Marvel has enjoyed considerable success over the years in video games. From traditional beat ‘em ups to fast-paced fighting games, Earth’s mightiest heroes have successfully leapt from comic book pages into gaming consoles and PCs over and over again.
With so many Marvel games to choose from, the biggest problem for gamers is separating the wheat from the chaff. As with any other famous IP, Marvel has put out plenty of radioactive stinkers, so we’ve put together this list to guide you through several generations of gaming, focusing only on the very best Marvel games.
With the free-to-play online hero shooter Marvel Rivals making waves and Insomniac gearing up to unleash Wolverine on PS5, there’s never been a better time to reflect on the past gaming efforts approved by the House of M. Before we kick off an Infinity War of our own, these are our top 12 favorites. Your list may vary, but we think each pick here offers something unique and is well worth playing.
To learn more about the Marvel universe’s past and present outside of comic books, you can also check out our guides to watching the Marvel movies in order or our rundown of the Marvel movies, ranked worst to best, before taking a look at everything we know about Avengers: Doomsday, the MCU’s first event crossover since 2019.
12. Marvel Cosmic Invasion
Platforms: PC, PS4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 1/2 | Developer: Tribute Games | Release date: December 1, 2025
It’s not often we get a compelling side-scrolling beat ‘em up that packs more than retro-inspired looks, but veteran arcade-y game developer Tribute Games knows exactly what to bring to the table to make them feel exciting.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion draws inspiration from Marvel’s decades-long history and its focus on sci-fi elements and more overlooked heroes and villains, with Annihilus as the top dog, instantly felt refreshing. More importantly, the combat (solo or co-op) is fast and furious, with fun playable characters and fearsome foes that can quickly ruin a clean run.
Don’t go in expecting particularly-deep combo and tag-team (swapping heroes) systems, but in the age of countless studios “going retro” without a full understanding of what makes old formulas click, Marvel Cosmic Invasion shines as bright as Richard Rider. The colorful and generous roster of heroes (and antiheroes) is just the perfect excuse to replay it over and over again with friends and family.
11. Marvel Snap
Platforms: PC, Android, iOS | Developer: Second Dinner | Release date: October 18, 2022
Digital collectible card games based on large IPs tend to be forgettable, yet Marvel Snap — published by Nuverse — has been a massive hit with hardcore gamers and casual fans alike. It’s quick to play and easy to grasp, but also highly competitive for those who want to push themselves hard.
Marvel Snap is especially enticing for Marvel aficionados because of how gorgeous it looks, from the stylish art on the cards to the deep-cut references to the IP and its gigantic library of stories and characters.
Plus, you can play it on the go!
10. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Platforms: PC, Xbox One/Series X|S, PS4/5, Nintendo Switch (via streaming) | Developer: Eidos-Montréal | Release date: October 26, 2021
After missing the mark with Marvel’s Avengers (2020), Square Enix’s second triple-A Marvel game faced an uphill battle with journalists and fans, yet it went on to garner critical acclaim and win several big awards, despite failing to meet sales expectations.
Guardians of the Galaxy feels like developer Eidos-Montréal sticking to what the studio has always done best: tight single-player experiences with tons of soul and memorable world-building.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is full of big moments and epic sequences, yet it finds its biggest strength in the little moments with each member of our favorite band of spacefaring misfits.
9. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
Platforms: PC, MacOS, PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, Wii U, Nintendo Switch | Developer: Traveller’s Tales | Release date: October 22, 2013
LEGO video games are the gift that keeps on giving, and Traveller’s Tales' ambitious take on the Marvel universe did not disappoint.
While the sequel — Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 — may have expanded on many of the game's systems and gone deeper with the character roster, the first LEGO Marvel Super Heroes remains king of the LEGO Marvel games.
This one might be the best pick in the list for the whole family, with an easy-to-access co-op mode included, a huge open-world worth exploring, and more playable Marvel legends than anyone could hope for.
8. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Platforms: PS2, Xbox, GameCube | Developer: Radical Entertainment | Release date: August 23, 2005
The Hulk's best solo days in the mainstream came following the release of Ang Lee’s middling 2003 movie Hulk. That adaptation spawned a notable game tie-in as well as one of the most brutal open-world games ever in The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
After being released in 2005, Ultimate Destruction quickly became one of the biggest power fantasies on the market and a top-notch take on Hulk’s comic book legacy, and we think it's still worth checking out today if you get the chance.
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction provides super-powered smashing on a huge scale that is only topped by the same studio’s two Prototype games.
7. Midnight Suns
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5 | Developer: Firaxis Games | Release date: December 2, 2022
Midnight Suns is the most recent Marvel game on this list and one of the IP’s weirdest projects ever, but one that we’re thankful for.
Despite the glowing reviews and positive fan reception, it has underperformed financially, but Firaxis’ bold take on both the tactical strategy genre and the darkest corner of the Marvel universe feels truly unique.
The "downtime" between missions — mostly focused on social interactions and calm exploration — might be too slow for some players, but if you’re into learning more about who your iconic comrades are and how they feel, Midnight Suns can be much more than an engrossing turn-based RPG.
6. Ultimate Spider-Man
Platforms: PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube | Developer: Treyarch, Beenox | Release date: September 22, 2005
The huge success of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie trilogy (2002 - 2007) made Marvel’s most famous superhero even more famous during the 2000s, and we got all kinds of competent video game adaptations as a result.
While some of you probably expected to see the Spider-Man 2 tie-in game make the cut (we all love pizza time), we think that the most unique and memorable Spidey release of that era is Ultimate Spider-Man. It had an excellent artistic design that hasn’t been done again for the character, and it was consistently fun to play.
Ultimate Spider-Man even allowed players to control Venom and explore the story from a different point of view.
5. Marvel Rivals
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC | Developer: NetEase Games | Release date: December 6, 2024
After a pretty convincing open beta, Marvel Rivals launched in late 2024 to critical acclaim and huge player numbers across consoles and PC, nailing the sort of live-service success that Disney and Marvel Entertainment had been chasing ever since Marvel’s Avengers flopped back in 2020. Sure, Marvel Snap ‘cracked the code’ in card battler space in 2023, but an online action game in which players of all skill levels could unleash the power of all their favorite Marvel heroes and villains was overdue.
Marvel Rivals is a classic team-based hero shooter, but it arrived at the right time and with the perfect amount of polish and care put into it to catch our attention. It has a vibrant, distinct art style, exudes charm, and plays really well on PC or consoles. Plus, it’s entirely free-to-play, with no grind needed to unlock all the new characters joining the packed roster each season. This is exactly how you get people to embrace microtransactions and stick around for years to come.
4. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
Platforms: PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, GameCube | Developer: Raven Software | Release date: September 20, 2005
Activision truly had it all when it came to Marvel in the 2000s, and the X-Men Legends games quickly became one of the company’s best offerings for the home consoles and PC. Our personal pick is Rise of Apocalypse, a sequel that elevated everything that worked in the original.
For many players and casual Marvel fans, X-Men Legends II marked the first contact with Apocalypse, one of the mutants’ fiercest antagonists. Furthermore, it put an uneasy alliance between the X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants front and center, paving the way for much of the franchise’s future on the big screen.
3. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Platforms: PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, GameCube | Developer: Raven Software | Release date: October 24, 2006
Roughly a year after X-Men Legends II launched, Raven Software went much bigger — using the same game systems — and crafted a beautiful love letter to the Marvel universe as a whole that went beyond the X-Men and the most famous Avengers.
Ultimate Alliance’s promise of building the definitive Marvel superhero team paid off big time thanks to tons of variety and accessible action-RPG mechanics. The game spawned two sequels, but there’s a big quality gap between the first entry and the rest of the series.
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Platforms: PS5, PC | Developer: Insomniac Games | Release date: October 20, 2023
After a trip down memory lane, a return to modern video games inevitably leads us to Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, which are arguably the most immersive and cutting-edge Marvel titles to date. After a long wait and one chunky Miles Morales-centric spinoff, in 2023, we received Spider-Man 2, which took things to the next level and expanded the scope of the central story to include both Peter Parker and Miles.
Without getting into heavy spoilers, the full sequel to Insomniac’s 2018 surprise hit wasn’t just bigger, it was deeper and a surprising reexamination of key Spider-Man villains and mythos that drew from both classic comic books and more recent series.
More specifically, lovers of all things Venom and symbiotes should love what the lead creatives did here with the pesky alien parasites and the updated lore. We’re also big fans of this Kraven the Hunter, which may be the franchise’s best-ever incarnation of the character.
1. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360/One, PS3/4/Vita | Developer: Capcom, Eighting | Release date: November 15, 2011
Our last pick isn’t recent nor ancient, but we’re sure it’s still the best Marvel fighting game around. Capcom has delivered time and again when working alongside Marvel — except for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, let’s forget about that one — but the extended cut of the third entry in their hit crossover series is by far the meatiest one.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 represents the peak of accessible 2D fighting games without sacrificing all the depth that veterans of the genre require to become the very best in tournaments. Moreover, it packs one of the best transitions from pixel art to 3D graphics we’ve ever seen.
As a bonus, you get plenty of X-Men characters before Disney started boycotting Fox’s big-screen efforts and downplaying their (borrowed) characters’ presence for years.
