Worst Superhero Video Games

Superheroes and video games might seem like the most natural combination in the world, but they're a trickier fit than you'd think. More often than not, our video game versions of superheroes fail stupendously, never living up to the exhilaration that their comics adventures promise—and some games are bad enough to make you abandon all hope. Here's a look at a few of the all-time worst offenders.

With an average Metacritic score of 26, Aquaman's only solo video game outing was an absolute tragedy (as though the guy didn't already have enough insecurities to deal with). A game without much of an obvious reason for existing, Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis suffers primarily from the fact that the character isn't the most dynamic or exciting in the DC stable. While Aquaman is able to call in assistance from nearby marine life and execute a few fancy moves, the game ended up being just a mindless button-masher. Further embarrassment followed when the TV show X-Play created the Golden Mullet Awards in "honor" of Battle for Atlantis, inspired by the undersea hero's questionable digital hairstyle.

It's not only DC Comics that make for some terrible video games—Marvel is equally guilty of sucking the life out of your console. X-Men: Destiny seems like the mutant video game that every fan had always dreamed of playing, pulled straight from the comic pages. You take on the role of a young mutant fighting against anti-mutant forces...except as far as the game is concerned, none of your choices really affect the overall outcome. It's like ordering the soup and getting a pile of rubber bands instead.

Aside from cruelly pretending to offer the player free will, X-Men: Destiny has also been criticized for feeling unfinished, and having some pretty dull combat mechanics. Silicon Knights has made some great stuff, but according to Kotaku, the studio was in a state of irreparable disarray at this time this was being made. The result is a game that's more Morlock than mutant, and a dud with a Meteoritic score of 44.

Indie heroes can suck too, and The Tick is another busted attempt at turning a great comic into a game. While it's a pretty standard side-scrolling beat 'em up, a la Double Dragon, the game destroys itself by making the entire first level a joke—and then forgetting the punchline.

Called "Night of a Million Zillion Ninjas," the level contains so many ninjas that it literally takes about an hour to play through it, all the while mashing the same couple of buttons. After a ton of ninjas, it's a little funny. After the second ton, it just stops being fun. Subsequent levels are more of the same endless onslaught of identical goons, and your final reward for giving yourself permanent thumb injuries and night terrors? A picture of The Tick and Arthur on a motorcycle. Even in the days before you could just download a picture of the blue buffoon, this was a prize on par with Christmas socks.

Based on the 2008 film of the same name, Incredible Hulk was a whimpering follow up to 2005's awesome Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. Movie tie-ins generally don't work as more than a quick cash-grab, and Edge of Reality's Incredible Hulk doesn't even try to break the mold—which is doubly disappointing considering that breaking stuff is pretty much what the Hulk is supposed to do.

Critics gave the game an overwhelming meh, even with the inclusion of awesome enemies like the U-Foes and Bi-Beast. After all was said and done, Incredible Hulk fared about as well as the movie, marking a pretty awkward time in the blooming Marvel Cinematic Universe and a pretty nasty bout of disappointment for gamers.