Mr. Starks Top Ten Video Games Features

Seeing as Iron Man is such the hot topic at the moment i thought i would run through my top ten favourite Iron Man video games, starting with…

10. Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems (SNES; 1996)
In many ways, games like 1996’s Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems acted as a predecessor to current games like the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series, offering players a variety of characters to play as while battling through a digitised version of a much-loved crossover. War of the Gems gave players the choice between playing as Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man and Hulk in sending them after the Infinity Gems and facing off against Thanos, much like Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War. Depending more on his fists and repulsor blasts than upgraded super tech, playing as Iron Man offered fun and sleek visuals, but didn’t quite capture the character’s video game potential.

9. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (Xbox, GameCube, PS2, PSP, PC; 2005)
While obviously not an Iron Man orientated game, 2005’s X-Men Legends II curiously–and wonderfully–offered Tony Stark’s alter ego as an unlockable character. Whys and wherefores aside, Iron Man’s multiple special abilities and armours secretly gave fans a taste of the pleasures to come from the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

8. The Punisher (Xbox, PS2, PC; 2005)
Essentially a cameo, but still fairly crucial to the game’s story Iron Man shows up in The Punisher after Frank Castle goes on a rampage through Stark Towers only to find out that Jigsaw wants to get his scarred hands on some armour and weapons. Fans will note that the Golden Avengers sports his Extremis armor, but also claims to need a drink before flying off.

7. “The Invincible Iron Man” (GBA; 2002)
A fun side-scrolling shooter/platforming game, The Invincible Iron Man marks the first time the techy hero starred in his very own game. Sporting sweet graphics for Game Boy Advance titles of its era, “Invincible” also scores points for using the then-current Iron Man logo, as well as putting Tony’s powers to good use.

6. Captain America and the Avengers (Arcade, NES, SNES, Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy; 1991)
Predating War of the Gems by five years, Captain America and the Avengers started out as a four-player arcade beat ’em up allowing players to choose from Iron Man, Captain America, Vision or Hawkeye. The variety of options and the inclusion of just about every Avengers villain made Avengers one of the greatest games around, so great that it eventually made its way to home and portable consoles, though the NES version only gave players control over Hawkeye and Cap. While Iron Man’s limited to flying, punching and blasting, that doesn’t detract from the game’s classic feel.

5. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (PS2, PS3, PSP, GBA, Xbox, Xbox 360/Wii/PC; 2006)
Taking a page from the X-Men Legends playbook, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was an amazing game mixing deep RPG and action elements with characters from all over the Marvel Universe, along with a host of unlockable characters and costumes. Iron Man took centre stage in the game, even offering Stark Tower as a base for much of the game. In addition to a myriad of power upgrades, Ol’ Shellhead also comes with four distinct armours to choose from: Extremis, classic red and yellow, Ultimate and War Machine.

4. Tony Hawk’s Underground (Xbox, GameCube, PS2, GBA, PC; 2003)
Iron Man and skateboarding might not seem like the most obvious combination, but much like Adamantium and Vibranium or tacos and tacos, they’re two great tastes that taste great together. Tony Hawk’s Underground offered a variety of unlockable characters including… that’s right Iron Man, who actually rocked a hover board instead of an old, analogue skateboard. Kick flipping and acid dropping just feels so much cooler when you’re making Iron Man do it instead of some dude in cargo shorts.

3. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360; 2009)
Impressively upping the ante with this 2009 sequel, Ultimate Alliance 2 may have reduced the number of alternate costumes – Iron Man only gets his Extremis armour and the classic – but the way the game took events from Secret War and Civil War and turned them into one game deserving multiple plays. Iron Man, of course, stands out as one of the first four characters players control and also being one of the leaders of the two factions (against the true American son; Cap America).

2. Marvel vs. Capcom series (Arcade, Play Station, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2, PSN, XBLA, PS3, Xbox 360; 1996-2010)
The first series to really grasp Iron Man’s full potential, the Marvel Vs. Capcom series have given him epic combos and devastating powers that allowed his techy side to show through, like the massive Proton Cannon. I simply couldn’t pick just one game to spotlight from the three currently available Vs. titles featuring Tony since they’re all rightfully beloved. And with Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (my favourite) joining Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter (fellow blogger Daniel Pepper’s favourite) and the previous two Marvel Vs. Capcom games next year, its about to get hot in here!

1. Iron Man 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DS; 2010)
Hopefully learning from the mistakes of the previous Iron Man video game, Sega will utilizes Iron Man’s signature abilities like flight, repulsar blasts and the Unibeam and combined them with simplified controls in such a away that will improve game play. Additionally, gamers can harness War Machine’s unparalleled firepower throughout the game. Having just been released to coincide with the release of Iron Man 2 and as I have yet to play this, the game still holds plenty of mysteries yet to be found!