Top 10 comic book heroes that deserve their own game

With Batman finally getting the videogame he deserves in Arkham Asylum, perhaps it’s time for some other heroes to be given the digital treatment. But with so many to choose from, which characters are the best options for developers to look at? They could do worse than having a look at these ones first. If you disagree, feel free to let us know in the comments.

10. Ant Man

Hank Pym’s had a hard life, and no doubt suffers from the worst ‘small man complex’ in the history of fiction. And while he may not be Ant Man any more, if anyone deserves a videogame it’s the diminutive, sometimes massive, always entertaining doctor. Imagine levels spent breaking into a house, only half an inch tall, using stealth and guile and the fact you’re really small to get close to your enemies, gaining info and working out a strategy to bring them to justice. Then, when every thing’s set, turning into Goliath and squashing them like a puny bug.

9. Jack Staff

A bit of good old English class, Paul Grist’s originally self-published superhero is an underground classic. Heavily narrative-driven and featuring a cast of original and exciting enemies, Jack Staff is at once an exciting adventure and an homage to the great history of comics. If Grist’s art style could successfully transferred to a digital medium, coupled with an all new story, then Jack Staff, Britain’s Greatest Hero, could take on the world.

8.Deadman

There just aren’t enough games featuring dead circus performers who do tasks for made up gods. I mean, you can’t think of any, can you? Deadmancould right that particular wrong. He’s intangible, invisible and can pretty much inhabit the body of anyone he wants. In other words, no two levels would have to be the same; possess a soldier one minute, a teenage boy the next. Levels could have multiple routes, depending on which body you choose to use and the style of game you want to play. Plus, giant collars and pasty white faces are all the rage nowadays.

7. Gambit

There’s just something about Remy LeBeau; he’s a loveable rogue, a ladies’ man, a thief you can’t help but love. After being butchered in the recent Wolverine film, it’s only fair that Gambit should get a chance to shine in his own game. The ability to charge any object with ‘splodey energy is one that screams for interactivity, and Gambit can hold his own in a fistfight as well. Give us some Louisiana darkness, some swampy gloom and oppressive heat, and do not give us odd four-armed assassins for no particular reason.

6. Metamorpho

The ability to change into anything you fancy is one that’s been underused in videogames. Sure, there are games that let you transform between one shape or another, but the freedom to be anything, why, that’s the dream, right? Rex Mason, whilst he may sound like a grizzled 1930s detective, fits the bill perfectly; as Metamorpho, he can shift shapes, as well as take on the properties of any element in the human body (woo! Nitrogen!). But more than that, Mason isn’t particularly fond of his powers, seeing them as a disease rather than a gift. That sort of conflict is the perfect starting point for an epic interactive adventure.

5. Black Cat

Yes, she may be appear to be an ever so slightly unsubtle copy of DC’s Catwoman: thief, occasional crime fighter, conflicted love interest of a larger hero, cat-based alter ego, but Felicia Hardy is an interesting character in her own right. Not only would a Black Cat game allow you to do some quality thieving in the swanky penthouses and well guarded museums of New York, you’d also get to tussle – and how you choose to construe this statement is up to you – with Spider-Man as well.

4. Daredevil

Yes, I see that there is a problem with making a Daredevil game, and it’s not just the misfiring Ben Affleck film of a few years ago. No, the main problem is that Matt Murdock is ever so slightly visually impaired. In that he’s blind. Some may see that as an obstacle. I see it as an opportunity. Set the game in third person, but have an option to ‘see’ as Daredevil does, through sound. Imagine Hell’s Kitchen (the place, not the program), recreated through vibrations and the rumble of city life. It’d need a brave design team, but if they could make it work, then it would be a staggering and enjoyable experience.

3. Green Arrow

Nothing sells videogames like bearded, liberal cynics that are adept with a longbow, right? Oliver Queen would make the perfect star of a third person action adventure, cracking wise and spearing some criminals with finely placed arrows. His costume may be a bit, well, 12th Century English folklore hero chic, but let’s not hold that against him. Green Arrow is one of the most human of all of DC’s heroes, fallible, and far from unbreakable. A finely crafted story could make the game a classic.

2. Deadpool

Another Marvel character who didn’t come off too well from Wolverine, Deadpool is the perfect candidate for videogame glory. More than happy to break the fourth wall, famed for wisecracks and slapstick humour, The Merc With the Mouth is pretty much ready built for digital entertainment. Guns, a healing factor, a simple and effective costume and the sort of cocksure attitude that makes players want to play more. Deadpool could prove to be the kind of character that sells a shooter/beat ’em up by the bucketload.

1. Green Lantern

I don’t want to get into the ‘who’s the best Green Lantern’ argument here, because it’d take forever and none of us would ever agree. However, what we should agree on is the fact that Green Lantern’s powers would make for an awesome game. A ring that can conjure up pretty much anything, the power of flight and a vast swathe of the universe to play in, sounds like a sandbox game the likes of which anyone would be drooling over. Lantern‘s rogues gallery is huge and the scope for the game even bigger. Think about it: saving the world one minute, fighting in space the next, then back to Earth for a bit of crime fighting before stopping a star exploding. Green Lantern has been criminally overlooked in the game department, and it’s about time someone put that right.