10 Marvel Games That Are Begging for a Remaster

While the colorful heroes of Marvel Comics have taken over film and television, as well as theme parks and any other sort of entertainment medium you can think of, they are also no strangers to the world of video games. Marvel-based video games have been in existence since the early 1980s, as flagship heroes like Spider-Man, The X-Men, and The Hulk would lead the charge.

In the decades that followed, games based on Marvel Comics would power RPGs, action-adventure games, beat 'em ups, and all manner of genres. The catalog of Marvel games is so large, in fact, that they have been slowly being assembled like digital Avengers into compilation releases over the past several years. Some of Marvel's best games are being made readily available for modern hardware, which is always a good thing.

That being said, there are still some pretty important Marvel games that are not available in any sort of compilation. These are some fairly big deal titles when it comes to their video game history, so if anyone who makes the decisions on this is taking requests, we've put together a list of games that could potentially fill out the next Marvel Comics compilation.

10 Ultimate Spider-Man

Cel-Shaded Wall-Crawling

The Ultimate imprint of Marvel was first introduced in the year 2000, thanks in large part to sluggish sales of already established comics and a way to introduce new, younger readers to the characters. These fresh, re-imagined versions of the iconic characters would become remarkably successful, influencing many elements of the MCU and being the basis for one of the greatest superhero games of all time in Ultimate Spider-Man.

Ultimate Spider-Man is still one of the web-head's most incredible, yet somewhat overlooked games. It was released during a time when Spidey was everywhere, dominating all forms of entertainment, so it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility that you missed it. The gorgeous cel-shaded art direction really made it feel like Spidey had jumped right out of the comic pages.

If you did play Ultimate Spider-Man back in the day, however, you know just how special it really was. Remastering this game and packaging it with the decent, yet somewhat bland Spider-Man: Battle for New York, would make for a rather nice little compilation in anticipation of the wall-crawler's busy future in the MCU.

9 Marvel Ultimate Alliance

A Tour of the Marvel Universe

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance isn't just a nifty little action RPG set in a long-running comic book universe. In many ways, Ultimate Alliance feels like a celebratory museum tour of Marvel's most incredible characters, storylines, and worlds. If you were a Marvel fan growing up during this time, Ultimate Alliance was like a dream come true.

It was the first game I ever played on PS3, and it was the real "this is next-gen" moment that made the console feel worth it. It was big, brash, loud, and felt like a comic book come to life with the budget of a blockbuster movie. It had everything you could ever want as a Marvel fan.

A sequel was also released not long after, so combining these two into one spectacular package is an absolute no-brainer. It would fit right in alongside the current state of the MCU, where heroes are often fighting side-by-side. The time is now to bring back the Ultimate Alliance series.

8 The Incredible Hulk

Rage Bait

The Hulk has had quite a few fun video game adventures, but what's not discussed quite as often is his early 2D exploits. The best among them is easily The Incredible Hulk, a wickedly fun side-scrolling beat 'em up that is remarkable in both its clear love of the character and being a massively underrated game for its era.

It has a fun health system, where losing health and dipping into near-death results in The Hulk reverting to his human alter-ego, Bruce Banner. The tension it creates is fantastic, as having to sneak around under sewer grates to avoid enemies, as Banner feels almost like a horror game.

Hulk's other retro adventures would make for perfect complements to this compilation. The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga is a fun little PS1 action game, while Questprobe featuring The Hulk has a lot of goofy retro charm that would round out the collection nicely.

7 X2: Wolverine's Revenge

I'm the Best at What I Do

The X-Men were absolutely dominating the world of film in the early 2000s. Early cinematic adventures perfectly captured the philosophical and social themes alongside the big, epic action. As a result, video game tie-ins to those films were in abundance.

X2: Wolverine's Revenge was one that really stood out at the time. A fully 3D Wolverine game felt like such an obvious route, and the finished product was a ton of fun, even in spite of its notorious difficulty spikes. Wolverine's solo outing would also lead the way for other X-Men movie tie-ins.

X-Men: The Official Game and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were two other excellent titles that could be thrown into this collection. The 3D X-Men games of this era were so enjoyable, and letting X2: Wolverine lead the charge would be a great way to celebrate the ongoing legacy of this iconic character.

6 The Punisher

The Old Ultra-Violence

Thanks to his appearances on the big screen and in the MCU, The Punisher has managed to evolve into one of Marvel's most beloved anti-heroes. His swift, violent crusade against injustice was captured so wonderfully in video game form via The Punisher, a 2005 tie-in to the Thomas Jane film adaptation.

Jane reprises his role as Frank Castle in the game, bringing the same gravely menace to the game that he perfected in the film. It is shockingly violent in some places, which is amusing considering how censored the game already was. Some of the execution mechanics are downright nasty.

This wasn't The Punisher's only video game appearance, as he's appeared in numerous side-scrolling shooters and 2D action games. Making this game the star of the show, then surrounding it with a number of his other retro games as a bonus, would make for an excellent compilation release in the future.

5 The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

Seek and Destroy

Very few games capture the raw, untapped potential of being a superhero in a free-flowing open world better than The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. This massively entertaining 3D open-world action game gives every Marvel fan their ultimate dream scenario by placing you in direct control of the Hulk in a wide-open New York City and letting you go nuts. The scale and scope of the game are genuinely incredible. Pun fully intended.

So much of this game's hype revolves around the destruction and traversal, as it really does make you feel like an indestructible force of nature. It's a perfect representation of the character, but I always thought one underrated aspect of Ultimate Destruction was the boss battles. Some of the fights against The Abomination and General Ross are outstanding, making great use of the environments to recreate the epic superhero battles of the comics.

There were also some remarkable 3D Hulk games that came out during this time, including one based on the 2003 Ang Lee film that was fairly overlooked, and an enjoyable top-down beat 'em up on the GBA. Throwing all these into a collection would help further cement the Hulk's rather understated video game legacy.

4 X-Men: Mutant Academy

Mutant Kombat

The Marvel Comics brand has a pretty interesting track record with the fighting game genre. Some of them have been pretty good, while others have been genuine attempts at creating an enjoyable fighter within the world of Marvel. This makes now a perfect time to revisit X-Men: Mutant Academy and its sequels, a series of lovely fighting games that would make a spectacular collection.

Activision had a pretty strong handle on the X-Men IP during this time. They got what made this part of the Marvel universe so appealing, and Mutant Academy is a key game in that regard. The story mode is really something special, pulling in a lot of classic elements from the comics, as well as some spiffy alternate costumes.

Two sequels would follow, including one on the PS1 and a dazzling next-gen PS2 release known as X-Men: Next Dimension. This would be a dandy of a collection, and considering how important the X-Men are to the next era of the MCU, it's the perfect time to strike.

3 Spider-Man

A Childhood Favorite of Many

There's simply no denying how important Spider-Man was as a video game back in the day. There had been plenty of games based on Spidey, but none that had been able to really capture the spirit of the comics due to hardware limitations. None of that mattered after a fully 3D action-adventure game was finally released based on the old web-head back in 2000.

To quote Homelander, it was perfect. Everything about it was pristine in its representation of Spider-Man, right down to the humor and heart that define so much of this character. The gameplay also surprisingly holds up for a game of this vintage, and it still has so much juice and life to it.

If you were to package this with the sequel, Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, you would have 90s kids crying instant tears of joy. I have so many fond memories of this game, and it's far past time that it gets its due in a high-quality remaster alongside its maddeningly underrated sequel.

2 Spider-Man: The Movie

Blockbuster Game Tie-Ins

No superhero was more popular than Spider-Man back in the early 2000s. He had a big-budget blockbuster movie that catapulted three young stars into the stratosphere, toys, animated cartoons, and, best of all, a video game tie-in. He was really living large back in the day.

Spider-Man: The Movie is loosely based on the Tobey Maguire-led film from 2002, and having recently replayed it, I still find myself being unable to play it without a gigantic grin on my face. It just has so much lovely Y2K-era charm and silliness to it, and it feels like the type of game that doesn't really get made anymore.

The two Sam Raimi-directed sequels also got video game tie-ins, so it makes sense to invite them to the party, too. Throw all three of them together, and you've got a spectacular collection that would make the upcoming return of Tobey Maguire in Avengers: Doomsday to the role feel all the more special.

To Me, My X-Men

The X-Men are due to be big players in the MCU moving forward, as the next phase is already being billed in some rumor circles as the Mutant Saga. And there's no game that captures the spirit of the team quite as well as X-Men Legends, an absolutely brilliant action RPG from the team at Raven Software.

I've often felt like X-Men Legends was a game made exclusively for me, and only me, as I have had a strong emotional connection with it since I was a teenager. I spend nearly every gaming event hoping for its return, but alas, it remains a relic of the sixth generation.

I can't speak more highly about it, however, as I do believe any X-Men fan needs to immediately play it. And once you do, join me in my weekly prayer circle designed to bring it back. The sequel, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, is just as good, and the two of these games in one collection would be a stupendous collection for someone to bring to market.