Hold on, I'm getting the first comment? I never get the first comment, go me!
Just kidding.

The original X-Men game for the NES was wretched. Little colored blobs that didn't actually show any moves of powers. I traded that piece of crap in for Ducktales and never looked back!

I'm surprised that Jim Lee's WILDCats game for the Genesis wasn't on here. That wasn't too great a game either.

Another shitty game was ANY X-Men game for the Game Gear and Sega Master System. Those ALL sucked.

Plenty of Acclaim's Spider-Man games stunk up the joint, along with that dismal DOS verison of Spider-Man for the PC. Although that was kinda funny, because the intro screen uses Todd McFarlane's Spidey art and as the character loses life in the game, Spidey starts turning into a skeleton from the feet up.

Let's face it. It's only been the past couple of years that decent video games based off comic books have been making their appearance.

I never played Catwoman but it can't be worse that Superman 64. That games is the worst game of all time.

Not sure if I think Superman 64 should be at the top or behind Catwoman.

Wow at the Superman 64 ending. Just wow.

Cool list. Made me wonder if you've ever made a list of good comic based games? Although it would probably be a short list.

How about how you actually have to collect icons to use your powers in Superman 64? Really? I'd like to see the oposite list. I'll vote for Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

I love the giant hairy programmer arm that reaches into frame during the Avengers game, as the announcer shouts "Giant Man!"

Even more depressing about the Catwoman game was that it ran on the Prince Of Persia engine. This should have been a recipe for success. I think it suffered from the movie game curse that they all suffer from. Looks like Iron Man 2 is going to follow the same tradition.

I do want to say that I started playing Spider-Man: Web of Shadows last week, and even though I'm not that far into the game, it does do pretty well from a COMIC perspective. There are lots of heroes who act like they are supposed to, the combat is fast and agile, and web-slingshotting yourself foot first into an enemy's face seems good. I'm looking forward to the Venom-infected Wolverine fight.

I do want to see a reverse list sometime, and would like to see that one on the list.

Isn't Superman 64 considered a leading contender for worst game EVAR, period? I can't imagine anything running on the Prince of Persia engine to be worse than that broken, bug-laden turd.

No "Batman Forever"?

Crappy controls, jerky animation, boring music, and terrible level design. It's so bad, it killed my parents, blew up one friend and shot the other in her spine, crippling her for life! BAD GAME! BAD!

I think it is hard to really bash DOS and NES games for sound and playability. The top 4 I can definitely get behind but the list could have been flushed out with many more titles from the Playstation/64/Dreamcast era until now, which is when I think home video gaming was revolutionized. Justice League Heroes was terrible, Batman: Dark Tomorrow, or Superman Returns.

No NES Avengers? No PS2 Teen Titans?
Those are extremely Not Fun.

@FuryOfFirestorm

You're Batman?

I have to agree though, that game sucked.

Man. I'm sorry. This list was great but Superman 64 should be the #1 worst Superhero game. I'm sure Catwoman is bad but Superman 64 is bad on a whole new level of bad...

Aquaman: Battle For Atlantis should be #1. It was on many of gamer's mags (back in the day) as the worst game ever made...i happen to agree

There was a batman game for the gameboy that sucked out loud!!!! It was ridiculously hard and had a hard to follow storyline

this list shows that the game industry had a long ways to go for the games left a lot to be desired. espically the xmen game.

Must remember to add the names in the superman 64 credits to my list of people who tried to kill my childhood.

One game missing from this list is Batman: Dark Tommorrow which is a godawful game.

Topless Robot Counter-Post! My similar list from last year:

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2008/02/post.php

(I tried posting this with HTML, don't think it went through)

"I think it is hard to really bash DOS and NES games for sound and playability. "

Bad NES gameplay is always bad NES gameplay. Since the good games still hold up, the bad ones are fair game.

You should check out Superman Returns. A game where a car can stop Superman when he is moving at superspeed. A game where you don't deliver the final blows instead you watch a cutscene do it for you. A game where you put trees on fire with your heat vision and yet they are still green while burning (at least cars turn brown even though they keep moving and obey traffic laws).

And just where is Prime for the Sega CD? The Ultraverse knows no bounds!

Time to make your list a little bit longer.

LOL, Super Heros are so over rated! LOL

RT
www.web-tools.us.tc

lol that was good

I'm as big a Superman fan as you can put every single one of his games on this list.

He can fly, shoot lasers from his eyes, battle giant robots, and go to any planet/dimension/era at will. Why can't they make a good Superman game?

Obviously, someone never played Batman:Dark Tomorrow on the Gamecube because it doesn't appear on this list - and it should!

Catwoman = worst game ever! not even sure why I tried it....

Catwoman = worst game ever! not even sure why I tried it....

http://www.hudsonluke.blogspot.com

WTF Superman 64 was the worst in history. Catwoman was at least playable

Spider-man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge for the SNES absolutely deserves to be on this list. Five different characters, each with a different style of gameplay... all of them bad.

I would be hard pressed to believe Superman 64 is less bad than Catwoman. I haven't played Catwoman though, so here's a quick test: Is there fighting in Catwoman? If there is, it's better than Supes64.

Seriously...
A game company wasted valuable resources and assets on an Aquaman title?

Also, the NES' Silver Surfer is missing from this list....

Ex-Mutants for Genesis is pretty wretched.

Superman 64 was godawful. i remember renting it once as a kid, playing it for 10 minutes, and never touching it again. ruined my entire weekend.
also, holy crap that spider-man game music is BAD.

"A game company wasted valuable resources and assets on an Aquaman title?"

Aquaman should be an awesome game - it's God of War in the DCU.

Obviously I am the oldest person here and none of you have played Superman on the Atari.

No argument. Worst. Superhero. Game. Ever.

Aquaman should be an awesome game - it's God of War in the DCU.

@GUMBERCULES! I rented Spider-man: Web of Shadows and thought it was a pretty fine rental, probably a good biuy at half-price but I'm notoriously tight with the games I buy. I couldn't get into Spider-man 3 (I don't think I got past the crappy fight with the goblin). So, anyway enjoy Web of Shadows.

I was a massive fan of Spider-man 2099, and I've always lamented the fact it was almost a game but got cancelled. Probably a good thing if this list is any indication about the quality of such games in yesteryears. Now I can console myself with Spidey's resurgence in timestorm. (although he didn't get much of a fair go in his Exiles run).

@Chris Ward, thank you for the link to the older article.

As "Old Man" said, this isn't even a contest. The worst superhero videogame is, and always will be, Superman for the Atari 2600. There's no debate about it.

Also, what's up with peopl not remembering Justice League Task Force! By Blizzard!

Hmmmm.....not the list nor any comment has mentioned the recent Iron Man game for the Xbox 360 (that one adapted from last year's movie). Because seriously, that game was torture. I had no problem with the graphics, or sound, or snything, except it had the worst gameplay ever. I'm so not kidding. Playing it was tedious and tiresome, like doing manual labor. It blew my fucking mind that a game could be so opposite-of-fun. I've rather be waterboarded than play it. Think of the shittiest job you've ever had, and playing this game would be worse, I promise you. Seriulsy, does no-one else agree?

I keep waiting for someone to make a turn-or-action-based RPG in the style of PC version of "Baldur's Gate" or "Neverwinter Nights", but based in the Marvel (or DC) universe.

For some reason, every superhero game is either a sidescrolling beat-em-up, a third-person beat-em-up, or a shitty platform game.

Superheros are perfect for an RPG, dammit! I played V&V for years, and loved it. Make THAT, dammit!

@Zerocorpse Marvel Legends I, II and Ultimate Alliance are almost RPGs if you squint a little. I'm hoping Ultimate Alliance 2 or whatever they're calling it will get more RPG elements now that its focussing on Civil War (and you get to choose your side.) And for your tabletop needs I have to recommend Green Ronin's Mutants and Masterminds. Say what you will about the d20 system, M&M is awesome.

nobody remembers thor and the trilogy of terror ? hands down the worst

I really find that Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker very annoying or worse than that. Good thing Rocksteady Studios have developed and come up with Batman: Arkham Asylum which truly gives the Batman name a justice. Exceptional graphics and nice gameplay, finally the waiting is over on the 25th of this month. :)

What, no Batman Forever for SNES? That was the only cartrige game I remember having a load time. And it looked & played like crap.

I had a Spiderman/Captain America fighting game for PC. I'm going to have to rummage around for that one.

So you didn't play Batman Forever for SNES? That game was pure crap and made me shun all future superhero games. It had a load time despite the fact it was a cartridge game on a 16 bit system, the controllers were rubbish and the music impossible to listen to without going completely insane! It was like they didn't even test the thing before putting it out on the market. It was literally Superman 64 before Superman 64.

I played Catwoman and I'm betting most of you haven't. Catwoman was not a bad game at all. It's actually a poor man's (or woman's or cat's...) version of Prince of Persia, especially in terms of acrobatics. The fight controls were kind of innovative and relied on context sensitive analog movements (like Rare's Grabbed by the Ghoulies, but better imo). I have played FAR worse games that Catwoman. Most of the games on this list deserve to be there, but not that one - again IMO.

Batman: Dark Tomorrow for the Gamecube tops all of these in horribleness. ALL OF THEM.

But nobody knows about it for some reason. Seriously, it's not even a competetion. Also, you could unlock classic Aquaman AND Tempest in Battle for Atlantis. It was SWEET.

there was a real shitty wolverine game from the NES.
it was side scrolling and even tho Wolverine CANT DIE! he gotr his ass kicked alot. Id throw my controller down an then come back to try it agian an hour later