Best X-Men Games

The X-Men is arguably one of the most popular superhero teams in comic books. Their characters' powers and exploits beg to be depicted in video games, but it is surprisingly scarce to find such games nowadays to quench that itch to rip apart a Sentinel or two.

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By  Greg Gomez

However, there was a time when the X-Men were right alongside the popular Batman and Spider-Man games, and Marvel's mutant team's games have actually been responsible for some lasting developments in gaming. That said, here are some of the best X-Men games that showcase the team's collective powers and teamwork against varying obstacles and nefarious villains.

Updated on August 6, 2024 by Mark Sammut: The X-Men future in gaming is bright but uncertain. Supposedly, Insomniac is working on Marvel's X-Men, a prospect that sounds incredibly enticing. However, very little is known about the project, and it will likely not debut until after Marvel's Wolverine (which is almost an X-Men game). Capcom announced Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, a compilation containing the classic fighters along with The Punisher, an awesome beat 'em up that had been ignored for decades by the publisher. This package will contain X-Men: Children of the Atom and X-Men vs. Street Fighter.

While waiting for these releases to materialize, fans might wish to check some older X-Men games, including a polarizing 2011 release.

12 X-Men: Destiny

Gamefaqs: 3.2/5

Putting aside an iOS game called Uncanny X-Men: The Days of Future Past that does not seem to be available anymore, X-Men: Destiny is currently the last game to feature the mutants on the cover. Sure, there have been related projects like Deadpool, but the X-Men effectively retired from the gaming industry in 2011, and that will remain the case until they are hopefully brought back by Insomniac Games. While it had an uneven 2010s away from the comics, the IP continued to produce new movies, so it is not like the X-Men disappeared from the public eye. They simply stopped being featured in games, and Destiny is somewhat credited with this turn of events.

While blaming this sharp stop solely on a single project would be unfair, Silicon Knights nevertheless produced the most disappointing X-Men game of all time. The developer behind Eternal Darkness and Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain seemed like a great pick for a Marvel action RPG, but by 2011, Silicon Knights was not quite the same, and the studio had just come off the costly and poorly-received Too Human.

In many ways, X-Men: Destiny shares a lot of the same issues as Silicon's previous project. The game's decent ideas are let down by poor or boring execution. For example, Destiny allows players to pick from three new characters and three mutants/abilities, the latter of which expands throughout the campaign. Missions even present choices that allow players to side with the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants. On paper, these concepts sound great; in practice, they are frustratingly shallow and underbaked.

For all its flaws, X-Men: Destiny can still be entertaining if viewed as a mindless 3D beat 'em up. The idea of creating a new mutant should be revisited in the future as Destiny certainly did not make the most of it.

11 X-Men: Gamesmaster's Legacy

Gamefaqs: 3.07/5

The Game Gear handheld console system was Sega's 8-bit answer to Nintendo's Game Boy and featured some exclusive games that were actually pretty decent, provided that a gamer's Game Gear had enough juice left to play.

X-Men 2: Gamesmaster's Legacy improved upon the gameplay of the first Game Gear X-Men game, and featured a story right out of the comics that introduced unique characters like Trevor Fitzroy, Sienna Blaze, and Shinobi Shaw to new fans. The game also featured both Bishop and Cable as playable characters, which makes it at the very least a memorable game for the X-Men.

10 X-Men (Genesis)

Gamefaqs: 3.36/5

1993 saw the release of X-Men on the Sega Genesis, which was quickly classified as one of the hardest X-Men games ever played. That's saying a lot, considering Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge exists, but it's the truth.

Players could choose Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, or Gambit to move through the difficult levels with a quickly dwindling mutant power bar. The game even featured a rare ending that required players to lightly hit the Reset button, going against years of warnings against doing that exact thing. X-Men can be difficult to revisit in this day and age due to an overabundance of difficulty spikes and stiff platforming controls that make most stages frustrating rather than challenging; however, the game has positives as well.

While sharing many similarities, the playable characters have unique moves that set them apart from the crowd, and they are brought to life well by generally solid animation. X-Men looks pretty good for its era, and that goes beyond just the heroes and villains. There are also a few neat touches that might delight fans; for instance, if a character falls off a stage, they are brought back by Jean Grey.

9 X-Men: Mutant Academy 2

Gamefaqs: 3.68/5

The first X-Men: Mutant Academy was a 3D fighting game for the PlayStation that was just okay, but Paradox amplified what worked about the game and fixed what didn't for the sequel. Unfortunately, the series dropped off a bit in playability for the third game , X-Men: Next Dimension, so X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 is the franchise's sweet spot.

X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 allowed players to choose from 18 different characters from either the X-Men or the Brotherhood and even Spider-Man was unlockable through the Arcade Mode. The game’s mechanics play like a typical 2D fighting game: each character has a specific moveset, special attacks, and super moves that can be chained together for cool combos. Pulling off a combo into a super feels natural, and each character had unique moves that felt like what they would do in the comic books or the movies. The first two Mutant Academy games shared a tie-in connection to the X-Men movies that included extra content like costumes and behind-the-scenes footage .

8 X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse

Gamefaqs: 3.69/5

Capcom would have a lengthy relationship with the X-Men over the years, though most of its success would fall in the fighting game genre. However, the second game from Capcom that was based on the X-Men franchise was called X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse and was actually a 2D action platformer.

The game was fairly difficult as players had to play through the grueling levels of each member of the X-Men (Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, Psylocke, and Gambit) before getting a password that would allow them to move on. Mutant Apocalypse's graphics were great, and it was actually fun to play, if not a little frustrating at times.

7 X-Men 2: Clone Wars

Gamefaqs: 3.77/5

X-Men 2: Clone Wars was Sega's follow-up to their popular but difficult X-Men, and featured new playable characters as well as fixed a number of the glaring issues seen in the first game. The sequel added Psylocke, Beast, and an unlockable Magneto to the playable roster from the first game, though the other X-Men continued to appear throughout the game.

X-Men 2: Clone Wars loosely adapted The Phalanx Covenant storyline for the game and had one of the best game soundtracks of the era. The sequel was made infinitely more enjoyable thanks to the removal of the mutant power bar that had hindered the first game.

6 X-Men Legends

Gamefaqs: 3.84/5

The X-Men are a team, yet for years players were forced to play individually as their favorite members of the X-Men (or Dazzler) instead of seeing the team work together on missions. X-Men: Legends changed all that with their four-player role-playing game that became a hit fan-favorite and still remains one of the best X-Men games that was ever released so far.

Not only did the game feature an original story set within the world of the X-Men, but players were also able to pick a team of four to play through missions with and switch through each character with the press of a button. The various members used on the team would also get players bonuses and allow for mutant power combos.

5 X-Men: Children Of The Atom

Gamefaqs: 3.93/5

The first game from Capcom to feature the X-Men characters was called X-Men: Children of the Atom, and it launched the franchise's eventual future success with games like X-Men vs. Street Fighter and the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

The game was loosely based on the Fatal Attractions storyline from the comics and featured the standard playable roster alongside villains like Omega Red, Spiral, Silver Samurai, and even a Sentinel. Capcom also included Akuma from the Street Fighter franchise as a secret character in the game. While it does not hold up quite as much as some latter Capcom fighting games featuring Marvel characters, Children of the Atom is still a landmark release that set the stage for greatness to come, all the while still being a fun time in its own right.

4 X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition

Gamefaqs: 3.97/5

Fox's X-Men movies are the definition of a mixed bag, and the same can be said for their video game adaptations. 2006's X-Men: The Official Game spreads itself a bit too thin to be worthwhile, although a few of the playable characters are fun (Nightcrawler, especially). Still, this tie-in is difficult to recommend to anyone but the most die-hard fans of the original film trilogy; even then, they should treat it as only a curiosity.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a top contender for the worst film in the franchise, although it has stiff competition from Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants. The movie was so terrible, many people simply assumed the game version would not be worth anything, especially since the late-2000s were packed to the brim with terrible adaptations of blockbusters. However, incredibly, the game ended up being far better than the source material, depending on the version.

While not awful, the Wii, PSP, and PS2 iterations are nothing to write home about, delivering mostly mediocre gameplay. However, the Uncaged Edition on PS3, PC, and Xbox 360 is a genuinely great hack and slash title that arguably comes closer to matching comic Wolverine's violent tendencies than the movies (except for maybe Logan). Following the film's plot while taking some liberties, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is just a lot of fun to play thanks to visceral combat that really embraces gore, which makes sense for Logan's moveset. The action set pieces are fittingly over-the-top and stylish, while the graphics looked surprisingly good (and are still fine on the eyes).

3 X-Men (Arcade)

Gamefaqs: 3.92/5

Early gamers got their first look at homo superior in the arcades with the release of X-Men, which allowed for up to six players. The game also featured a double screen similar to Tecmo Bowl or the Cinerama style of projection theater, a precursor to the improving arcade technology in the coming years. The arcade game was also unique in that the character designs and story were loosely based on the Pryde of the X-Men TV pilot that was never picked up. The six X-Men available to players were Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler, who were also the main cast members in the animated pilot.

Konami produced plenty of great beat 'em up arcade games, and X-Men stands among the developer's better releases. While Capcom's genre offerings from this era were arguably better (particularly The Punisher), that does not take anything away from this early release.