TheX-Menhave been a mainstay of theMarvelcomic universe since their first issue in 1963. The comic series centers around Professor Charles Xavier and his institute for gifted youngsters. X-Men comics allowed the writers to create numerous iconic superhero characters with their powers all being explained as genetic mutations. Many of these heroes have gone on to have massive success in film and video games.
RELATED:Best Marvel SuperHero Games Ranked
The best X-Men games feature an ensemble of the mutant family, allowing you to control different powered mutants throughout the game. Much like the film series, the games based on the X-men have varied in quality, but there are some truly incredible games that feature the X-Men.
10X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The X-Men film series started to fumble after the original trilogy and hit a low point with the Wolverine Origins film. Despite this game being a tie-in to one of the worst X-Men films, it stands out as a greatPS2-style hack-and-slash adventure.
The game puts you in the shoes ofWolverineand loosely follows the plot of the film while adding some additional story beats based on the comic series. The game took inspiration from other third-person action titles of the day likeGod of WarandDevil May Cryand handled combat just as competently as its peers. Wolverine is a character that feels designed for hack-and-slash gameplay, and we can’t wait for the opportunity to play as Wolverine again.
9X-Men: Gamemaster’s Legacy
Gamemaster’s Legacy was aSega Game Gearexclusive and the follow-up to Sega’sSpider-Manand the X-men in Arcades Revenge. Gamemaster’s legacy not only gets props for its more cohesive title, but it also improved on its predecessor in every way, making one of the best portable games to feature Xavier’s students.
The game is a simple 2D action title that allows you to play as a host of mutants. Fan favorite Gambit becomes playable early on and his telekinetic attacks are a highlight of the combat. X-Men Gamemaster’s Legacy is often forgotten due to the short life span of the Game Gear, but it is one of the best games put out for the system.
During the “Console Wars” that took place betweenNintendoandSega, both systems were looking for exclusive games that would set them apart from the competition. While the X-Men would eventually appear on theSuper Nintendo, the series developed by Sega is one of the strongest for Mutant heroes.
RELATED:Best Beat’Em Up’s
X-Men, released in 1993, is a 2D side-scroller action game that is best played in atwo-person co-op. The game only has four playable characters and is punishingly difficult, but the gameplay and graphics worked perfectly for the 16-bit system. The original X-Men game would go on to spawn several spinoffs for the system and beyond, with the original being remembered as a strong jumping-off point for the series.
7X-Men: Children Of Atom
The world Stan Lee created with the X-Men provided near-limitless possibilities for superheroes and superpowers. Stan is quoted as creating the X-Men as a way to create superheroes without having to worry about how they got their powers. With every power being tossed up as a “mutation” writers were able to create interesting characters with unique power traits and not have to worry about ironing out all the details. This cavalcade of endless superpowers made a great premise for a fighting game.
Children of Atom is the first fighting game to feature the X-men, but it certainly wasn’t the last. The fighting mechanics are very similar toStreet Fighter, which translated well with the diverse cast of the X-Men. Children of Atom paved the way for future superhero fighting games and is still a great arcade fighter.
6X-Men Arcade
TheX-Men Arcadecabinet is one of the most popular and well-beloved cabinets of all time. The six-player version of the cabinet allows you and five friends to simultaneously clean up the streets and features a dual-screen housing cabinet that was revolutionary at the time.
The gameplay maintains a simple beat ‘em up style combat but adds in the twist of the great X-Men powers. X-Men Arcade saw digital releases on thePlayStation 3andXbox 360as well as a mobile version in 2010, but a cabinet and five friends is still the best way to experience this all-time classic.
5X-Men VS. Street Fighter
Capcomhad already proved with Children of Atom that the X-Men characters played perfectly in a Street Fighter-like fighting game, and bringing the characters into the Street Fighter universe was an ingenious idea. Crossover fighting games would soon become a mainstay of the fighting genre, and X-Men vs Street Fighter paved the way for this trend.
RELATED:Best Capcom Franchises
The arcade cabinet features 17 different characters from the Street Fighter and X-Men universes battling their way through villains from both series. The game was ported to the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn, but the best way to play this game is with a fight stick and a pocket full of quarters.
4X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
Capcom had already proven they knew what they were doing with fighting games. The Street Fighter series was more popular than ever and the X-Men fighting games were quickly becoming fan favorites. It was a big risk for Capcom to take the X-Men license and try to create a 2D side-scroller game, but they took the risk and delivered one of the best action titles for the Super Nintendo.
Mutant Apocalypse gives the player a choice between five different X-Men heroes, with Beast being a stand-out playable character for the game. The gameplay is punishing like many of the 2D action games of the era, but never in a way that felt unfair. We would love to see this game come to modern systems in some capacity, as the final fight with Magneto is one of the most satisfying fights in any X-Men video game.
3X-Men Legends 2
X-Men Legends 2 is the follow-up to the original Legends title released on the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox. While Legends 2 never matched the highs of the original, it is still a very competent isometric beat ‘em up and one of the best X-Men games ever made.
The Isometric combat worked perfectly for the X-Men and the PSP version of this game stands out as the best way to play this title. There are up to 17 different playable X-Men, all with their own unique power abilities.
2X-Men Legends
X-Men Legends took the X-Men series in a different direction than the previous games. While the previous entries were either 2D beat ‘em up’s or fighting games, Legends made a fully realized 3D world for the X-Men to traverse. Rather than an over-the-shoulder perspective, the game presented the world in an isometric view and the game is all the better for it.
The isometric dungeon crawler style would go on to be used for other Marvel games like Ultimate Alliance, but X-Men Legends was one of the first console games to do it well. The cell-shaded graphics only added to the charm of this title, and we would love to see play more superhero dungeon crawlers like this in the future.
1X-Men 2: Clone Wars
X-Men 2 took everything that was great about the first X-Men game on Sega and cranked it up to 11. The game has more playable characters, a better story, and perfect 16-bit graphics. The gameplay was still punishing as ever but always felt fair and that’s what makes this title the best X-Men videogame.
The playable characters and level design are what make this game our favorite, with Magneto and his wildly overpowered move set being unlocked after the third level. Unfortunately outside the original Genesis cartridge, there is no legal way to play this game. That’s a shame as Clone Wars stands out as a high point for the Sega Genesis and X-Men games.
