Comic book fans have been lucky enough to enjoy a number of fantastic video game adaptations over the last few years that have brought popular superheroes to life in a new medium. Though the successful video game genre hasn't been limited to only adaptations of existing superhero properties from the comics.
There have been quite a few video games that explore the superhero genre in new and original ways that aren't connected to already established comic books, leaving these games free from continuity or fan expectations to deliver bold new superhero tales for fans to experience.
10 Comix Zone Was A 90s Beat'Em Up Set Inside A Comic Book
1995 saw the release of Comix Zone on Sega Genesis that took inspiration from comic books and comic book games by dropping the main character right into a comic book to have him fight from panel to panel through the pages of his comic after its mutant villain Mortus was brought to life.
Players control Sketch Turner, a grunge fan and comic creator who has to save his comic world from alien invaders and find a way to escape by ripping through pages to reveal secrets before the world is destroyed by a nuclear holocaust.
9 Freedom Force Was A Hugely Succesful Tactical RPG
Irrational Games and EA launched the hugely successful Freedom Force PC game in 2002, which introduced a number of new comic heroes that homaged popular comic tropes and characters to create a new world that players could control in a tactical RPG.
After an alien substance known as Energy X crashed onto Earth, exposing and transforming a number of characters into costumed heroes that became one of the best PC games of the new millennium that led to an equally successful sequel that left fans wanting more from the franchise.
8 Viewtiful Joe Starred A Transformed Superhero Movie Fan
Hideki Kamiya was the game designer behind 2003's Viewtiful Joe, which introduced players to the passionate movie fan named Joe who found himself transported to a world called Movie Land after his girlfriend was kidnapped, only to find himself transformed into the superhero named Viewtiful Joe.
The side-scrolling beat'em up is a 2D platformer with 3D cel-shading that created a beautiful world filled with kinetic action that helped launch the successful Viewtiful Joe franchise that introduced his girlfriend as her own superhero, Sexy Sylvia.
7 South Park: The Fractured But Whole Was Based On The TV Series
2017's South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a sequel to 2014's hit The Stick of Truth, both of which star characters from the long-running Comedy Central South Park animated series that introduced a few original costumed characters over the years.
The Fractured But Whole abandoned the fantasy premise and dived into the superhero genre with the role-playing game that follows the New Kid as he joins the Colorado mountain town in the latest children's game as the town is divided over who will launch the next big superhero franchise.
6 Mega Man Became A Fighting Robot To Save The World From Dr. Wily
While the various robotic stars of the Mega Man franchise might not immediately scream superhero, the fact is that a robot willingly volunteered to be transformed into a more effective fighting machine in order to deal with the threat of Dr. Wily and his plans for world domination.
Mega Man and his powerful arm cannon went through different alterations over the years, though even the initial game focused on upgrading his weaponry in order to better deal with his fellow corrupted robots which also changed the color of the character like a typical superhero costume change.
5 The Wonderful 101 Featured A Powerful Horde Of Superheroes
Visionary game director Hideki Kamiya makes another appearance on the list with 2013's The Wonderful 101 for the Nintendo Wii U, which was recently given a highly-anticipated remaster for the Nintendo Switch that dropped in 2020.
The Wonderful Ones are a group of costumed heroes led by characters like Wonder-Red and Wonder-Green who are able to empower new heroes to form a powerful horde of costumed characters that can unite together in powerful forms to take on an evil alien organization in the unique take on the superhero genre.
4 City Of Heroes Allowed Players To Create Their Own Superhero
The massively multiplayer online role-playing game called City of Heroes first debuted in 2004 from Cryptic Studios, which gave players the ability to create their own costumed superhero (or villain with the City of Villains installment) and begin their training to protect Paragon City or bring it down from The Rogue Isles.
The game featured its own original heroic and villainous NPC's though was loved for its character customization and continued operating servers until 2012, though fans have created their own servers to keep enjoying the hit game.
3 Gravity Rush Introduced A Superhero With The Ability To Control Gravity
While it might not seem like a superhero game initially, 2012's Gravity Rush from Japan Studio's Team Gravity features comic panel cutscenes and all the necessary requirements as players are able to control the amnesiac hero Kat, whose powerful gravity manipulation abilities make her the protector of a city under siege from dark monsters.
Kat's abilities provided a bold new way to navigate the open-world setting which was further perfected for the sequel Gravity Rush 2, which upgraded her abilities to make the battles even more intense while also focusing on fellow gravity-shifting superhero Raven.
2 Prototype Was An Open-World Game About A Powerful Shape-Shifting Plague
The Prototype franchise introduced a couple of protagonists that were definitely more anti-heroes than superheroes following their exposure to a genetically engineered virus that gave them enhanced abilities and the power to shapeshift into the forms of others or create powerful weapons and devastating attacks fueled by the Blacklight plague.
Alex Mercer was the first game's hero as he fought against the government and tried to stop the spread of Blacklight, though Prototype 2 introduced the equally transformed James Heller as he sought out revenge on Mercer in a unique horror twist on the usual superhero sequel.
1 Infamous Launched A Franchise Filled With Original New Heroes
Sucker Punch Productions released the first inFAMOUS in 2009 which introduced new hero Cole MacGrath after he found himself transformed into a super-powered Conduit with electric-based powers, though players were able to upgrade and evolve them over the course of the hit franchise.
The series continued with MacGrath while exploring new cities, though later editions like inFAMOUS: Second Son introduced new Conduits like Delsin Rowe and Abigail "Fetch" Walker and a number of different powers and abilities that explored the superhero genre in various open-world cities.