While new generations of video game fans wait patiently for recently announced next-generation superhero games likeSpider-Man: Miles MoralesorSuicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, it’s easy to forget how far these types of games have come in just a few years, despite the fact that superhero games have been on the market almost as long as video games have been made.
RELATED:Suicide Squad: 5 Reasons We’re Excited For The Game (& 5 Why We Wanted A Superman Game)
Looking back over the last two decades of games, it might be surprising to see which games and superheroes came out on top as much as twenty years ago that may have been forgotten with time. Thankfully,Metacritic’s rankings allow fans to take a trip down memory lane to explore some of thebest superhero gamesfrom the first decade of the new millennium.
10Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006) - 82
2006 saw the release of the first game in the fan-favoriteMarvel: Ultimate Allianceseries that brought together the various heroes of the Marvel Universe on a four-team squad controlled by the player, with more than 22 playable characters and unlockables.
Activision and Raven Software developed the first game that featured an original story that placed the Avengers, Fantastic Four,X-Men,Spider-Manand others against Doctor Doom and his allies, which inspired two follow-up sequels over the next few years.
9The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (2005) - 83
While fans had seen quite a few games that starred the unstoppable jade giant known as the Hulk, it wasn’t until 2005’sThe Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destructionthat players really got to step into the torn pants of the gamma-powered monster.
Ultimate Destructiondropped players into a destructible open-world as the Hulk is dealing with a group known as the Division and his own dark alternate personalities. Intriguing storyline aside, there aren’t too many games even today that let players Hulk-out quite likeUltimate Destruction.
8X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005) - 84
Marvel: Ultimate Alliancefollowed in the earlier success of theX-Men Legendsfranchise, which featured the same four-character gameplay that brought a wide selection of Marvel’s mutants to life in an original storyline that was heavily influenced by theUltimate X-Mencomics.
RELATED:Gotham Knights: 5 Ways It Should Be Like The Arkham Games (& 5 Ways It Shouldn’t Be)
The sequel introduced even more characters and allowed players to control members of both the X-Men and the Brotherhood while further refining the gameplay features of the first game, making it one of thebest X-Men games that have ever been released.
7City of Heroes (2004) - 85
Players first stepped foot in Paragon City in 2004’sCity of Heroes, an MMORPG that allowed players to create their own heroes and fight crime alongside other players, with the game expanding immensely with theCity of Villainsupdate.
The fan-favorite PC game introduced superheroes into the usual fantasy-based MMO format and gave gamers the chance to exploretheir own superhero storiesalongside other fans for years until the servers were inevitably shut down in 2012.
6inFAMOUS (2009) - 85
Sucker Punch Productions releasedinFAMOUSin 2009, which introduced gamers to Cole MacGrath as he gained powerful abilities from a mysterious explosion to become a Conduit, which launched a number of sequel games.
The game resonated with fans due to its well-scripted story and beautifully created world that players could easily traverse while exploring Cole’s new abilities and choosing the path of a hero or a villain, which would drive the later sequels and protagonists as well.
5Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000) - 85
The fourth game in the popularMarvel vs. Capcomfighting series was originally released in arcades in 2000 before moving to consoles in North America over the next few years and would become recognized as one of the best fighting games ever, despite its awful soundtrack.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroesfeatured an insane roster of over 50 playable characters from both the Marvel and Capcom universes, which would continue to release new games up to the most recentMarvel vs. Capcom Infinitein 2017.
4Spider-Man (2000) - 87
While fans got to play more advanced games featuring Marvel’s wall-crawler like 2004’sSpider-Man 2movie tie-in or 2008’sSpider-Man: Web of Shadows, 2000’sSpider-Mangame still stands tall among a packed decade of Spidey games.
RELATED:Spider-Man PS4: 5 Ways It’s The Best Spider-Man Game Of All-Time (& 5 Why It’s Spider-Man 2)
Spider-Manwas developed by Activision and featured an original story that was inspired by the comics that featured a number of collectible costumes while also introduced fans to the unique “Doctor Carnage” amalgamation of Carnage and Doctor Octopus that was unique to this game.
3Freedom Force (2002) - 90
Irrational Games developed 2002’sFreedom Force, which was a real-time tactical role-playing game featuringoriginal superhero charactersthat were inspired by classic Marvel and DC characters that proved to be popular enough for a sequel in 2005.
Freedom Forcefollowed a group of new heroes as they gained powers and abilities from a mysterious alien, Energy X, and players navigated each character through a series of missions that further developed the world and characters in a beautiful and fun tribute to the classic comics.
2Viewtiful Joe (2003) - 90
Capcomand Team Viewtiful released the crazy and entertaining beat’em up side scrollerViewtiful Joein 2003 and instantly won over fans with the dynamic and original story and beautiful 2D/3D animations.
WhileViewtiful Joemay fall more in line with typicaltokusatsustories than modern comic books, it’s undoubtedly still asuperhero game that was challenging, fun to play, and beautiful to watch as players entered the action-packed world of Movieland.
1Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) - 91
Most superhero gamers will agree that one of the best of the best is without a doubt 2009’sBatman: Arkham Asylumfrom Rocksteady Studios, which featured the Dark Knight as he takes on some of his greatest criminals after the Joker takes over Arkham.
Like Spider-Man,Batman had starred in quite a few gamesover the years, thoughArkham Asylumput players in control of Batman like never before, with advanced gadgets,detective mode, and a new combat system that would influence the next decade of superhero games.
NEXT:5 Reasons Spider-Man PS4 Is The Best Superhero Game (& 5 Why It’s Batman: Arkham City)
