The ten best classic superhero games

#5. Marvel Super Heroes in War Of The Gems (SNES)

Capcom and 2D brawlers in the 90s. A magic formula that just seemed like it would be perfect forever. Maybe it still would be if the genre hadn’t fallen out of favor in later generations. Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems was their first crack at the Avengers, and they nailed it pretty well.

The roster for the game was unusual in that it was several of Marvel’s most popular characters randomly put together rather than a team like the X-Men or the Avengers. And Iron Man, who still wasn’t particularly popular at this point, but hey, he’s a guy in a robot suit that shoots beams, so he works well for video games. I think one of the best things about this game is how it established that every character is actually very different and plays that way. It wasn’t necessarily a new concept at the time (it was even done in a previous Capcom game, which we’ll get to in the next entry), but few still implemented it so well. Hulk is really powerful but slow. Spider-Man is fast, but the weakest of the group, etc. Just a solid and fun single-player 2D action game you don’t see much of these days.