They’ve been making games based on Marvel characters for decades now, but like most comic book-based games…there is a lot of crap out there. A lot of it is just cheap tie-ins to make a quick buck from a movie, leaving the gems few and far between. But like with Batman and the DC characters, there are occasionally Marvel games that rise above the rest to become true classics. Not just for being based on Marvel characters, but for being pretty great games as well. Here are the ten best:
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
The original Marvel vs. Capcom really established the “Vs” series for Capcom. Its sequel really raised the bar and became a true classic and one of the big selling points for owning a Sega Dreamcast. After the Marvel license changed hands so many times, people worried we’d never get a third game but that all changed just a couple of years ago and the wait was definitely worth it. The Ultimate version of the game expanded the roster even further by adding characters such as Hawkeye and Ghost Rider to the Marvel side and despite a bit of button mashing cheese, it really is the Ultimate Marvel game you can play right now.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
The first Marvel Ultimate Alliance built on the X-Men Legacy games of being a four-player Diablo-style action-RPG starring Marvel characters. It had a huge cast and actually handled playing Daredevil in a really cool way. While Civil War is now poorly looked back upon due to how Marvel retconned many of the universe-changing events and how it demonized Iron Man, MUA2 built its story around that major Marvel event and outdid the previous games in the series in almost every way.
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
No game before or after managed to capture the pure visceral joy of being the Hulk and smashing the hell out of everything in your path more than this game. Sega made and Incredible Hulk movie tie-in game a few years later, and all it did was make people wish for either a HD remake of this game or a true sequel. The Banner bits were handled very well, and whenever you became the Hulk it was hard to not have a huge smile on your face as you destroyed everything on the screen.
