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The top ten superhero games before today
This list is no longer valid. Think of it as a snapshot from the past. It's a page out of history, back to the days of yesterday, before Batman: Arkham Asylum came out and shoved everything on the list down a notch.
After the jump, reminisce with me about what superhero games were like on August 24, 2009.
Yes, Kratos is a superhero. He certainly broods like one. Just because there's some silly Greek mythology riffs in here doesn't mean he wouldn't be wearing tights if they'd been invented.
Speaking of tights, no game better captures the dress-up aspect of the superhero creator in these games. Except maybe the micropayment + subscription fee + paid retail copy game, Champions Online, which comes out next month and was made by the same developer.
After the East Coast is devastated by a toxic apocalypse, a band of superheroes save it in this comedic adventure game from 1994. It was the first time Steve Meretzky plied his trade entirely in graphics.
I'm talking, of course, about the 1979 Atari 2600 Superman, an open-ended extravaganza that included X-ray vision, Metropolis, kryptonite, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and alter ego Clark Kent.
This Diablo-alike captured wonderfully the X-Men conceit of a bunch of dudes with disparate powers working together. Yeah, it was hack-and-slash. But it was X-Men-themed hack-and-slash.
You've probably never heard of this game because it was cancelled before it was made. It was supposed to be like X-Com, but with superheroes. It would have been created by SimTex, the folks who made Master of Orion and Master of Magic. If it had actually been completed and released, it would probably be even higher on the list.
What makes Batman Arkham Asylum so great is how well it captures what's unique about Batman. That's what also makes Spider-Man 2 so great. Web swinging through an open city full of missions was almost as dizzying and exciting as, well, web swinging through an open city.
Ditto what I just said about Spider-Man 2, but this time with the uniquely smash-inducing powers of The Hulk.
The best superheroes also get the best stories. Irrational Games was in fine form in this game, more comfortable than ever spinning a narrative around their characters while a nifty action/strategy game played out around them all.
The sequel might have been more refined in terms of gameplay, but the original is still the original. If there's one thing better than a great story, it's a great origins story. And if there's one thing better than a great origins story, it's about a dozen great origins stories.
By Pseudonym at 1:13 PM ON 08/25/09
I was all prepared to be angry, and then you went and put Freedom Force exactly where I thought it should go, so... Guess I'll just have to post on an entry detailing a top 10 list without complaining about anything.
I'm sure my internet license is about to be revoked.
By Ginger Yellow at 2:47 PM ON 08/25/09
FF and FF vs 3rd Reich are available for £5 together on Steam. Awesome.
By Eduardo X at 4:14 PM ON 08/25/09
You... you actually put Hulk: Ultimate Destruction on the list? I'm flabbergasted! I thought you hated it!
By anscosta at 4:55 PM ON 08/25/09
Eduardo: you're probably thinking of the more recent and lot more suckier The Incredible Hulk game.
By Eduardo X at 4:59 PM ON 08/25/09
No, I'm thinking of this, one of my favorite games. Tom has never seemed to be a big fan of it.
By Wholly Schmidt at 5:23 PM ON 08/25/09
So you can bend the rules enough to let in God of War, but not Crackdown, the super-hero-iest of all non-super-hero games? And what about the recent Wolverine game? It's not top 5 material, but should certainly crack the top 10.
By Pogo at 6:05 PM ON 08/25/09
While God of War is suspect (might as well call Dante from DMC a superhero), no Wolverine game ever made deserves to be on any list.
By Mihos at 6:23 PM ON 08/25/09
By the logic your using for Kratos, Mario would qualify as a hero... at least Mario had "Super" in his titles and wore a cape sometimes.
I would put Mullet Aquaman over any Wolverine game.... how sad....
By Lizard Dude at 6:23 PM ON 08/25/09
Did Crackdown just lose to a 2600 game and an unreleased game or did it get disqualified for some reason?
By Tom Chick at 7:44 PM ON 08/25/09
Okay, dudes, first of all, Crackdown was no mere superhero game. It is too big for superheroes! Plus, he was a cop. Duh. I don't think civil servants are allowed to be superheroes. That's a conflict of interest.
Second of all, while I had some problems with the Hulk game, let me make two points: 1) It did a wonderful job of capturing the Hulk-ness of The Hulk. 2) Playing through Prototype made me like the Hulk game even more for not sucking as badly as it could have. Yeah, I said it. Prototype fans may now descend upon this comments section to vent their rage.
Third of all, I'm afraid I didn't play the last Wolverine game. I sorta kinda half meant to, but nothing I heard about it made me want to play it.
By The Professor at 8:49 PM ON 08/25/09
I am quite delighted that the Superman 2600 game made the list. For its time, that game was fantastic! It really got a lot of use out of the Atari 2600. Bravo!
By anon at 9:01 PM ON 08/25/09
just to be that guy, in the marvel universe superheros had to register with the us government making them civil servants. also, in watchmen the comedian and dr manhattan are both in service of the the us government. there are probably tons of other examples of this. you dont have to take that seriously at all though.
i guess this could be retitled as "top ten comic book games" and remove any bickering but it still leaves kratos to question ...
...
also prototype wasnt that bad, i found it enjoyable
By Josh at 11:59 PM ON 08/25/09
Well, yeah, to help anon out a little more. The backstory one character in Freedom Force was a policeman, known as Order. It was two superheroes in one though (Law and Order). Then there was the Bullet who was an AirForce pilot.
Eh, just being picky. Freedom Force is well and truly deserving at being in the top two spots.
By elvenangel at 11:42 AM ON 08/26/09
I love how you harp on the MT for Champions without even knowing a thing about it. Its not different then the MTs that WoW has. Its pets and costumes none of which give you any sort of benefit in game. Yet Because its a new game that dared to use the word MT ..its goign to get crapped on. Atleast know what your talking about Syfy before you harp on something like a crybaby.
By Zombies8MDingo at 3:17 PM ON 08/28/09
You put Spider-Man 2 on the list and ignored Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows?? There's a whole team of psychiatrists treating you, right?
By Vince at 2:05 AM ON 09/03/09
This is a really great top ten list, Spider-Man 2 is a game that I have played out, glad that it made this list. Anyone can post their own list to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.
Vince:
This is a really great top ten list, Spider-Man 2 is a game that I have played out, glad that it made this list. An...More »