Superheroes have been the biggest thing in the pop culture zeitgeist for the past ten years or so, but X-Men seems to have always been on the edge of being incredibly popular even before this new wave of interest in super powers. Players of the recent Marvel’s Avengers are enjoying their newest superhero fix, however many players likely aren’t aware of the full history of Marvel ensemble games. Before the Avengers was the biggest thing in pop culture, the most popular Marvel team was the X-Men.
The X-Men have had a ton of films, comics, and games since their creation in 1963. The property is so palatable for children and adults alike because of the wide cast of characters. Everyone has their favorite member of the team, and everyone can see themselves represented in the story.
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X-Men’s global relatability leads it naturally into the gaming space. Who doesn’t want to role-play as their favorite hero? Lucky for fans, there are 28 official X-Men games out there to provide virtually any X-Men-related experience a gamer could ask for. Here’s all 28 official X-Men games and the playable characters within them.
The Uncanny X-Men (1989)
This was the first ever X-Men video game. The game was playable on the Nintendo Entertainment System and featured Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Iceman as playable characters.
X-Men: Madness in Murderworld (1989)
This was a side-scroller for Amiga, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. Players could control Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine as they fought against Magneto and Arcade to save Professor X.
X-Men II: The Fall of the Mutants (1990)
This game was available only on DOS. Taking place in an alternate Marvel universe, players control Pyro, Storm, Cyclops, and Wolverine to defeat the Freedom Force and a powerful character known only as Adversary.
Wolverine (1991)
This game was created for the NES. Wolverine has been captured by Magneto and Sabretooth and stranded on a deserted island. Players must guide him through a wild adventure to escape the island.
Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge (1992)
This game was released on the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo and was sold majorly on the popularity of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man, Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine and Gambit are all playable characters in Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge.
X-Men Arcade Game (1992)
This was an arcade cabinet that found global acclaim. Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Night Crawler, Dazzler were all realized with graphics that couldn’t have been provided on home video game consoles at the time.
X-Men (1993)
This was another X-Men game released on the Sega Genesis. Gambit, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Cyclops must fight there way out of a sabotaged Danger Room.
X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1994)
This was a sequel to the Genesis game that was released the previous year. Players could control Beast, Cyclops, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Wolverine and even Magneto.
Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (1994)
This was released on the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. Wolverine returns to Canada on a hunt for answers about his past. Players control him to battle Lady Deathstrike, Sabretooth and a whole host of other Wolverine rivals.
X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994)
This game was extremely successful and was released on Sega Saturn, MS-DOS, and PlayStation after being released originally in the arcade. Colossus, Cyclops, Iceman, Psylocke, Storm, and Wolverine are all playable characters.
X-Men 2: Gamesmaster’s Legacy (1995)
Released on the Sega Game Gear, this game was based around the X-Men’s fight against the Gamesmaster. Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Bishop, Phoenix, and Cable must head out in search of the cure for The Legacy Virus.
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1995)
The game features Beast, Cyclops, Gambit, Psylocke, and Wolverine all going on their own separate adventures. The game was released only on the Super Nintendo.
X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996)
This wasn’t the first time X-Men characters met up with the Capcom universe, but is was the first game exclusively between Mutants and Street Fighter characters. Players control Cyclops, Gambit, Juggernaut, Magneto, Rogue, Sabretooth, Storm, and Wolverine.
X-Men 3: Mojo World (1996)
This game is a follow-up to Gamesmaster’s Legacy. Players control Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops, Havok, and Shard as they fight against an insane television producer who pits the X-Men against their most powerful villains for entertainment.
X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse (1997)
This game is a strange entry in the X-Men gaming universe because players don’t actually control any X-Men. The game is a first-person Quake conversion where players must battle against clones of the classic X-Men.
X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000)
This game was a straightforward fighting game on the PlayStation. Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Storm, Beast, and Phoenix are all playable characters duking it out for supremacy.
X-Men: Mutant Wars (2000)
This was the first X-Men game released on the Game Boy Color. Players control Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Iceman, and Gambit as they fight off an army of cyborgs.
X-Men: Wolverine’s Rage (2001)
This was another Game Boy Color title. Players control only Wolverine as he tracks down Lady Deathstrike to prevent her from building a machine that can melt his adamantium skeleton.
X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001)
This was a follow-up to the critically acclaimed fighter on the PlayStation. Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Storm, Beast, Phoenix, Nightcrawler, Rogue ,Toad, Mystique, Magneto, Sabretooth, Psylocke, Forge, Havok, and Juggernaut are all playable characters.
In X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, Professor X and even Spider-Man make appearances as secret unlockable characters.
X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse (2001)
This game was released only on the Game Boy Advance. Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and Rogue are stuck in an alternate universe where Apocalypse is king. Players must battle with these characters to save the day and return to the real world.
X-Men: Next Dimension (2002)
This game features one of the largest rosters of X-Men characters in one game. Players can control Bastion, Beast, Betsy, Bishop, Blob, Cyclops, Dark Phoenix, Forge, Gambit, Havok, Juggernaut, Lady Deathstrike, Magneto, Mystique, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Psylocke, Pyro, Rogue, Sabretooth, Sentinel A, Sentinel B, Storm, Toad, and Wolverine. This game is remembered as one of the best X-Men fighters largely because of its roster and arenas with multiple transitions and environments.
X2: Wolverine’s Revenge (2003)
The game follows the plot of the 2nd feature film. Players control Wolverine as he goes looking for answers about his past. The game mimics the look and feel of the film and was presented impressively on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A version of the game was also released on Game Boy Advance.
X-Men Legends (2004)
This was a major hit that inspired other top-down adventures in the superhero genre. Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Beast, Rogue, Iceman, Gambit, Jubilee, Magma, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Emma Frost, and Psylocke are all playable characters. It was released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Game Cube and is regarded among the best of X-Men games.
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005)
This game was not considered to be quite a good as the original by most critics. Nevertheless, it was still a well-liked addition to the series. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Bishop, Sunfire, Magneto, Toad, Scarlet Witch, Juggernaut, Pyro and Sabertooth are all playable characters.
X-Men: The Official Game (2006)
Released years after one of the films it is based on, the game was received with mixed reviews. Wolverine, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Magneto, and Colossus were playable, as players relived prominent moments from the X-Men and X2 films.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Largely considered the greatest Wolverine game ever made, the game loosely follows the plot of the film while adding a ton of new characters and bosses to fight. This bloody game was the most visceral representation of the character in gaming so far.
It really showed the power of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 by displaying Wolverine’s healing factor in great detail. Wolverine could be burned down to his skeleton and would heal in real-time.
Deadpool (2011)
Deadpool was the introduction of the character for a great many people. The game is held as one of the factors that contributed to fan interest in one day getting a feature film based on the character. Like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the game was a graphic, M-Rated load of fun that represented the crass nature of the character very well.
X-Men: Destiny (2011)
The most recent X-Men game doesn’t actually allow players to play as any known X-Men. The game features 3 playable characters who were created for the game. The X-Men characters known to fans are all unplayable NPCs.
There are a ton of choices for X-Men fans to play, but it has been a good while since a new entry was given to fans. Hopefully gamers will be getting an awesome game similar to Marvel’s Avengers based around these amazing characters. In the meantime, players should definitely go back and check out these titles.
