To quote dear old Uncle Ben, with great power, a lot of money and a blockbuster Summer movie crammed with CGi comes a more often than not a mediocre video game based on our favourite superheroes … ok we may have tweaked that quotation a little bit, but surely you know where we are coming from?
The hype is built up for months, we buy into the advertising and media campaigns, we wait patiently just to spend two hours sat in the front row, necks arched back so far you could almost kiss your own… anyway the movie is out and it’s amazing and we’re all delighted that Anne Hathaway was a fantastic Catwoman and there was something about a Bat guy too…
So what follows usually after the movie is weeks of merchandise to wade through, t-shirts, mugs, comics, novels, artwork, posters (whoever sent me those Catwoman posters thank you!) and then you come to the video game! While there hasn’t been a Dark Knight video game series, other movie franchises weren’t so slow to pick up on the success and mutate it into a disaster of a video game… and more often than we’d normally care to admit we’ve been suckered into picking up a copy (thankfully these days we’re smart enough to rent then!) just for the chance to play our favourite heroes!
Are they all bad? Is there any hope for the super hero movie genre video game? Well… let the list writing commence…
5/ Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Platform: PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS
Release Date: 2007
Developer: 7 Studios
Publisher: 2K Games
Take on the role of anyone of the members of one of the greatest superhero teams ever, Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, Thing and the Human Torch are about to face their toughest challenge yet or at least they would if this game was in anyway difficult. Firstly, we bough this for the PS2, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to play Sue Storm and wielding devastating telekinesis? Smart people who’d realise that novelty wears off quickly after the first stage, that’s who!
(I put this in here to cheer myself up!)
You button bash (and will often feel the need to headbutt your TV along the way) the whole way through the badly scripted hastily scrawled together game while levelling up and unlocking more… devastating… *yawn* powers which you can combine with your allies to perform… super mega awesome… *dies of boredom* combo attacks.
Why does it suck? Well like most games based on a movie, it’s made by collecting the scraps and droppings of other games (not always good ones) and then mashed together with some graphics that make Pong look like James Cameron directed the match and peddled out to fans who have been duped into believing, yet again this would be a good game!
Good or Bad? Sweet Stan Lee this is boring as hell!
4/X2: Wolverine’s Revenge
Platform: PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
Release Date: 2003
Developer: GenePool Software
Publisher: Activision
Ok so this could… technically be misconstrued as us cheating but when you’re dealing with a very limited pool of resources in which you can tap into halfway decent video games you’ll clutch onto anything! So the number four spot on our list goes to Wolverine’s Revenge, a title released to coincide with the release of the second X-Men movie and one that would follow Wolverine and Wolverine only in a game that actually had NOTHING to do with the movie! (Ok so we’re stretching it here but give us a break!)
Having being infected by a deadly virus Wolverine has 48 hours to source the cure but when all clues point to the Weapon X facility where the excruciating treatment that fused admanatium to his skeleton was done Wolverine must confront his past if he has any chance of a future. (Wow… we should write tag lines for movies and video games!) So what sets this apart from the fiasco at number five? Well because this actually plays like a good game, as Wolverine you have the ability to take down multiple foes with razor sharp claws, perform lethal stealth manoeuvres and explode into a vicious rage allowing you to ignore pain and damage not to mention dozens of combos and the ability to regenerate… who needs health packs!
Good or Bad? Good!
Click below to find out what games made it to our top three, is there any hope for the super hero movie video game?
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
3/Catwoman
Platform: PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GameBoy Advance
Release Date: 2004
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts
It might be obvious by now but this writer is a diehard Catwoman fan so hopefully you’ll understand that it’s a little hard for me to talk about the disaster that was the Catwoman movie let alone the shambles of the game…instead here’s the trailer and opening scene… I’m sorry I’m going to need a moment to compose myself…
Good or Bad? I can’t actually talk about this…
2/ The Incredible Hulk
Platform: PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii,
Release Date: 2008
Developer: GenePool Software
Publisher: Activision
Hulk smash! Hulk stomp around in a free roam world! Hulk get bored of leaping! Hulk feel the need to pursue other hobbies, perhaps flower pressing! The only real saving grace to this game is the fact that the entire cast of the movie including Ed Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth were involved in the voice work for their characters.
The Incredible Hulk is based on the 2008 film starring Edward Norton, the game is pretty much a copy and paste of the movie with some additional things thrown in including the option of playing Red Hulk (if you pre-ordered with GameStop).
Good or Bad? It’s kind of… alright.. like the movie it’s alright…
1/Batman Returns
Platform: SNES
Release Date: 1993
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Let’s step back in time, a side scrolling beat ’em up that to this day we can still recall struggling to bash our way through! Based on the 1992 Tim Burton movie, Batman Returns to this date is still our favourite super hero video game of all time. Tackling hardcore circus performers, TNT strapped giants, the vicious Catwoman, the manipulative and cruel Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin.
The game also features music by Danny Elfman, adapted for the video game, hell you even get to drive the Batmobile and throw Batarangs!
Batman Returns was awarded Best Licensed Game of 1992…!
Good or Bad? Amazing!
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
