The continuing appeal of superhero gaming
stargrace Despite the fact that the gaming world has provided us with many legendary characters such as Mario and Lara Croft, it has also repeatedly drawn a great deal of inspiration from comic book creations.
So whether it’s the latest next-gen console release, or even a slot machine game, here’s a look at how superheroes have infiltrated our gaming domain.
Marvel Comics have been with us for many years, but it’s only recently that it’s become a major source of inspiration for the gaming world. From the early Spiderman titles for the Amiga in 1982, to the updates for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 at the turn of the century, it was clear that the comic book template of brightly-coloured athletic characters held great potential for console gaming.
The X-Men series also revelled in the comic book gaming options, with many titles such as X-Men: Destiny and Wolverine being closely tied to their related movie blockbusters to deliver the company a massive amount of cross-promotional appeal.
But in terms of popularity, the DC Comics creation, Batman, is hard to beat. The character has already appeared in a huge range of titles culminating in last year’s critically-acclaimed Arkham Knight for the PS4 and Xbox One.
And given the creative potential of differing gaming platforms, we’ve also seen the Caped Crusader turning up in a few unlikely places. These have included a series of Lego Batman releases, as well as the Dark Knight Rises slots game that features alongside a massive range of online slot machines at the Betway site that includes many other user-friendly casino games.
The Lego franchise also released their Marvel Super Heroes game that featured an entire universe of Marvel stars battling through a range of different environments and utilizing their own special powers.
And although Superman managed to make an appearance in the Lego Batman games, he hasn’t managed to make such a successful impression on the 21st century gaming environment. 2006’s Superman Returns suffered from widespread negative reviews, whereas Superman: The New Adventures for the Nintendo 64 is often quoted as being one of the worst games ever made.
However, 2011’s Marvel Vs Capcom 3 managed to provide a great meeting of comic book worlds that served to show the fun that could be had when pitting the likes of Ryu against Deadpool.
And with our superheroes showing the ability to find new terrain in the realms of slot machines and Lego games, it seems as though these comic book characters will be with us for a long time to come.