Given Professor X’s appearance in X-Men have been on the minds of MCU fans, leaving them to wonder how the team will be officially introduced to the MCU. While the beloved team has not always had the most successful film adaptations, Marvel fans have long since appreciated their presence in video games.
Fans of X-Men video games on Marvel vs. Capcom were included.
Note: Ranker lists are live and continue to accrue votes, so some rankings may have changed after publishing.
X-Men: Children Of The Atom (1994)
X-Men: Children of the Atom was a fighting game adaptation of the X-Men: Fatal Attraction comics. Released as the X-Men animated series from the 199o's aired, the game included voice actors from the show in their respective roles. Players selected one of the X-Men or their villains to fight against Magneto.
Highlights of the game include its combo system that allows players to perform long mid-air combos. This game introduced multi-tiered fighting environments where the ground would fall away, and characters would follow fighting at a lower part of the stage. While this game was similar to others produced by Capcom, it was the foundation for where Capcom would go with Marvel vs. Capcom later.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was an action role-playing game inspired by previous Marvel games, X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. This game explored an original plot that followed heroes across the Marvel Universe to places like Atlantis, Mephisto's Realm, and Asgard to defeat one of Marvel's greatest villains, Doctor Doom, and The Masters of Evil.
The game was praised for the way it balances simple and entertaining gameplay as well as its selection of Marvel characters. Playable characters included many popular ones from the X-Men comics, such as Colossus, Cyclops, Iceman, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine. This game’s popularity established it as the first in a series of games as the second and third were released in 2009 and 2019, respectively.
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (1996)
Originally released as a coin-operated arcade fighting game, it was the first in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. This game utilized dual-character selection and tag-team fighting style. Each player selected two characters for battle and could switch between characters at any point in the match.
Overall, the gameplay and its sprite animation quality were celebrated, showing off some of the Sega Saturn in 1997 for its ability to transfer the well-loved arcade player experience. This game’s introduction of Rogue, Gambit, and Sabretooth for the first time as playable characters in a Capcom game further heightens the player experience by including fan-favorite characters.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 had players in an action role-playing game following a story based on the Civil War and Secret War story arcs from comics. As the sequel to Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, this game pushed the series forward as it used a branching narrative. Players could choose whether to side with Iron Man and according to the Superhero Registration Act or refuse to with Captain America, leading to two individual storylines with a few crossovers.
Compared to Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, this game also lost some of what players loved most about the first. While introducing new playable characters like Gambit, Jean Grey, Psylocke, and one of the strongest of the Excalibur team, Juggernaut there were fewer available characters. However, the improved storyline and increased ability to be replayed set this game over the edge of its predecessor.
X-Men (1993)
This Sega Genesis game allows players to select one of four characters (Wolverine, Gambit, Cyclops, or Nightcrawler) to eliminate the computer virus that disabled the control and safety limits of the Danger Room. With the virus eliminated, the X-Men discover Magneto was behind this scheme and must defeat him as part of the game’s final stage.
While there are only four options for playable characters, many heroes like Iceman, Jean Grey, and Storm show up as . X-Men villains like Apocalypse, Juggernaut, and Sabretooth appear as bosses within levels. Overall, X-Men is known as a challenging game for its unfair enemy placement, characters unable to jump high enough, and nearly unbeatable bosses. Its difficulty does not stop it from being praised for its story and graphics that stayed true to the style of the X-Men universe.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Known as one of the best movie tie-in games, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was an action-adventure, “hack and slash” game. This game's story combines Wolverine’s backstory from the film, X-Men comics, and original plot to capture the character of Wolverine as a whole. Reprising his role as Wolverine in this game, Hugh Jackman won the ‘Best Performance By A Human Male’ award at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards.
The Uncaged Edition of the game received the most acclaim. This edition increased the blood and gore as enemies can be slain differently, and Wolverine’s healing factor is prominently displayed. The in-game violence is consistent with what fans expect from the character and appearance of Wolverine in X-Men comics.
X-Men (1992)
X-Men was a classic arcade “beat ’em up” game based on the 1989 X-Men animated series where players strive to defeat Magneto. Depending on the machine, this game included a six-player version that used two screens, earning it a nomination for the "most innovative new technology" award in 1992 by the Amusement and Movie Operators Association.
While the game is considered simple and repetitive, it remains in discussion as one of the greatest retro “beat ’em up” games. With playable characters being Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine, there was a range of unique mutant abilities for players to defeat powerful villains like Juggernaut, Mystique, and Magneto.
X-Men Legends (2004)
X-Men Legends was an action role-playing game that follows Alison Crestmere as she learns to control her powers to summon and control volcanic activity at the X-Mansion. While she trains, the X-Men discover Magneto wants to cover the Earth in darkness by crashing his base Asteroid M into Earth.
The game is praised for its graphics, effectively capturing the comic book style. This game is credited with setting the stage for multiple series of games. After seeing this game have customized character stats with multiplayer capabilities, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance’s followed suit. This game received the sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse one year after its release.
X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse (2005)
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse was the sequel to X-Men Legends in the same action role-playing genre. Here, the X-Men team up with the Brotherhood of Mutants to stop Apocalypse from using antiheroes Emma Frost, Polaris, Quicksilver, and Sabretooth to give him significant power.
Similar to its predecessor, this game was praised for its visuals. It included new effects, cinematics, and destructible environments. This game introduced online multiplayer, unlockable content, and an automatic upgrade system. Further improving upon what came before it, this game increased mutant abilities and character selection. Depending on the console, players could be some of the most powerful of the X-Men like Dark Phoenix, Iceman, Rogue, Storm, and Scarlet Witch. This game solidified X-Men Legends’ influence on Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995)
This sequel to 1993’s X-Men game is narrated by Cerebro and Professor X as the Phalanx, a technorganic alien race, release a virus on a sentinel manufacturing facility that Apocalypse spreads to Exodus and Magnetos’ homes. Along with the X-Men, Magneto tries to stop the Phalanx from taking over Earth with the virus.
This game is acclaimed for using large sprites and characters’ special abilities. Players needed to match each character’s abilities to the stage to be successful in the game. This game improved on some aspects of the first with increased character selection, more complicated move sets, and more levels, combatting the previous games’ critiques of being simple and repetitive.
