Bam, Zap, Pow! The 10 Best Superhero Games, Ranked

Despite debuting way back in 2011, DC Universe Online still has a strong enough player base to warrant a PS5 upgrade. Like World of Warcraft, the MMO lets you create a super-powered avatar and play with friends and strangers online. The hook? You can choose whether to join the Justice League as a hero or The Society as a villain.

DC Universe Online wasn't a critical darling upon release, but several updates have improved its standing. Is it the best DC game ever made? The best superhero game ever made? Not quite, but it's a highly entertaining multiplayer title. After all, a live service game must fire on all cylinders to survive more than a decade.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One

A video game about a wealthy genius in power armor should be an easy sell, but Tony Stark didn't make a big video game splash until Iron Man VR. It replicates one of the coolest aspects of MCU Iron Man: the interior helmet view that feeds him information.

In addition, the first-person shooter completes the Iron Man experience by letting you fly around environments using familiar movie-like hand gestures and fire off repulsor blasts with wrist flicks.

Platforms: Meta Quest Pro, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2, PlayStation VR

In the 20 years since its release, Legends remains the best X-Men game. You control four mutant heroes from a roster of 15 powerful characters in it. Naturally, super-powered combat is the star of the show; your squad synergistically works together to dispatch enemies while leveling up.

X-Men Legends has other role-playing elements, too, such as a fully explorable mansion where you can converse with other mutants (but don’t expect deep, Baldur's Gate 3-like relationships).

Platforms: GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360

Marvel’s Midnight Suns was developed by Firaxis Games, the studio famous for cerebral titles like Civilization and XCOM, so it has crowd-pleasing depth. The story involves Hydra’s attempt to resurrect the evil Lilith, using her dark magic to take over the world.

The 40-hour deftly blends tactics combat with deck-building card elements (with your team’s attacks based on the cards you draw). Between matches, you hang out with fellow party members at the Abbey and learn about everyone’s histories and stakes There’s even a dating sim aspect where you increase your friendship level with other characters.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One

Marvel Snap is the best “just one more round” video game ever made. An online card game like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering, Marvel Snap tasks you with collecting cards featuring popular and obscure characters for strategic battles.

The gameplay is simple, but nuanced. You leverage the cards' zany abilities to control two of three zones on the board to seize the victory. It's an effective strategy to build decks with cards that synergize their abilities to create crazy combos and big scores. Also, it’s free!

Platforms: Android, iOS, PC

Fighting games aren’t usually applauded for their excellent storytelling, but that’s just one of the many ways NetherRealm’s Injustice series stands apart from the competition. Set in an alternate DC timeline, Injustice 2 revolves around a key reality-changing event: the Joker tricks Superman into killing a pregnant Lois Lane and detonating a nuke that vaporizes Metropolis. It’s a well-told tale with even tighter fighting mechanics.

Injustice 2 shares most of its technical DNA with NetherRealm’s other mega-franchise, Mortal Kombat. The fusion works well. Although Injustice 2 doesn’t come close to matching Mortal Kombat's gore and violence, it's plenty brutal and cinematic. Plus, the game’s lengthy campaign, Multiverse mode, and gear system give you plenty to do.

Platforms: Android, iOS, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

DC and Marvel aren’t the only sources for superheroes. Infamous 2 puts you in the shoes of Cole MacGrath, a former bike courier who gains electrical powers. The sequel finds Cole traveling to New Marais, a New Orleans-like city, where he seeks to amplify his abilities to battle the prophesied world-ending monster, the Beast.

Cole’s a limber lad, able to climb and parkour over most obstacles. Electrical abilities let him fire thunderbolts at enemies, hover from rooftop to rooftop, and revive fallen citizens. As the game progresses, you upgrade Cole’s abilities, but there’s a karmic catch: you can either make yourself more powerful as a force of good or evil. The gameplay angle is very 2011, but it's a fun ride.

Platform: PlayStation 3

Fighting game savants debated whether Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is the superior title. Both are great, but Marvel vs. Capcom 2 made an impact deserving of a superhero landing.

The game has a beautiful art direction, featuring terrific 2D sprites battling against 3D backgrounds. In addition, MvC2 features a cool three-on-three fighting system that lets you tag characters in and out during fights. Tragically, the game was delisted in 2013 due to an expired Marvel Comics license, a victim of the tenuous deals companies make when doing a crossover project. Still, you should play it by any means necessary.

Platforms: Dreamcast, iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Xbox

Every title in Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy is a certified banger that can serve as the best Batman game. However, Arkham City features one of the best Batman stories in any medium. Joker’s blood is poisoned due to using the Titan serum, so he needs a cure. Who better to find said cure than the world’s greatest detective? As an incentive, Joker captures Batman and infects him with his poisoned blood, as well as many citizens in Gotham’s hospitals.

Arkham City is a race against the clock as Batman grows increasingly ill. The game features numerous memorable moments, such as fighting as Bruce Wayne in the game’s opening, getting into fisticuffs with Solomon Grundy, outsmarting Mr. Freeze in one of the greatest boss fights in video game history, and the climactic showdown with Clayface in a theater.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, OS X, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U

Recency bias? Nope. One of 2023's best games and arguably one of the greatest single-player action titles ever released, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 sets the superhero video game bar incredibly high. This sequel improves every element found in its predecessor and makes good on the series' singular promise to make you feel like the wallcrawler.

Swinging through Manhattan is fast and dynamic, giving you the creative freedom to dive, swing, and wall run. Likewise, the fluid combat redefines superhero brawling in a video game. Then there’s the story, a cinematic tale that remixes classic comic book characters and arcs into something new and exciting.

Platform: PlayStation 5