Top 5: Favorite Comic-book/Superhero video games?

[Shogunn2517]

Just curious to see what are your top five favorite games featuring superheroes.  Not necessarily tied to one of the giant publishers, Marvel or DC, but even if it's a game featuring a character who can be considered a superhero(Infamous) or a game that is based on actual superhero(es)(Freedom Force/Freedom Force vs The Third Reich).  For whatever reasons you play, the format, genre, characters, story or whatever the reason, what are you top five favorite Superhero video games?

[Glitch Girl]

Of the stuff I've played...

- X-Men (Konami): With two screens and up to 6 players, this thing ROCKED.  The cell-shaded graphics basedon "Pryde of the X-Men" helped, but it was all about the multiplayer.  We wore out the cabinet at my college arcade in a matter of months.

- Freedom Force: What can I say, I really liked this one, the first PC superhero game I played that really captured the comic book feel.  The level of customization was amazing for it's time too.

- X-Men Legends 2: Barely edges out Marvel Ultimate Alliance.  Reminiscent of Freedom Force in tactical aspect, it was more fast paced with decent RPG elements.  

- Marvel vs Capcom: Frickin' loved this beat 'em up.  It was a solid 2D fighting game with plenty of characters and just the right amount of gimicks.  

- The Adventures of Batman & Robin: I only got to play this a couple of times (played at a friend's dorm room) and it was HARD, but I loved the look.  Then again, I've always been bad at platformers; the fact I kept wanting to play it despite this says something.

[primus]

In no distinct order

1. Marvel vs Capcom 2- So many characters, easy to jump in and play, great sprites
2. Ultimate Alliance
3. Wolverine Uncaged Edition- Great combat, great gore
4. Xmen
5. Batman Rise of Tzin Tsu (spelling)

[Shogunn2517]

GG, good list, but I have a question.  In your opinion, what makes XML2 better than XML?  For that matter, what would make it edge out MUA?  I'm curious.  Honestly, I am likely to list XML in my top five over MUA(hadn't played XML2) because XML is more geared towards the type of play.  The X-Men are a team.  A bunch of Marvel superheroes together aren't really a team.  I actually begin to group characters together based on team affliation for a level, often depending on the villain or stage.(ie Fantastic Four, X-Men, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Defenders, original Avengers, West Coast Avengers, etc.)

Not to get off on a tangent, just curious.

[BlueBard]

To tell the truth, I haven't played all that many.  I assume we're not including MMO's in this count and I don't own any game consoles.  That being true, I'd have to elect Freedom Force and Freedom Force VS The Third Reich to the top spot.  I'd probably still be playing them if it had been a little easier for me to mod when I had time to do it, or if there had been a multiplayer campaign mode.

I've played Spider-Man 2 (Activision) for the PC and never, ever got past the Rhino battle.  I'm just no good at those hand-eye games on the PC and probably never will be.  A console might be different, but I'm not buying.  I invested in a laptop instead.

If I am allowed to include City of Heroes in the count, that would nudge out FF/FFvTTR with the advent of the Mission Architect.  It makes "modding" easy as pie, if somewhat limited, and I have high hopes that the options will improve over time.

[Zippo]

Freedom Force/FFvTR
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
X-Men Arcade Beat-em-up
Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Superman 64, only because the sheer terribleness of this game at the very least provides popular culture with something to forever make fun of, which puts it just above the overwhelming mediocrity of a large number of superhero games.

[Glitch Girl]

RE: Shogunn

Okay, you asked for it...

I played XL2 before I played XL so I got to see how the series would evolve before I played its roots.  I found XL to be very limited in character selection early in the game and not very multiplayer friendly out of the box (you have to go through most of the first level with only one character whether you like it or not, and only get a second near the end, forget thrid or fourth players), replay value limited (you couldn't carry over any of the XP or stuff you earned from before, and the only thing you got out of it was a few new costumes), and backtracking if you missed something nigh impossible.  I also found I had to grind a few levels in the danger room before I got very far in the game to advance without dying frequently, but that may have been just me.  

MUA and XL2 are VERY close in my book but there were some things that made XL2 a slightly more enjoyable game for me.  

- More custom character growth: I liked being able to control my stats in XL2 and though gear was overkill in XL2, I felt it was underkill in MUA.

- Quick Time Events: Those !@#$%^&* simon says things were everywhere in MUA.  Disarm a bomb, play a quick time event.  Grab a weapon from a creature, play a quick time event. Fight a boss, play a quick time event.  Frickin' annoying.

- Murderworld unfinished: All of the levels in XL2 felt complete, but this level in MUA felt like it had been added at the last minute and incomplete at that.  There's even reference to riding the roller coaster, which never happens (just a fade out and fade in elsewhere).  The level felt spartan in spots as well, as if not fully dressed.  (Pitfall also was a painindabutt once the novelty wore off, but that's another story)  

- Supermove: you know that powerful move that everyone has that damaged everything on the screen practically?  I hated that if you used it in MUA, EVERYONE who was charged up would use theirs as well.  What if I wanted to save it?  Too bad I guess.

-Nightcrawler: Not only was he considered downloadable content on some systems (boo), he was completely unavailbable on the PS2 version of MUA (double boo).  Considering he's one of my favorite characters, I was a little annoyed.  

EDIT: directed at Court's post a little farther down...

This wasn't to say I didn't like the game.  My friends and I finished it twice with different team builds.  And I gotta agree, Captain America was awesome in MUA.  Of the four characters you start with, he was the only one I kept and never looked back.  At full power, Shield Throw could clear a room like nobody's business.

[gengoro]

1.X-men arcade (can we all agree this is the greatest and it needs a remake like turtles in time got?)

2.Freedom Force/FFTTR(Really should be #1. Damn you nostalgia!)

3.X-men Legends(legends 2 and MUA were better but for some reason its so fond.)

4.Spider-man for psx. Great game.

5.Marvel Ultimate Alliance

[Courtnall6]

In no particular order...

-Freedom Force/FFvs3R  (Endless possibilites)
-Spider-Man: Web of Shadows  (Best Spider-Man swinging and combat system yet)
-Marvel Ultimate Alliance  (Captain America is just awesome here)
-Hulk: Ultimate Destruction  (Better than the latest next-gen version which was still pretty good)
-City of Heroes  (Great hero/villain creator that gets better and better with newer patches)

Honorable mentions...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - I haven't played the full game but the demo was fantastic (Still waiting for the price to drop as I hear it's a short game)
Batman Arkham Asylum - This is gonna be sick.

[Tomato]

My list, prior to Arkham Asylum's full release (which I expect to be either above or below Spiderman)

Wolverine Origins
Spiderman Web of Shadows (also includes the other spiderman games from spiderman 2 on)
Lego Batman (PS2 also, but mainly DS. More unlockables... and frankly, who doesn't love lego Ventrilquist?)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (including XML1+2)
Hulk:Ultimate Destruction

[daerdevil]

1. Spiderman 2 - PS2 - The feeling of web-slinging through a living city was just incredible.  Nothing has come close to the exhilaration that this game provided me.  I'd just fire it up and patrol Manhattan w/ little or no purpose other than it was fun being Spidey. 

2. Spiderman for PSX - Just incredicle, although the chase sequences were a bit annoying.  This game was the first game to make me believe the Superhero genre could be done right.  The action was quick (and sometimes unforgiving) but this game gave us all the traits that make for a good Spidey game.  Also, tons of unlockable costumes = win for me.

3. MUA - PS2 and 360 - Yep, I bought it twice.  For me, it was a tough call, because I loved XML and XML2, but MUA just brought more of my favorite characters and to me some better features. The Simon says stuff, while I can see why people hate it, was enjoyable to me. The ability to form individual teams was great.  I liked using the Fantastic 4 for the Atlantis level, and then throw the Avengers at Mandarin on the next mission.  I got sucked into the epic feel of the game.  XML2 was outstanding, but towards the end, it became a bit of a grind, with too much maze craze and backtracking.  The Danger Room stuff I felt was inadequate.  XML, well, it was just a bit clunky compared to the next two and left out a lot of cool features.  And yes, I'm in agreement, Captain America was just great-hated to ever leave him behind on a mission. 

4. Freedom Force - PC - Just plain awesome. Customization became my life with this game.  My gripe is I'm a turn-based tactics guy not a RTS click-fest type--but dang if FF didn't make that real time combat fun!  FF would have been better if it were more like the ultimate game of all time, X-com:UFO Defense.  I was hoping for more non-combat sequences, base building, and maybe some strategic planning, but that's probably asking too much.  I didn't like the changes made to Power management in FFvTTR.  To tell you the truth, I got half way through the sequel and restarted the original.  I'll cheat on my list and lump FFvTTR in the 4th position too.

5. X-Men Arcade - GG nailed this one!  The amount of quarters lost to this game was ridiculous!  6 player anything is the way Coin Ops should be.  I loved the graphics, and the action.  The draw back, is in the end it was just repetitive button mashing.  The boss battles seemed designed to just suck your quarters, but the occasional team tactic did wonders. 

Honorable mentions:
XML2 could easily be up here, I just liked MUA better and would play that everytime over it.  XML2 had better flashback missions and I enjoyed the character building of Magma.

Bionic Commando -NES, while not technically a superhero game, throws in the action, thrills and chills of the superhero genre (plus the bad localization was way too entertaining).

Adventures of Batman and Robin - SNES - Great, great game but tough. All I have to say is, fighting the Joker on a roller coaster is a highlight of my gaming career.

Amazing Spiderman - Atari 2600 - the first real superhero game.  OK, it sucked, but I played this thing ad nauseum.  Misjudge that web, hit a window and fall to your death, wasn't too appealing, yet I played over and over.

[Glitch Girl]

Oh man, I forgot Lego Batman!  That one has to make the list.  I really liked how they handled the Hero/Villain missions: it wasn't the same level over again, it was a completely new area with some linking elements that tied it all together. 

daerdevil: two things:
- Actually Superman for the 2600 was the first superhero game.  It was fun and kinda different for its day.  I played it in the store a few times, though never talked my parents into getting it for my system

- remember when I said we wore out an X-Men arcade cabinet?  We played it so much we could beat it on one quarter.  A number of the bosses were hit-dodge-hit-dodge-hit-DOGPILE ON THE BAD GUY!-dodge 

Wanted to throw one more honorable mention in there...

Punisher (Capcom): It was basically your standard Capcom sidescroller but with Nick Fury and the Punisher.  My friend Ann and I would play it a lot (I was always Nick).  It had guns, grenades, improvised weapons and so forth.  Not as good as many of these on the list, but I still have fond memories of it.

[bat1987]

no order:

Spiderman:Web of shadows - finished twice to see both endings, really great action game
- no explanation needed.
Batman and Robin (snes) love the game, barely finished though, and I agree with daerdevil, the roller coaster fight is epic
The Punisher (2005) it has gore, blood and guns, pure Punisher fun.
Hulk ultimate destruction, couldn`t stop playing this one for a long time.

[daerdevil]

GG:  Superman for the 2600!  Argh, how did I forget?  I never actually owned it but I played my friend's copy. Calling it a game is a bit of a stretch, but yep, it was the first.  To this day, I still don't know exactly what you were supposed to do in it. There was some sort of helicopter, some floating mines, and a drop-dead gorgeous version of Lois Lane running around, plus all the at least 10 different city scapes that flipped by so fast when you flew, they could induce a seizure.  All in all, much time wasted none-the-less.

Thanks for pointing out how bad I was at that X-men arcade game...

Bat1987: Punisher (2005)- I absolutely loved that game, but man it got tough at the end.  Great cameos by Ironman, Black Widow, and Nick Fury.  The Bullseye fights were tops.  Add this to my ever-growing honorable mention list.

[Tomato]

Oh man, I forgot Lego Batman!  That one has to make the list.  I really liked how they handled the Hero/Villain missions: it wasn't the same level over again, it was a completely new area with some linking elements that tied it all together. 

It's even cooler in the DS one... when you play as Heroes you'll consistently come across things that are broken or blown up from the Villain levels.

[JeyNyce]

I really want to answer, but I can't list a top 5.  I love way too many Super hero games.