Wolverine is one of Marvel's most iconic characters. Often used as a grizzled veteran in contrast to greener supers, he is a raging ball of fury with a heart of gold. His near-limitless healing factor makes him an easy recurring character, able to get out of just about anything and pop up just about anywhere.
Accordingly, he has been featured in a litany of Marvel video games— including an upcoming solo game from developer Insomniac— and even a handful of other properties as well. Just as Wolverine's comic track record can be hit or miss, he has appeared in some less than stellar games. Any great character can wind up in some clunkers, and Wolverine is no different.
10 Best: X-Men - The Ravages Of Apocalypse
This total conversion mod for Quake pits the player against evil X-Men clones bent on taking over the world at the behest of Apocalypse. Wolverine was one of the first characters created for the game, and is partially responsible for it existing at all.
Creator Jonny Gorden was toying around with modeling X-Men characters and adding them to Quake when he realized the Fiend monster would make a pretty good Wolverine stand-in. After the experiment worked, he set to work on what would eventually become The Ravages of Apocalypse.
9 Worst: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 - The Black Order
The Ultimate Alliance series is one well-liked by fans and critics, but the third installment drew mixed reviews for not improving much on its predecessors. Wolverine features prominently on the cover, despite not playing a huge role in the game's story. The plot is inspired by the Infinity Gauntlet storyline from the early '90s but retells the story separately and distinctly from the same storyline that dominated the first phases of the MCU.
This game's take on the arc is muddy, over-complicated, and features too many characters such that none get proper screen time. Wolverine is essentially a footnote in this title.
8 Best: Ultimate Spider-Man
Spider-Man and Wolverine often team up, whether because four fists are better than two or simply out of convenience. This trend is continued in many Spider-Man video games where Wolverine is a helpful ally.
In Ultimate Spider-Man, however, the player is controlling a Venom-bonded Eddie Brock when he crashes into a dive bar and encounters the grizzly hero. A brawl ensues, marking this one of the few instances where Wolverine is an enemy in a Marvel game.
7 Worst: Marvel Nemesis - Rise Of The Imperfects
Despite sharing a name with a six-part miniseries, Rise of the Imperfects has virtually nothing in common with its comic counterpart. This game features an eclectic collection of Marvel heroes including The Thing, Wolverine, Elektra, and Venom as they battle a group of enemies created by EA and not drawn from Marvel comics.
A weak story, difficult enemy AI, and a severely lacking multiplayer mode led to this game's critical downfall. Wolverine's level is dark, clumsy, and all-around unmemorable.
6 Best: Marvel Vs Capcom - Clash Of Super Heroes
One of the most successful arcade games to feature superheroes, Marvel Vs Capcom is a fast-paced fighting game featuring 15 classic characters. Wolverine is able to stand toe to toe with other Marvel characters, as well as characters from such series as Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Darkstalkers.
Wolverine is a character uniquely suited for the fighting game genre. He is brawny, scrappy, and quick in a way that makes him satisfying to control while really feeling like he's jumped right off the page.
5 Worst: Marvel Avengers - Battle For Earth
Battle for Earth was an ill-conceived and clumsy tie-in of the original Avengers film, also released in 2012. After the actual tie-in game was canceled, Battle for Earth took its place, despite not following the same plot or featuring the same characters.
The game made use of motion controls to execute combos, super attacks, and breakers. Wolverine just wasn't suited to the gameplay style, as players couldn't really close the distance between combatants— instead firing off combo attacks from a distance.
4 Best: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Wolverine isn't always shredding bad guys in his video games— sometimes he's shredding in the skatepark. In this classic skateboarding game, players can take to the streets as Wolverine in his classic yellow and blue spandex and skate to their heart's content with claws fully unsheathed.
The game's Canada map with a snowy theme and Canadian tropes aplenty allow Logan to return to his home turf and pull off some sick tricks along the way.
3 Worst: Marvel Heroes
Marvel's short-lived foray into the world of the MMORPG featured a large roster of playable iconic characters, Wolverine among them. The game was a top-down action RPG, which is unfortunately not a POV that flatters Wolverine's fighting style.
With a wild flurry of magic and explosions inundating every fight, it was not uncommon for a Wolverine player to not even be able to see themselves under all the flash and glamor. The gameplay didn't make up for it either, with critics giving it fair to middling reviews at best.
2 Best: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
Lego games are a beloved genre unto themselves, with their fun sense of humor, varied gameplay, and unique aesthetic identity. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is no different, as players take on the role of a wide number of supers to put a stop to the plans of Loki and Magneto.
Clutching his claw accessories, this blocky version of the classic character is voiced by Steven Blum, a longtime voice actor behind many of his video game appearances.
1 Worst: The Uncanny X-Men
Wolverine's very first appearance in video games was unfortunately not a great showing. Uncanny X-Men for the NES has been listed as among the worst NES games of all time, no small feat in a field rife with competition.
Six playable X-Men characters face off against four iconic villains— plus Boomerang— in a disjointed story culminating with a showdown against Magneto. The game is pretty bog-standard for the day, with characters battling and collecting their way through five stages. Wolverine is barely recognizable in sprite form, and the gameplay does nothing to make up for it.