Comic books and video games haven’t always had a great history in combination with each other; in the early days of gaming (e.g. Commodore 64) companies snatched up any licensed property they could get their hands on and they would rush out a game that was weak and hardly even resembled the inspired brand. Comic book adaptations were linked to this kind of output throughout that era before the devastating video game crash.
Into the NES, Genesis and eventually SNES era; a similar trend continued, although amongst the dreck you would find some bonafide classics amongst the rushed jobs. For every head-scratching property like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES), there were bonafide classics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES), for every dud like Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge (SNES) there was an awesome counter-part like Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (Genesis, SNES).
This trend continued on steadily until the PS3/Xbox 360 era; gamers had grown older and less naive about buying something shiny and new just because their favourite superhero property was available on a game disc. Rushed licensed properties (especially when they were movie tie-ins) sold miserably and developers starting axing things left-right-and-centre, hence why so many cancelled projects from that era are featured on this list.
Nowadays, the comic book tie-in is treated with more care since picking up the license is expensive, plus it’s no longer a guaranteed return investment. So, let’s observe all those cautionary tales of axed comic book games of the past; some that looked great, some that looked terrible, yet all are darn interesting to read about.
25 Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (PS2/Xbox)
This led to Marvel and Sony constantly conflicting about the priority of directions for the piece, resulting in an over-running budget that eventually did in the game - and the company.
24 The Avengers (Ps3/Xbox 360)
23 Superman: Blue Steel (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
22 The Dark Knight (PS3/Xbox 360)
21 Justice League: Mortal (PS3, Xbox 360)
20 The Incredible Hulk (Atari 2600)
19 The Flash (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
18 Marvel Universe Online (Xbox 360, PC)
17 Green Lantern (SNES)
16 Spider-Man Classic (PS3/Xbox 360)
15 Superman 64 (PS1)
14 X-Woman: The Sinister Virus (Sega Genesis)
13 Suicide Squad (PS3/Xbox 360)
12 Marvel Chaos (Xbox 360)
11 Batman (SNES)
10 X-Men: Mind Games (Sega 32X)
9 Ghost Rider (PS1)
8 Green Lantern: A Justice League Game (PS3/Xbox 360)
7 Gotham By Gaslight (PS3/Xbox 360)
6 Lobo (SNES, Sega Genesis)
Man, DC’s comic book spoof character Lobo is rife for adaptation but so far has been given the short end of the stick with a long list of failed attempts. He has not only one…but two cancelled games tied to his name.
