Calling All Heroes! – Most Wanted Comic Book Games

Other than a few half hearted cash-ins, such as the lacklustre Iron Man themed flight sim and that massively unplayable Watchmen mmorpg, spandex-clad super folk are largely conspicuous by their absence on the Appstore. With this in mind iFanzine counts down (in no particular order) the top 5 comic book franchises we’d love to see muscle their way onto iDevice.

1. Spiderman: Spidey’s PSone outings were amazing, and still rank among the best superhero games ever made. Gameloft currently hold the rights to making mobile games based on the webhead’s exploits and recently released the side scrolling beat ’em up Spiderman: Toxic City for java and Symbian handsets.

Given the extra processing power and graphical oomph of the iPhone, surely this talented developer could come up with something special for us? I envision a huge sandbox adventure with a multi-stranded plot, a vast array of side-missions and a decent combat system. Either that or just port the playstation games. Please?


2. X-Men: Wolverine and co. have graced most every console over the years, and an Appstore mutant invasion must be on the cards. And if not it should be! X-Men Legends and its sequel were well received on Nokia’s now defunct Ngage handheld, and this top down RPG style of game seems a good fit for the iPlatform also.

3. Superman: Surely the superest superhero of them all deserves a stellar iPhone adaptation. Imagine, if you will, accelerometer controlled flying (a la Glyder by Glu), touchscreen fisticuffs, and an open world environment to fight your way through. Sounds super, doesn’t it?

4. Batman: With Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight recently ruling the box-office and Batman: Arkham Asylum getting rave reviews on consoles, what better time for Bats to swoop onto Apple’s increasingly popular gaming platform? None I say. But rather than a full scale 3d adventure, a title that focused on Batman’s skills as a detective, with an emphasis on puzzle solving and stealth, might be more interesting and better suited to the particular strengths of the format.

If you’ve played Big Fish Games’ brilliant Nick Chase: A Detective Story, you’ll have a better idea where I’m going with this idea. A bat-game executed in a similar manner to this title would make for an incredibly immersive experiance, with the scope for point and click inspired adventuring, stealth sections, and mini-games such as first-person batarang throwing, car chases in the bat-mobile, or beat ’em up sequences with iconic baddies.

5. The Incredible Hulk: You can usually rely on Bruce Banner’s angry green alter ego to provide a smashing gaming experience, so why he’s yet to crash the Appstore is a mystery. A port of the online flash game Hulk Smash Up (mindless destruction against the clock) would, for example, be great fun on iPhone.

Do you agree or disagree with our choices, or perhaps have some superhero suggestions of your own? Please let us know in the comments section below! ’nuff said.