sponsorship

In Part 3 of Comic Relief, we give you the games that have shamed the superhero community. Hang your head in humiliation and promise to never, ever play these games.

Be sure to check out:
Part 1 of Comic Relief -- Superheroes that Made the Game
Part 2 of Comic Relief -- Anticipating the Superhero

An ode to the comic book superheroes of yore, Comic Relief celebrates the games that have made these legends come alive in a virtual world.

Part 3 wraps up our look at comic book-related video games with a spotlight on games that we wish were never made, even if they did feature our favorite superheroes.

Catwoman
PlayStation, Xbox, GameCube
Catwoman fumbles the ball--from the moment you press start there's nothing but frustration. Catwoman commits every action-adventure platform-jumper crime imaginable: lousy camera angles, incomprehensible level designs, and a lame combat engine. And for an agile character, there's really nothing stealthy about her: enemies mindlessly charge, and no matter how you slice it, one really shouldn't have to spend endless hours trying to repeatedly make a near-impossible jump. Unaware purchasers of this title quickly relegated it to the litter box.

Fantastic 4
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC
Fantastic 4 is a team-based action adventure in which players harness the Marvel superheroes' unique and amazing powers. The game was also a tie-in to the horrible movie, which says a lot about what you could expect to play. The graphics looked bland and without detail, while the controls just weren't precise and felt unbalanced. The worst part of Fantastic 4, however, was that the game simply wasn't fun. You were tasked to constantly change between all four superheroes at odd times, creating an annoying gameplay experience. Like the movie, thankfully there hasn't been a sequel.

Hulk
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC
Hulk is the video-game equivalent of fast food: quick, easy, and disposable. Its main problem is that poor game design choices, like interminably respawning soldiers, robots, and mutant pooches and puzzles that rarely deviate from the crate-pushing ilk, are made to present challenges for a character that can essentially put a skyscraper in a camel clutch. The resultant product is a dime-a-dozen summer-movie-coupled yawnfest rife with comic book in-jokes and jarring corporate product placement.

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube
Marvel Nemesis looked certainly good on paper. But when push came to shove, Rise of the Imperfects just didn't deliver. The game was supposed to be intuitive brawler involving some of Marvels top heroes. The game also introduced a brand new Marvel character and linked it to a new comic line. Alas, Marvel Nemesis came to be really imperfect thanks to its horrendous single-player game, an unbalanced fighting scheme, poorly designed levels, and some really glaring AI bugs. This is one game not to marvel at no matter who the superhero may be.

Superman 64
N64
Bar none, this is the worst of all superhero games to ever be released. The gameplay consisted of tedious uninspiring action that really didn't reflect The Man of Steel's personality. In fact, the very beginning stage was a useless and frustrating challenge--since when did Superman have to fly through "rings" in a time limit? On top of the inferior level designs, Superman 64's visuals on what was suppose to be a "next-gen" system just looked awful. Grainy, blurry, and bland stages abounded. All told, everything about Superman 64 felt rushed and unintuitive, which resulted into a not very fun time.

Games.net's Countdown to...