Licensed projects have long deservedly had a bad reputation, which is understandable. After all, for every successful adaptation, a dozen only bring shame to the name of the original. It, unfortunately, also applies to games based on comic books.
Most of them are created for the sole purpose of making money from the fame of the source material. Many of them have their games in live casino India and similar resources. But given the recent accumulation of many games based on comic book licenses, among them still found true masterpieces.
This TOP is dedicated to the games in the comics on PC and modern and classic consoles. Here you can see games like:
- Shadow Man
- Aliens vs. Predator 2
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Shadow Man
In its early days, the Shadow Man comic book series was hugely popular and surpassed even such comics as Batman or Fantastic Four in sales. And by 1996, its combined circulation exceeded 5 million. So, of course, the game adaptation of the famous comics was not long in coming. In 1999 the game was released on PC, Play Station, Nintendo, and the last Sega console – Dreamcast. However, the events of the game had little to do with what was described in the comic books. The developers borrowed the world, the main character, but the story preferred to tell their own.
The game’s protagonist was Michel Leroy – a loser cab driver who had inadvertently embezzled mafia money and thus lost his family. Struggling to save his life, Michel got into even more trouble. Finally, he made a deal with a voodoo priest, turning into his helpless slave for a time. But even after his master’s death, Leroy did not gain his freedom-he became a shadow man, forced to defend the world of the living from the realm of the dead.
Aliens vs. Predator 2
At the dawn of their existence, the Aliens and Predator universes had nothing in common. It is not surprising – they were created at different times and by other people. But the rights to both franchises were owned by 20th Century Fox. And in the late eighties, Dark Horts Publishing acquired a license to produce comic books based on both universes. And soon, the publishers decided to bring Alien and Predator together under one cover.
There was nothing strange in the very appearance of the crossover. It was figuring out who cares who has always been a favorite pastime for comic book fans. And here, moreover, the two universes fit together quite well. Comics under the new brand began to come out regularly, followed by books, movies, and games. The first of them appeared back in 1993. Several more projects followed it, but the series reached its peak only at the turn of the millennium.
At first, the British studio released an unpretentious shooter with the same name, Aliens vs. Predator, the distinctive feature of which were three different companies – Alien and Predator, as well as for Earth-Marine. Still, the game had enough of the rough edges, which two years later were corrected by Monolith, not only polished but also developed the idea of their predecessors. As a result, aliens vs. Predator 2 was not just a shooter with three gameplay-unique heroes. Instead of three independent companies, the game had one in which we took turns taking the role of each of the characters. Thus, a unified story unfolded before our eyes, and we watched it from different points of view.
In 2010, the series returned, but it turned out to be just a dull, soulless remake of its predecessor.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
The seventh line of our rating is also a crossover, and much less organic. If Alien and Predator complemented each other, the duel between Marvel’s Wolverine and Ryu from “Street Fighter” could only be imagined in the wildest fantasies. In the mid-nineties, however, Capcom decided to make that fantasy come true. The first step was when the company released a game based on Marvel Comics. The game’s mechanics were similar to Street Fighter, so it didn’t take long for the crossover to appear. And in 1996, Marvel vs. Capcom appeared.
At first, the game only featured characters from Street Fighter and X-Men, but with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes in 2008, the reinforcements of both central universes came rushing in.
The hallmark of the series immediately became an absolute madness on the screen. But it reached its climax in the second part of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, where the battle on each side involved three fighters. They not only changed their partner in the arena when he ran out of life but often came to each other’s aid, demonstrating prodigious team combos. In total, the game had as many as 56 characters! However, the choice is not so extensive, even in the third part, which came out not long ago.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
In 2004, after several great games based on Star Wars and Star Trek, Raven Software took on a project based on the Marvel comics. Figuring that matches based on the comics completely bypassed the RPG genre for nothing, they decided to correct that omission.
Having tried several game mechanics, the developers concluded that the most successful with Marvel themes combined with the action RPG. In “X-Men Legends,” you do not need to control one character but a team of four. Moreover, each dozen and a half superheroes had unique abilities, the combination of which was the key to victory.
The formula was fantastic for the players, and the developers used it twice more – first in the sequel and then in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, in which the X-Men were supported by almost every hero of the original universe – from Fantastic Four and Avengers to Spider-Man and Rip-Your-Head. The gameplay has not undergone significant changes, but the game’s scope has reached mind-boggling proportions—the lumpy plot, a lot of action, and a kaleidoscope of familiar superheroes. In general, all in one.
In 2009, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 came out. The new developers from Valkyrie Vision thought that even such a game needs a story and took the Civil War as the basis. The much-ballyhooed comic book superheroes fought each other. Iron Man and Captain America led the two camps. The source material was interesting, but it was not properly adapted for the game. And the battles in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 have lost their former fascination.
The Darkness
Not all superheroes wear colorful costumes and save the world. Some look a lot less attractive and have more mundane goals.
The central character in the story is Jackie Estacado, an aspiring mobster who avenges the mafia for everything wrong. This typical gangster action film takes on a new color thanks to Jackie’s superpowers. And it’s not just the fact that Jackie dealt with his opponents with his teeth tentacles growing out from behind his back. But more importantly, Jackie walked the fine line between light and dark throughout the game, having to fight the demon living inside him. He’s no match for the usual superheroes – where else will you see a hero who eats the hearts of murdered people to restore his powers? The Singapore government even banished The Darkness from its territories because of the movie’s violent scenes.
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