Marvel comics has been making memorable and iconic characters because it first began printing comics greater than 80 years in the past. The writer behind heroes like Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four is a family title, partly due to its regular stream of mega-blockbuster films that each one happen in an enormous, interconnected world. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, has made a lot of its characters mainstream in a manner they by no means have been earlier than. The acquisition by Disney in 2009 solely amplified its reputation and scope, because the leisure mega-brand folds Marvel’s heroes into its different iconic properties like Disney animation, Pixar, and Star Wars.

Marvel has been lending its title out for online game variations for for much longer, racking up a formidable record of traditional video games from lengthy earlier than everybody recognized Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. From beat-em-ups to fighters to puzzle video games and pinball, Marvel heroes have appeared in nearly each style and kind of online game. Here are 20 of one of the best Marvel video games, spanning all the best way from early arcade video games to trendy AAA productions.

For much more on Marvel, take a look at our definitive rating of all 38 MCU superheroes. And for extra superheroic motion, learn our picks for the greatest superhero films of all time.

Captain America and the Avengers arcade (1991)

Captain America and the Avengers

One of the earliest of Marvel’s beat-’em-ups introduced collectively the Avengers lengthy earlier than they have been a family title. The arcade sport, later ported to Super NES and Genesis, featured Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Vision as they battled towards a variety of villains like The Mandarin, Juggernaut, and Ultron, earlier than lastly confronting the arch-fascist Red Skull. One good characteristic was the way it paid homage to some lesser-known Marvel heroes with help cameos from characters like Wonder Man and Namor.

Spider-Man: The Video Game arcade (1991)

While this beat-’em-up arcade sport from Sega boasts Spider-Man as its marquee character, it is far more of a Spidey household sport than you may anticipate. The four-player arcade let you choose from the wallcrawler himself together with Black Cat, Sub-Mariner, and Hawkeye. This launched some selection to their transfer units, as Spidey and Black Cat have been extra melee-focused whereas Hawkeye and Sub-Mariner relied on ranged assaults. It even made use of Spider-Man’s web-slinging potential, in a manner, by letting him swing above the battlefield to shut a spot or get out of a jam.

X-Men arcade (1992)

Who hasn’t misplaced a number of quarters (or {dollars}, or tens of {dollars}) to this arcade traditional? This 1992 arcade sport was an enormous hit, and the deluxe model of the cupboard allow you to play with six characters without delay throughout two screens. The roster included your whole favourite characters and in addition Dazzler for some purpose, every utilizing their very own iconic energy units and screen-filling particular talents. In an period earlier than pre-rendered cutscenes, this large lovely sprite art work was as cinematic because it obtained.

The Punisher arcade (1993)

Perhaps the grimmest of Marvel’s antiheroes, The Punisher is thought for meting out brutal vengeance on anybody he judges as deserving. That made him an ideal candidate for a beat-’em-up arcade cupboard in 1993, when Sega put out this traditional. You may play as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, or ’90s-era Nick Fury because the second participant, as you punished avenue thugs and supercriminals alike. True to its comedian roots this was an particularly violent sport, even by beat-’em-up requirements, as Frank and Nick would usually use firearms in the midst of fight.

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (1994)

At the peak of the ’90s comics increase, readers could not get sufficient brooding heroes, which meant that some characters initially envisioned as villains made the bounce to darkish antihero. That was the case for Venom, a Spider-Man villain that grew to become, primarily, a extra badass model of Spidey himself. But they nonetheless wanted somebody to struggle so the even darker character Carnage was born. Just two years later the storyline was tailored into this brawler that allow you to decide from the agile Spidey and the bruiser Venom to tackle Carnage, together with different well-known villains like Shriek and Demogoblin. Brawlers have been a dime a dozen within the mid-90s however this one stood out due to its stable encounter design and well timed comedian references.

Marvel vs Capcom (1996)

At the peak of Capcom’s preventing sport domination got here among the best preventing sequence of all time, due to a mash-up of two very totally different franchises. Capcom mixed the roster of comics royalty with its personal well-known fighter characters, primarily from the wildly well-liked Street Fighter sequence. The outcome was a faster-paced sport with wild screen-filling results and a novel tag-team mechanic that added an additional layer of technique. Though the primary sport in 1996 made the most important mark, the sequence is greatest identified for the stellar MvC2 in 2000. That sport’s expanded roster and refined mechanics made it a mainstay within the preventing circuit, and a few fighter followers nonetheless swear by it to this present day.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spidey’s web-swinging grew to become such a mainstay within the many Spider-Man video games Activision put out all through the 2000s that it is simple to neglect a time when it was novel. That arrival level was Spider-Man 2, the primary sport to truly make you are feeling like Spider-Man by letting you sling webs by way of a practical (for the PS2) depiction of New York City. Later iterations of the character would enhance on this facet in virtually each manner, however the unique earned a particular place in our hearts by lastly capturing the sensation of being Spider-Man.

Hulk Ultimate Destruction (2005)

Various video games have featured the Hulk, however this 2005 sport was the primary to know that what we actually needed to do as Hulk was easy: smash. An open world design did wonders for the character, because it gave him an unprecedented stage of freedom to wreck the place. You’re a hero doing heroic issues, certain, however your environment are going to get decimated within the course of. Unlike Spider-Man 2, although, this sport that completely nailed its title character by no means obtained a sequel, resulting in a number of years of followers pining for extra final destruction.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance (2006)

Years earlier than the MCU began mashing collectively heroes like motion figures, Marvel Ultimate Alliance allow you to play with all of your favourite heroes to construct your dream group comp. Marvel Ultimate Alliance and its sequel, MUA2, are remembered for his or her distinctive isometric gameplay that includes 4 characters at a time, letting you construct a group and swap between favorites like Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil, and Captain America on a dime. They even featured some extra obscure characters, like Black Panther lengthy earlier than he grew to become a family title due to the MCU movie. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 was a Switch unique that obtained a good-not-great reception, however it nonetheless scratched the itch.

Wolverine (2009)

The Wolverine Origins films weren’t nice, however this sport tie-in truly was. Raven Software took liberties with the film script and mixed it with comics lore to create a semi-original story for the hack-and-slash that includes everybody’s favourite Canadian superhero. The marquee characteristic was a graphic depiction of Wolverine’s mutant therapeutic issue, which allow you to see the muscle and sinew rebuild itself after he obtained into a very ugly scrape. In impact it was only a flashy strategy to present auto-healing, however seeing it on Wolverine simply made it so cool. Besides that, it was a decently fleshed-out sport basically, with a full ability tree and good selection to the enemy encounters.

Marvel Pinball (2010)

Not way back, mega-successful franchises would get bodily pinball tables manufactured and distributed to arcades and bars throughout the nation. Pinball is extra of a distinct segment pastime now, however Zen Pinball has saved the development going with a big selection of digital pinball tables, which frequently tie into well-liked films and TV exhibits. Marvel Pinball is a hub for these creative desk designs, beginning with a number of heroes like Spider-Man and Wolverine and ultimately increasing with DLC to incorporate comedian arcs like World War Hulk and the Infinity Gauntlet.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (2010)

Activision and Beenox produced a sequence of Spider-Man video games to combined outcomes, however Shattered Dimensions had the artistic hook of bringing collectively the Spider-Man multiverse. Rather than taking part in as a single iteration of Spidey, you bought to web-sling as each the Amazing Spider-Man and Ultimate variations, together with 2099 and Spider-Man Noir. That gave it a pleasant number of tones and situations that had been missing from different Spider-Man video games. If the pitch sounds acquainted, that is as a result of it went on to encourage the Spider-Verse comedian books, which in flip have been tailored into the hit film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Marvel Puzzle Quest (2013)

The Puzzle Quest sequence had humble beginnings as a considerably generic swords-and-sorcery epic, albeit with the intelligent hook of including RPG mechanics to a match-3 sport. It’s spun off in a number of instructions since then, however Marvel Puzzle Quest is likely to be probably the most profitable. The reside service cellular sport has repeatedly added new heroes and situations for gamers to deal with as they increase their roster of heroes, utilizing the identical tried-and-true match-3. While it is a free-to-play sport, gamers agree it is a comparatively beneficiant one that enables you a lot of play time with out having to pay a cent.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013)

The Lego sequence of video games lends itself to properties with loads of playable characters and plenty of distinctive environments to discover, so in fact Marvel was an ideal match. Lego Marvel Super Heroes and its sequel each use the big roster of iconic Marvel characters to allow you to group up with Captain America, Star-Lord, Spider-Gwen, and extra. Like many Lego video games it types its roster of heroes into totally different ability units for puzzle-solving and fight challenges, so you possibly can revisit levels with newly unlocked characters to uncover hidden secrets and techniques.

Guardians of the Galaxy: A Telltale Series (2017)

In the waning days of Telltale, the developer was placing out video games primarily based on nearly each popular culture property you may consider. Guardians of the Galaxy had grown in reputation thanks to 2 profitable movies, and the bickering squabbles of the Guardians made it match for Telltale’s type of storytelling. As Peter you needed to make some robust decisions which may anger Rocket or Gamora, and all of it led to a galaxy-saving conclusion that however introduced you with another troublesome determination. Following the lead of James Gunn’s musically reverent movies, every episode was named after a well-known traditional rock tune.

Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018)

Insomniac’s tackle the enduring wall-crawler adopted years of middling video games, and revitalized the hero for a brand new era of consoles and players. The new Spider-Man took what was nice about most of the classics like Spider-Man 2–namely the joys of web-slinging your manner throughout a practical Manhattan–and added extra fluid fight impressed by the Batman Arkham sequence and a filmic unique story scaffolded by beautiful cutscenes. This model of Spider-Man–recognizable by a swimsuit not like any of the character’s a whole bunch of different incarnations–has earned his personal place in Marvel lore. Insomniac’s well-drawn Spidey universe will proceed in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Iron Man VR (2020)

Lots of video video games are about dwelling out your wildest energy fantasies, however VR can take it to the subsequent stage by letting you truly really feel such as you’re flying excessive above the clouds. That was the idea behind Iron Man VR, a PSVR unique that put you behind the helmet of one among Marvel’s most iconic heroes. The sport allow you to discover freely, and critics praised its naturalistic flying mechanics–no simple feat in a VR sport.

Marvel’s Avengers (2020)

Marvel’s Avengers has turn out to be identified largely for its divisive ongoing reside service, as some gamers sustain with it usually and others discovered it too exhausting to run the treadmill. Whatever you may really feel about that facet of the expertise, the bundle as a complete is spectacular. Crystal Dynamics made a full-fledged marketing campaign starring relative newcomer superhero Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. This devoted adaptation of her comedian e-book energy set was a well-told superhero coming-of-age story and an amazing little bit of Muslim illustration as well. The powers of the remainder of the heroes are properly differentiated, whether or not you like a bruiser like Hulk or a ranged attacker like Iron Man. This was a sport that had an uphill battle to persuade a skeptical public, and it pulled it off–mostly.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020)

Insomniac’s Spider-Man teased the arrival of fan-favorite character Miles Morales, who’s a pleasant neighborhood Spider-Man of his personal. This spin-off sport helped usher within the PS5 by giving Miles his personal journey, however it was greater than only a palette swap for Miles’ slick black swimsuit. Morales’ Spider-Man obtained his personal full-fledged story full together with his personal set of villains, having to be taught the ropes of being a Spidey and defend the town whereas Peter was out of city. It additionally takes place in winter time, giving the entire affair a pleasant seasonal impact.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)

After the combined reception to Marvel’s Avengers, expectations have been tempered for Square Enix to provide one other Marvel sport. Similar to Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy from Eidos-Montreal was its personal Guardians universe, distinct from the MCU, and informed an unique story extra impressed by the comedian books. But this model of the Guardians truly had a stellar story with tons of coronary heart, following the discovered household of house rejects as they grappled with an enormous cult creeping its manner throughout the cosmos. The fight had you squarely within the function of the group’s chief, Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, as he instructions the guardians and even provides pep talks.