I love the smell of comics in the morning; freshly out of print even with that chemical odor of inks. But I also love the scent of video games in the morning; plastic protected by packaged cellophane. But when these two worlds collide, there can be good or bad, very, very bad.
In honor of the San Diego Comic-Con 2010, which will open its doors from today until Sunday, July 25, in Niubie we decided to put together a list of the top five comic-based video games, but also of the five worst bastard examples of this union. There are the five worst and best video games based on comics
The worst
- Superman 64
Ugh. I think it’s more than clear that a lot of Superman video games, not to mention almost all, are wrong, but this is the worst. Has a history scavenger to limit the nearly unlimited powers of the Last Son of Krypton, as the stupid requirement to fly through rings suspended in the air. Yeah, the Steel Man reduced to a water park dolphin.
The controls are terrible; what I say awful, they are practically nonexistent. Driving Superman on his flight is as easy as threading a needle while you’re bungee jumping. I don’t see the point of touching the graphs after mentioning that the title is practically libeled able, but bush. The visual design of the game is a kick in the groin; Superman is built with polygons that could count on the fingers of a hand. The colors are pale and flat structures.
Without a doubt, Superman 64 will always be remembered as one of the worst video games in all of history, where he joined E. T. from the Atari.
- Justice League Task Force
Of comic-based fight video games, this must be the worst of all. With only nine characters โ Aquaman is one of the โ Justice League Task Force intended to take advantage of the success of the fighting games in the mid-1990s, but as you can imagine, it failed outright. The combat system barely exists, the bugs swarm everywhere, some attacks drop 75% of your life, the colors of the fighters change in the middle of the fight, and the graphics barely meet the minimum required. Do you know who developed it? Blizzard. Where’s your God now?
- Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis
Aquaman? Are serious, DC? You got Green Lanter, Flash, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and the best thing you could come up with was Arthur Curry? How much did TDK pay you for that license? This game, developed by Lucky Chicken Games (seriously, don’t laugh), puts us in control of the King of Atlantis in his Piranha-me-ate-hand-and-now-use-a-harpoon version. Do you want to follow? The game is boring, the characters are poorly designed, and the animations are laughable.
I don’t care how much you love the characters, the arguments you make explaining how chingรณn it is, or the number of reasons they deserve to be in the JLA main lineup instead of Plastic Man; this game reeks of rotten fish, and there’s no valid reason for you to buy it. Leave your comics in the driveway and don’t come back. Thank you.
- Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfect
A good, poorly executed idea? Here is one of the best examples. The collaboration between Marvel and Electronic Arts seemed succulent. Jae Lee, winner of the Eisner Prize, would take care of character designs. A six-issue miniseries would relate the pre-game events and formally introduce the imperfections. But the title of fights turned out to be dull, unimaginative, complicated in its controls and with a small number of leaders. Add a pinch of glitches and characters that can only be unlocked through the restrictive History Mode and we have the recipe for failure.
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Since before inserting the disc to the console, this game had all the ones to lose: it is based on a summer movie and not on a very good one, by the way. The game limits you to the use of powers, tries and fails miserably to implement combat elements seen in X-Men Legends without ceasing to be an action game, the graphics are mediocre and without a joke, and to top it all off, it is repetitive to the point of boredom. Whoever passed this title deserves a good kick in the ass.
The best
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
Aside fanboys, here comes his majesty. Batman: Arkham Asylum, developed by Rocksteady Studios, is not only the best comic-based title, but it is also one of the best video games of 2009. It has an exciting story, portrays the Bat-Man as we read it in the comics, the most iconic villains appear and, the cherry on the cake, has the voices of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamil as The Joker and Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, the same who participated in the famous cartoon of the 1990s.
The game allows us to use many of Batman’s gadgets, such as the Batarang and the grappling gun, to name a few, and you can implement them to sneak among the thugs and surprise them from the shadows. But if there’s one thing the game runs perfectly, it’s the combat system. The animation, the banging, the grabbing, the wearing of the Cape the fighting looks as we imagine it in our mind if Batman existed because despite the jumps and surprising movements the Knight of the night seems immovable.
The sequel is already announced, so now you will understand why we are so eager to have it in our hands.
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Raven Software wanted to make the best video game based on a comic book character and almost made it. Although it bears the name of the film (terrible, by the way), the game was not created to advertise it, as the studio had been developing it for a long time. Having the Wolverine as the main character, the logical thing was that it was a game of action, and it sure as hell does.
Logan’s healing factor was ingeniously incorporated by adopting a shield system similar to Halo’s, where he wears out with blows but regenerates while you’re safe. Damage to Wolverine can be seen by revealing skin, muscles, and even its adamantium-coated skeleton. It has a right level design, the combat system has a great variety and has memorable fights, like that of the Sentinel.
One thing is sure: no audiovisual Media has shown how dangerous and brutal Wolverine’s claws can be like this game.
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
Combos, super jumps, assists, 56 characters to choose from, unbridled action. Whether on machine or consoles, MvC2 was one of the games that attracted most players. The most impressive thing of all is that you didn’t have to play it to enjoy it because the spectacular of the punches and specials attracted any peeping Tom. Besides, the selection of characters was impressive, from the classic and forced, to the most obscure and forgotten. MvC3 is approaching, and everything seems to indicate that it is on the right track.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
No, I’m not talking about NES, I’m talking about the first game of turtles for the little machines, a four-player beat’em up that confronted you with the Foot Clan and the most characteristic enemies of the Ninja quartet.
The graphic style was very striking, inspired by the television series, and made the different stages look good, ranging from the streets of New York and its sewers to a skateboard tour and Technodrome itself. The game was fun playing alone, but when the team of four was assembled, it was the best. I spent a lot of wool on that little machine, but it was worth every penny.
- Spider-Man 2
There are always exceptions to the rules, and for โvideo games based on movies are bad,โ Spider-Man 2, developed by Treyarch, is one of those exceptions. The game slightly follows the story of the tape but gives you the freedom to explore Manhattan how only trepaparedes could do it. Tobey Maguire (Spidey), Kirsten Dunst (MJ) and Alfred Molina (Doc Ock) lend their voices to play their characters from the film, but other characters from the comics also appear, such as Black Cat, Mysterio, Rhino and Shocker. To put it in a few and measly, it’s like a Grand Theft Auto with the arachnid.