The many faces of Wolverine

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A look back at every game with Marvel's feral fighter


X-Men: Children of the Atom (Capcom, 1994-1998) – Arcade, Saturn, PlayStation
Marvel Super Heroes (Capcom, 1995-1997) – Arcade, Saturn, PlayStation
X-Men vs Street Fighter (Capcom, 1996-1998) – Arcade, Saturn, PlayStation
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter (Capcom, 1997-1999) – Arcade, Saturn, PlayStation
Marvel vs Capcom (1998-2000) – Arcade, Dreamcast, PlayStation
Marvel vs Capcom 2 (2000-2003) – Arcade, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox
These six arcade fighters are all lumped together because for the most part Wolverine doesn’t change much. Sure, new combos and tag team partners were added over these showings, but his overall appearance and move-set are largely not changed. The coolest tidbit? Cathal Dodd, Wolvie voice actor for theX-Men animated series returns to voice the badass Canuck. Oh and in MvC2, Wolverine has a “Bone Claws” costume.


Above: We sure did, CHUN-LI


X-Men: Mutant Academy (Activision, 2000) – PlayStation, Game Boy Color
X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (Activision 2001) – PlayStation, Game Boy Color
X-Men: Next Dimension (Activision, 2002) – PS2, GameCube, Xbox
These fighters are a mixture of 2D gameplay in 3D backgrounds. And since these were released around the hype of the first X-Men movie, each is somewhat related - like the movie costumes being available and Patrick Stewart narrating Next Dimension. Don’t remember any fanfare around these titles. Wolverine’s involved, but the results aren’t pretty.


Above: Now with several polygons!

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (EA, 2004) – PS2, Xbox, PSP, GameCube, DS
When EA and Marvel partnered up, they were like “Hey, let’s create some no-name heroes and have them fight Marvel heroes and people will give a shit.” Clearly not the case, Wolverine battled such Imperfects (a very telling title) like Johnny Ohm and The Wink. Combat was like Power Stone, only suckier. And Wolverine looks like a douchier version of former Creed frontman, Scott Stapp.


Above: Can you take me higher, Wolverine?

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 (Activision, 2001) – Every console ever at that time
Along with Spider-Man, Wolverine made an appearance as a secret character. You could flip Christ Airs and a special unlockable “Snikt” move.

Ultimate Spider-Man (Activision, 2005) – PS2, Xbox, GameCube, DS
In order to prove how strong Venom is, you get to beat the crap out of Wolverine and throw him through a window.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (Activision, 2008) – PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS
Wolverine thinks Spider-Man (played by you) is infected by a symbiote and throws down in a brief fight. Later on, the symbiote attacks Wolvie and makes Venom-Wolverine!


Above: And all the rest…


Above: And here’s Logan’s X-Force threads

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