When it comes to superheroes and awesome stories, no one beats Marvel. However, their characters don’t always translate beautifully to video games. While some of their video games have been awesome (Spider-Man 2 comes to mind) others have been downright awful. Today, we’re taking a look at the worst Marvel video games of all time!
Worst Marvel Video Games of all Time
Uncanny X-Men 1989
Photo Credit: Defunct Games
NES games weren’t well-known for their stellar graphics, but usually you could at least tell where you were able to walk. This ill-conceived X-Men title barely functions as a game, let alone an X-Men game. A generic, top-down shooter, the worst part of this game is how bland it is. Even selecting different X-Men characters barely changes the gameplay and functions more like a palette swap.
Iron Man 2008
Photo Credit: The Astute Gamer
Tie-in games with Marvel films rarely fare too well with critics. This 2008 Iron Man tie-in is no exception. Featuring odd voice work and weird character models, this game is entirely awkward. Gameplay is stiff and far too easy, resulting in fights with no tension or drama. For how awesome the movie was, this game is a disappointing adaptation!
Spider-Man 1982
Photo Credit: YouTube
Spider-Man has been the start of countless video games throughout the years. This early-80’s game, released for the Atari, was one of his earliest appearances on a home system. Unfortunately, it’s also a buggy, frustrating mess. The gameplay is repetitive, featuring Spidey trying to land pixel-perfect web shots to climb buildings. Instead of, you know, just climbing up them with his superpower. The best thing about this awful game is its hilarious cheesy commercial.
Punisher No Mercy
Photo Credit: YouTube
The term “uninspired” is overused in video game criticism, but it’s so often exactly what a game is. This bland shooter has all the charm of a Call of Duty title without the polished mechanics or engaging gunplay. Without a solid narrative to pin down the single player campaign, you’re left with just the multiplayer. Sadly, even anything more interesting than a CTF mode or King of the Hill is missing in this boring 2009 shooter. Oh well, maybe Frank’s next game will be a winner!
Incredible Hulk 2008
Photo Credit: Gamepressure
For how awesome the MCU is, it had its fair share of terrible game tie-ins early on. The Hulk, for his part, controls like a slab of green meat on ice skates. Punching enemies is dull and makes nearly no impact. Destroying environments in repetitive missions isn’t fun or satisfying the way it should be. You feel less like an unstoppable force of nature than like a kid in a fake cardboard town. Everything is just so… flat.
Thor, God of Thunder
Photo Credit: NY Daily News
Thor is awesome, and so was his first movie outing in the MCU. Unfortunately, as was the case for all MCU game tie-ins, it’s middling at best. Combat is stiff, and the camera actively fights the player. Missions are rarely explained well, and the player is often left lost or stumbling. The narrative, which vaguely follows the film’s plot, is convoluted and hard to keep up with. Really, this one isn’t so much bad as it is overly mediocre. This one’s better off left with the blown-up remains of Old Asgard.
Fantastic Four 1997
Photo Credit: Forces of Geek
For being as awesome as they are, the FF sure do get crapped on a lot outside of comics. The four awful films they’ve been crammed into and this stinker of a game haven’t done the team any favors. In this side-scrolling beat-em-up, you control one of the four members of the team. It doesn’t really matter which one, as they’re all identical in game, despite their vastly different powers. The enemies have far too much health, the levels go on forever and boredom comes standard. If you can make it through this slug-fest you’ve got the patience of a saint.
Silver Surfer 1990
Photo Credit: YouTube
Speaking of games that try your patience, here’s one that does so for a very different reason. Silver Surfer, much like the Fantastic Four, has not gotten a fair shake outside of comics. He’s a cool character: tragically flawed, tormented and endearing. His video game adaptation, however, is an overly-difficult, cluttered mess. Each level is rife with obstacles that only become apparent after they kill you. The core gameplay isn’t awful, but it’s hardly worth slogging through the absurd difficulty curve.
Amazing Spider-Man 2
Photo Credit: YouTube
ASM2 was effectively the emblem of superhero film mediocrity. Sony dropped the ball in numerous ways with the film, one of which was the equally middling video game tie-in. This game wouldn’t exactly be described as bad, per se. Instead, it’s disappointing for how close it comes to being good. The end product, however, feels like a stitched-together series of half-finished gameplay concepts. Thankfully, the 2018 Insomniac take on the wall-crawler has come to wash the bad taste of this one out of our mouths!
X-Men Destiny
Photo Credit: IGN
The most disappointing Marvel game of them all, however, is the abysmal X-Men Destiny. Hailed as revolutionary before release, the game promised a lot. One such promise was a custom player character. Another promise held that the narrative would change based on player decisions.
However, upon release, these claims were found to be greatly exaggerated. The game’s story is boring and player choice is near meaningless. What’s worse, player characters are selected from pre-generated templates instead of being original creations. That’s really the opposite of what fans were excited for with this one. Since its release, X-Men fans are cautious when it comes to any video game rumors or speculation.
