You might have to think back to a day and age long ago to find an X-Men video game, despite the team’s continued appearance in universe-wide games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 or the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise.
However, there was a time when the X-Men were right alongside the popular Batman and Spider-Man games (sorry Superman, you tried), and Marvel’ mutant team’s games have actually been responsible for some lasting developments in gaming. So today we are going to take a look back at a few of the best X-Men games that make us hopeful Marvel’s mutants will find their video game footing again soon.
10 X-MEN: THE RAVAGES OF APOCALYPSE
Fans might remember seeing many of these games advertised in the pages of X-Men comics, though X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse was an interesting game to see included in the comics as it was basically an official PC expansion of the fan-favorite Quake game, so it required players to already own Quake to play Ravages of Apocalypse.
The game actually holds the Guinness World Record as the first superhero first shooter, as players moved through levels fighting evil cyborg versions of the X-Men, complete with their special abilities. Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Bishop, Psylocke, Archangel, and Storm were just a few of the X-Men players encountered in the game.
9 X-MEN 2: GAMESMASTER’S LEGACY
The Game Gear handheld console system was Sega’s 8-bit answer to Nintendo’s Game Boy and featured some exclusive games that were actually pretty decent, if you’re Game gear had enough juice left to play.
X-Men 2: Gamesmaster’s Legacy improved upon the gameplay of the first Game gear X-Men game, and featured a story right out of the comics that introduced unique characters like Trevor Fitzroy, Sienna Blaze, and Shinobi Shaw to new fans. The game also featured both Bishop and Cable as playable characters, which makes it at the very least a memorable game for the X-Men.
8 X-MEN (ARCADE)
Early gamers got their first look at homo superior in the arcades with the release of X-Men, which allowed for up to six players, yet another Guinness World Record for the X-Men. The game also featured a double screen similar to Tecmo Bowl or the Cinerama style of projection theater.
The Arcade game was also unique in that the character designs and story were loosely based on the Pryde of the X-Men TV pilot that was never picked up. The six X-Men available to players were Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler, who were also the main cast members in the animated pilot.
7 X-MEN
1993 saw the release of X-Men on the Sega Genesis, which was quickly classified as one of the hardest X-Men games ever played That’s saying a lot considering Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge exists, but it’s the truth.
Players could choose Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler or Gambit to move through the difficult levels with a quickly dwindling mutant power bar. The game even featured a rare ending that required players to lightly hit the Reset button, going against years of warnings against doing that exact thing.
6 X-MEN: MUTANT ACADEMY 2
The first X-Men: Mutant Academy was a 3D fighting game for the Playstation that was just okay, but Paradox amplified what worked about the game and fixed what didn’t for the sequel. Unfortunately, the series dropped off a bit in playability for the third game, X-Men: Next Dimension, so Mutant Academy 2 is the franchises sweet spot.
Mutant Academy 2 allowed players to choose from 18 different characters from either the X-Men or the Brotherhood and even Spider-Man was unlockable through the Arcade Mode. The first two Mutant Academy games shared a tie-in connection to the X-Men movies that included extra content like costumes and behind-the-scenes footage.
5 X-MEN: MUTANT APOCALYPSE
Capcom would have a lengthy relationship with the X-Men over the years, though most of its success would fall in the fighting game genre. However, the second game from Capcom that was based on the X-Men franchise was called X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse and was actually a 2D action platformer.
The game was fairly difficult as players had to play through the grueling levels of each member of the X-Men (Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, Psylocke, and Gambit) before getting a password that would allow them to move on. Mutant Apocalypse‘s graphics were great and it was actually fun to play, if not a little frustrating at times.
4 X-MEN: CHILDREN OF THE ATOM
The first game from Capcom to feature the X-Men characters was called X-Men: Children of the Atom, and it launched the franchises eventual future success with games like X-Men vs Street Fighter and the Marvel vs. Capcom series.
The game was loosely based on the Fatal Attractions storyline from the comics and featured the standard playable roster alongside villains like Omega Red, Spiral, Silver Samurai, and even a Sentinel. Capcom also included Akuma from the Street Fighter franchise as a secret character in the game.
3 X-MEN 2: CLONE WARS
Clone Wars was Sega’s follow-up to their popular but difficult X-Men, and featured new playable characters as well as fixed a number of the glaring issues seen in the first game. The sequel added Psylocke, Beast, and an unlockable Magneto to the playable roster from the first game, though the other X-Men continued to appear throughout the game.
Clone Wars loosely adapted The Phalanx Covenant storyline for the game and had one of the best game soundtracks of the era. The sequel was made infinitely more enjoyable thanks to the removal of the mutant power bar that had hindered the first game.
2 X-MEN LEGENDS
The X-Men are a team, yet for years players were forced to play individually as their favorite members of the X-Men (or Dazzler) instead of seeing the teamwork together on missions. X-Men: Legends changed all that with their four-player role-playing game that became a hit fan-favorite and still remains one of the best X-Men games we’ve ever played.
Not only did the game feature an original story set within the world of the X-Men, but players were also able to pick a team of four to play through missions with, and switch through each character with the press of a button. The various members used on the team would also get players bonuses and allow for mutant power combos.
1 X-MEN LEGENDS II: RISE OF APOCALYPSE
The best X-Men game ever only got better with the release of the sequel, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. The game followed the same gameplay format that Marvel would also use for the Ultimate Alliance franchise.
The sequel brought the X-Men and the Brotherhood together on a playable team to battle the forces of Apocalypse across a number of iconic comic settings. The game became a best-selling hit and is still the best representation of the X-Men in video games, though we’re hopeful we’ll see the X-Men return for the next generation of console games.
