Flashback 03.20.07: Comic Book Video Games (Part 3)

Posted by Steve McHugh on 03.20.2007

Marvel Comics (Part 1)

I've got to start this column with a confession. I lied to you all. I said this comic book series would be 3 columns in length but it's going to end up being 4. You see, I just didn't realize just how many games Marvel had actually put out so the next column will be the final look at comic book games.

Before we get to that;

Gaming News

There's actually been very little going on these past few weeks that I feel like talking about. The PS3 launch is in 4 days and I can't muster up a single piece of enthusiasm for it. Sorry but I don't care, at one point I probably did but Sony have done so much wrong they seem to be actually striving to annoy people now.

Everything else

Well just wrestling this time around. Is anyone else fed up with Kurt Angle? He just seems to have lost something in his move to TNA, maybe his mind. But on the plus side Samoa Joe and Christian are both doing a wonderful job and I'm very interested in the whole feud. Hopefully Joe will win the belt soon and then have some more feuds with Steiner, Abyss and co. It should make for some great main events for a long time.

On the negative it's a shame to see Christopher Daniels back in the X division as I was hoping they'd have elevated him to main event as he's more then able to hold his own when he gets there. I guess if anyone can help out the ailing X division it's him so I'll wait and see how it goes. Even so I still want Russo to go away as for every great thing that goes on a dozen dumb or stupid things happen for example I'm unsure exactly why VKM still have a job let alone manage to beat anyone on a PPV.

On the WWE front the last Raw and Smackdown were pretty good, and they've done a good job of building up to WM. I'm very interesting in the MITB match and really don't know who will win it but it should be very good no matter. Benoit should be able to get a good match out of the MIZ (if he can't then no one can) and Shawn Vs Cena should be a stonking match. However Batista Vs Undertaker has me worried and it depends on whether they're both motivated enough to put on a good job. Oh and before I finish this thought the Rock can still cut a promo better then nearly everyone on the show except Flair, Shawn and Edge. I find it worrying that none of the younger talent is even close to their level on those terms (I know CM Punk is great on the mike but he's not had too much chance to show that).

So we'll move right along to

What I'm playing

Elite Beat Agents

Yes I know I'm a bit behind on this one as although I've played it before I actually went and bought it a week ago and I love it. Utterly fantastic game and even though it's bloody hard I don't mind as the sense of satisfaction you get when you beat a hard song is almost as good as I felt when I beat a level on Ninja Gaiden.

Okami

Yes I'm still playing it because it's great. Easily better then the last Zelda game just because it's more charming, looks better and (dare I say it) is a damn sight more interesting too.

Tomb Raider 2

Review coming soon…unless I throw it out a window first.


Now on with the column and as with last two weeks I'll be using the following guide. Also as per before there's no arcade or handheld games in this list and it may not be a list of every game ever but its pretty close.

5 – A great game, even non-fans will love it.
4 – A very good, game that everyone should enjoy.
3 - A decent game, fans of the character should check it out.
2 - Not very good, even fans should think twice before getting it.
1 - An awful game, everyone should stay away.
0 - Superman 64.




Blade

The Daywalker; half human, half vampire and all suck. Actually that's not totally fair as the first 2 Blade films were excellent but he's never had a good comic series. The closest he's got is starring in other people's comics. Although, his current series is meant to be pretty good.


Blade 1 (PS1) - 2

Where as the first Blade film was superb this is…less so. In fact it's a pretty by the numbers action game where it seems to take forever to actually kill any enemies. Also the jumping and camera in this are horrible. However it's not unplayable but you should be prepared to sit through a lot of frustration to get to anything resembling fun.

Blade 2 (PS2) - 1

This is a scrolling beat-em-up like the Streets of Rage series except without the good bits. This is mostly down to the horrendous control system that uses one stick to move and another stick to actually do all the fighting. In theory a good idea, in practice a complete and utter mess. It doesn't help that each of the levels are all really uninspired and dull. In fact, that's probably the best way to sum up the whole game. Uninspired and dull.


Captain America

Steve Rogers is Captain America… if you don't know who this guy is then that's just odd. Basically he's a man injected with a serum during WW2, giving him various powers, he goes to fight Nazis and ends up getting frozen in ice and wakes up in modern times. Everyone has heard of Captain America. Especially after news reports over the past few weeks. Ed Brubaker is the current writer and he's doing a bloody good job, although it still feels weird to be British and reading, and enjoying, Captain America.


Captain America and the Avengers (SNES/MD) - 4

Now we're talking. The 16 bit era was host to countless side-scrolling beat-em-ups in the Double Dragon or Streets of Rage vein and most, unfortunately, sucked. However this is a little gem of a game that's a great deal of fun to play and certainly deserves to be stuck on XBLA or VC at some point in the future. You could pick from Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, or Vision and battle various Avengers villains. The Megadrive version is much better as the developers of the arcade version, data soft, did the conversion. So whilst the SNES version looks good, it plays like a dog.


Iron Man

Iron Man, or Tony Stark, is actually a fairly interesting character although he seems to be defined by his alcoholic status more then anything else. He's also fairly morally flexible as can be seen in plenty of recent comics. And he has a film coming out soon which could be a pretty decent movie if done right.


Iron Man / XO Manowar (PS1/SAT) - 0

This is bad. Really, really bad. A friend of mine told me how his mum had bought this for him for Christmas when he was younger and he thought he'd done something wrong. Yep this is the game to give people to play if you dislike them.


Silver Surfer

I could go on and write about the Silver Surfer but to be honest I'm a little foggy on his history. I actually like the character but very few writers seem to have done the idea justice and everyone has their own ideas of how exactly he should be written. For future reference Silver Surfer should be an utter bad ass. Go read Peter David's Hulk run and that's how he should be (Rick Jones' wedding issue in particular). A man who can stop a fight between two people, who hate each other, by telling them to sit down. Also, see the new Fantastic Four trailer.


Silver Surfer (Atari) – 0

Oh dear this is bad, as in impossibly hard and one hit kills and hundreds of enemies bad. Factor in awful graphics and some very unresponsive controls and I'm amazed more people didn't throw this through their window after 30 seconds of playing it.


Fantastic Four

In theory I like the F4. I like the Human Torch and The Thing and Invisible Woman but I really don't like Mr. Fantastic, there's just something about the character I don't like. And it's been made even worse with Civil War. Film was awful though…really, really bad.


Fantastic 4 (PS2) – 2.5

Okay the film wasn't great but this isn't an altogether awful game. It's just so repetitive and bland that there's nothing about it that stands out. All you do is fight more and more people and just pressing the same button interesting as it gets. If you're a fan then maybe go find it cheap but for everyone else I wouldn't bother.


Ghost Rider

Okay Ghost Rider is one of 2 people; 1. Johnny Blaze or 2. Danny Ketch. I've read very little with Johnny Blaze despite the new film and comic series being about him and in fact only read part of the 90s Ghost Rider series, which is mostly good. Basically the best Ghost Rider is an amalgamation of the two. Haven't seen the film yet, although I've heard it's ok.


Ghost Rider (PS2) - 3

It blatantly wants to be God of War. I mean it's almost the same bloody game but with racing bits in it. And as it turns out they're not too bad racing bits either. Also the fighting is pretty good, but then so was God of War's. Basically it boils down to this: if you're just looking for an action game to kill lots of stuff, God of War is about a thousand times better then this and about half the price so go get that instead. If you're a Ghost Rider fan, or you can see this cheap then give it a go as apart from the uninspired look and some very annoying pieces of level design it's not too bad. And there's some cool extras to unlock too.




Hulk

Peter David's Hulk is one of the most epic, and most wonderful, comic book runs of all time and basically defined the Hulk. Only now is anyone doing anything that comes close to that run and Greg Pak is doing a very good job. One of the most interesting characters of all time, it's a shame the film didn't do more to show just how wonderful he is.


The Hulk (SAT/PS1) – 1

It's meant to be based on the comic book story at the time but I'm not sure how as they stories don't match up. If that was this game's biggest problem that it'd be fine but it doesn't even come close. Dodgy controls, a very strange hit detection and bosses that are near impossible to beat make this a really bad game to play if you have rage issues. Utterly dreadful.


The Hulk (PS2/Xbox) – 2

I'd like to give credit to the team behind this game as I understand where they were coming from. Unfortunately where they were coming from was a rather boring movie. Because you play as both Hulk and Banner the gameplay shifts dramatically depending on the character. The Hulk sections are actually pretty good fun as you smash your way through enemies but the banner sections are stealth based and don't actually work at all. They're boring and seem to require some sort of super-human skill to see through walls. However, Radical would get it spot on next time.


The Incredible Hulk - Destruction (Xbox/PS2) – 5

Ever wanted to ride a bus? I mean actually stand on one and ride it like a surf board? Then jump off and grab a tank before throwing it into a building and watch as everything just crumbles to the ground around you? Well that's what you get to do in this game. And that's not even the start of the crazy stuff you can do. This kicks so much ass it's unbelievable. If you can see it you can pretty much break it or use it to hit something else with and it never gets dull. This is exactly how the Hulk should be in games and I would be very happy if a sequel for the 360 and PS3 happens. For as good as this game looks it would be fantastic to see Hi-Def citywide destruction!




Punisher

Frank Castle kills bad guys after they kill his family. That's basically it really. He's a psychotic who only kills people he deems should be killed. Go read Garth Ennis' Punisher series as he's really nailed the character.


Punisher (MD) – 3

This is a conversion of an arcade game where you get to play as Punisher or Nick Fury and it a fairly generic side scrolling beat-em-up. In fact apart from some pretty graphics it's nothing special. It's playable and fun but not exactly a memory giver (I'd actually forgotten it existed). However what is memorable is that fact that it's very rare and normally goes for anything up to $100 on EBay.




Punisher (Xbox/PS2) - 3

This game got a lot of stick when it came out as people were either horrified by the torture stuff or bored of the gameplay. Personally I think it's not too bad at all. The torture parts (and kills) are mostly okay and not even close to the brutality of Manhunt and the game plays like a normal shooter most of the time. It has problems though. It can be unfairly difficult in places and you'll probably get bored before the end but there's stuff to enjoy here.


Misc

This is just a collection of different games with no one particular hero taking part.


Marvel Super Heroes (SAT/PS1) – 4

This is a very good one on one fighting game that was the start of what would be to come and finish up with the superb Marvel Vs Capcom 2. Great game.
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Marvel Super Heroes 2 (SAT/PS1) - 4

It's basically more of the same and there's not too much between them to choose one over the other.


Marvel Vs Street Fighter (SAT/PS1) – 5

Only released in Japan for the Saturn and that's the version you want, as the PS1 version is a bit crap. This is highly sought after by collectors for a few reasons. One, it's very expensive and two, it's utterly fantastic. Easily one of my favorite 2D fighters ever.


Marvel Vs Capcom (DC/PS1) - 4

A huge roster and great fighting engine make this a joy to play and Capcom would even manage to go one better.


Marvel Vs Capcom 2 (DC/PS2/Xbox) - 5

And here is my joint favorite 2D fighter ever (this and SF Third Strike). The Dreamcast version had great controls, a huge character base and was an almost arcade perfect port. This is also highly sought after and this is one of THE reasons to still own a Dreamcast. Forget the PS2 and Xbox versions as they're massively inferior, the original version is maybe a little more expensive but it's bloody well worth it.




Ultimate Marvel Alliance (360/PS2/GC) – 4.5

Last year I reviewed this and gave it an 8/10 which in hindsight was a little harsh. It's an excellent game and one of the best comic book games out there and probably deserved an 8.5 or 8.6. It's only real problem is its repetitiveness and its tendency to make certain characters much more powerful then any others. It's still a lot of fun though and even more so when you get a few mates round.


Marvel Nemesis (Xbox/PS2/GC) - 0.5

Hey it's this pile of horse shite. EA really screwed up here didn't they? Awful controls (seriously who thought they would be a good idea?) and a bunch of crappy non Marvel characters along side Spider-man and ilk and you've got one of the worst games in 2005. Oh and they're making a sequel…the joy.




The 411


Well it seems that there are more good games then bad from Marvel so far, and certainly a lot more good then DC games have been. Next time I'll be looking at the final part where I focus on Spider-man and X-men games, both of which have had a huge amount based on them. So until then go to our Myspace page and say hi. The 411 page is - 411mania …… and the games section is - 411mania/games