roster yelled "Hold my drink", tripled it and made them all playable. Lego Marvel Superheroes is a genius and loving send-up of the publishing giant, fully taking advantage of having decades of material to pull from and play with. Like all the best Lego games the real fun comes after the main campaign when you get to free play and enjoy the gags and hunt for your favourite characters. Getting to run amok in a darling little Lego Manhatten is the cherry on top.
The sequel has more characters but due to dopey licensing agreements does not feature The X-Men or the Fantastic Four. I mean what are we even doing?
Saints Row 4
The Saints Row series or "The Little GTA Clone That Could" arguably peaked with Saints Row the Third but there is a place in our hearts for the everything but the kitchen sink approach of the fourth entry. The story is part Independence Day, part The Matrix, but it's just an excuse to untether the game from anything close to reality (You're in a simulation and have superpowers, have at it)
The one thing that most licensed superhero games lack is the ability to really muck around. It would break the story somewhat if Captain America could throw cars at civilians. Volition isn't beholden to someone else's IP giving you permission to go mad, flying, racing, and leaping across entire sections of the map. It always makes me laugh when I remember this game has vehicles in it.
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
It's astonishing that aside from the 2008 movie tie in no one has tried to make another standalone Hulk game. Especially when the blueprint is right here.
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is the ultimate Superhero sandbox. Turn a taxi into boxing gloves. Flatten a bus and ride it like a skateboard. Yank a turret off a tank and use it as a bat. Smash an army truck into a bowling ball and launch it at another army truck. Do enough damage to the surroundings and entire buildings will collapse. There was probably a plot but that's not what this is about.
This game needs a current-gen follow-up. Why Jeff Bezos is wasting his money on space rockets when he could be funding this is beyond us.
Guardians of the Galaxy
If nothing else Crystal Dyamnics' Guardians of the Galaxy just highlights how badly mismanaged Crystal Dymanincs' Avengers was. Rather than half a campaign with a looter/grinder tacked on Guardians of the Galaxy is a linear, narrative and character-focused third-person shooter, it feels like such a throwback it's almost quaint.
The gameplay is competent but the presentation is immaculate. It's a gorgeous-looking game, taking some cues from James Gunn's films but being distinct enough to step out of that pretty big shadow.
To everyone's amazement, the writing and characters rival their big-screen counterparts, elevating it beyond what initially looked to be something of a cash grab. Your teammates are constantly bickering as you scour various planets and berate and heckle you during combat. What's most impressive is how much dialogue there is. I played for hours and can't recall any repeated quips or insults.
Sadly, it kind of slipped under the radar after The Avengers' botched launch. A real shame as it's by far the superior game.
Injustice 2
There was a collective "huh?" When Midway Games announced Mortal Kombat vs Dc Universe way back in 2008, but from that decent, if weird, crossover Neatherealm produced the Injustice series.
Across both Injustice and Mortal Kombat Netherealm has developed their iconic fighting series beyond just uber-violent combat and gruesome finishers, refining the mechanics and loading each entry with a huge about collectables, gear and challenges. Marry that with another terrific roster of heroes and villains and some absolutely bonkers Super moves (The Flash runs his opponent back through time to smash them into the Sphinx's face, shattering its nose) and WB Games had a massive hit on their hands.
The series has been such a success in fact that the story has been 'canonised' into the DC Universe with a prequel comic selling like gangbusters and an upcoming film in production.
The Punisher 1993
Across both Injustice and Mortal Kombat Netherealm has developed their iconic fighting series beyond just uber-violent combat and gruesome finishers, refining the mechanics and loading each entry with a huge about collectables, gear and challenges. Marry that with another terrific roster of heroes and villains and some absolutely bonkers Super moves (The Flash runs his opponent back through time to smash them into the Sphinx's face, shattering its nose) and WB Games had a massive hit on their hands.
The series has been such a success in fact that the story has been 'canonised' into the DC Universe with a prequel comic selling like gangbusters and an upcoming film in production.
The Punisher 1993
It's Streets of Rage with The Punisher and Nick Fury.
This spot should have gone to Infamous or something but I just really like The Punisher.
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