Unleash tour Berserker rage!
ByJamie Iovine
September 22, 2026
With the recent release of Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Wolverine we have yet another addition to the vast library of video games featuring everyone’s favorite mutant. He’s had his own games, and he’s been part of an ensemble, all to varying results, but the thought always remains the same: people want to live in Wolverine’s shoes.
Some accomplished this goal more than others, but we at Complex have put together what we think is the definitive list of the best opportunities to play as the indestructible Canadian.
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Honorable Mention
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
Console: PS2, Xbox, Gamecube
One of the many fun aspects of the Tony Hawk series was the ability to unlock some truly random secret characters. Darth Maul, Shrek, Jack Black as Officer Dick, and, in the third game, you could play as Wolverine and have him shred half pipes instead of people.
X-Men: Mutant Academy Series
The Mutant Academy games weren’t revolutionary for the fighting genre, but they were a lot of fun to play, even if they lacked depth. A sizeable roster is available Mutant Academy, which only increased in its sequel, featuring mutants such as Beast, Cyclops, Juggernaut, Nightcrawler, and of course, Wolverine. Like mentioned before, there are superior fighting games that involve Marvel characters and there are better 3D fighters as well, but if you want to battle against your favorite heroes and villains, unlock secret characters and attires, this is the game for you. There’s just not much more to do after that in terms of replay value.
X-Men: Next Dimension
Next Dimension was essentially the Mutant Academy games made for a new generation of gaming consoles. It brought back returning and new characters, but with a whole new look. Magneto, Toad, Storm, and Havok joined the fight (Wolverine too, obviously). Not only does this game have a much larger roster, but it also has multi-level stages where you can break into an entirely new arena mid-fight, and it has a decent story mode as well. Once again, there are much better fighting games out there, but if you liked The Mutant Academy Series, you’ll find a lot here.
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
If you are a fan of the recent X-Men ‘97 series on Disney+, then this is the game for you. It’s not a direct adaptation of the show, but aesthetically it’s very similar. Wolverine, Cyclops, Beast, Gambit, and Psylocke must rescue enslaved mutants on Genosha and face off against the powerful Apocalypse. You get to pick your own stages much like the Mega Man games, and whichever mutant you choose, of course, carries their own special powers and abilities.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
The LEGO video games are by and large a fantastically consistent video game series, and this is of course the case with its Marvel versions of the games. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 1 and 2 let you choose from a vast array of hit Marvel characters plus some more deep cuts that have never been featured in a video game before. Wolverine joins a who’s who of a roster in a game that is easy to pick up and play, and it also includes signature LEGO humor. Picking your favorite superhero (Wolverine is an option, naturally) and doing what you want in a LEGO world, breaking and building things, is a fun time, keeping people coming back for every entry.
Marvel: Midnight Suns
Console: PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Recently, everyone’s favorite Canuck joined a team of night-based superheroes (Blade, Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, etc.) in a turn-based, card game format adventure. This was a vast departure from most Marvel Games; instead of a more action-oriented game, it focused on strategy and battle plans. Wolverine is as dark and moody as ever, the other characters are well represented, and the storytelling was deep and varied, but this wasn’t every gamer’s cup of tea, to say the least. If you loved turn-based, deck-building strategy games, this was the game for you; if you wanted to get into them, it was a pretty approachable entry point.
X-Men Legends
X-Men Legends walked so Ultimate Alliance could run. X-Men Legends lets you take control of a team of X-Men with heavy hitters such as Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, and a few others in an action RPG in a top-down adventure where you could switch who you control at any time. The story was great, the gameplay was simple yet challenging, and the varied roster kept the action fresh, while the sequel only added to the roster by including the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Wolverine was more of a piece of an ensemble instead of a main focus, but that doesn’t mean his character wasn’t done correctly.
X-Men
Arguably one of the best arcade games ever made, this game kept gamers of all ages depositing quarter after quarter to play all afternoon as their favorite mutant. Konami (the people behind the original Ninja Turtles Arcade Games as well) knocked it out of the park with this one, as you could choose from a great selection of X-Men such as Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Dazzler in this side-scrolling beat em up as you attempt to take down Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Brown-suit Wolverine is always a welcome addition to any X-Men game, and the vibrant colors and snappy controls kept people coming back for more and more.
This game was based on the vastly underrated X-Men cartoon pilot “The Pryde Of The X-men,” (which made Wolverine Australian for some reason) and the beautiful presentation really shines through. If you saw one of these machines in the wild, you knew your day was made.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion
Console: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PC
One of the more recent entries on this list, the people who brought you the incredible TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge,gamers were blessed with another retro-style 2D beat em up where you could choose from a great variety of unique Marvel greats such as Iron Man, Black Panther, Cyclops, She-Hulk and Beta Ray Bill! Tribute Games is known for its amazingly snappy controls and great retro graphics, only made better by the ability to engage in online multiplayer as well as with whoever you share a couch with. This run’s Wolverine feels more like his Capcom appearances and doesn’t really break the mold in how he’s portrayed.
Marvel’s Wolverine
When it was announced that Insomniac, the people behind the almost perfect Spider Man games on PlayStation, was making a Wolverine focused game, this of course got gamers salivating. A few years later we finally got the game and while it may be a home run like the Spider-Man series, it is a fun time to be sure if not a sort of short one. Much like the Wall Crawler’s games, This Wolverine romp is an original story with a lot of creative liberties taken with the established Wolverine lore. The blood and guts is there, the voice acting is stellar, and the ability to choose from a vast array of memorable suits makes this the best Wolverine outing in the past few years. There’s only one game that does the Wolverine dance better but we will get there later in the list.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
The first two games were superior games, but it was nice to have an Ultimate Alliance game on the go. Much like the previous entries, you get to assemble a team from a large selection of Marvel heroes and go up against Thanos in a pretty straightforward adventure. The formula largely remained the same, but the improved number of characters you could choose from (yes, of course you could pick Wolverine) is where the game really shone. Assemble your team, level up, and go after various bosses before you encounter Mr. Snap Yo Fingaz himself, anywhere you want.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2
Largely based on the formula of the X-Men Legends games, Marvel Ultimate Alliance expanded the character choices from just the X-Men to the Marvel Universe at large, i.e. Captain America, Mr. Fantastic, Thor, etc. The first game was great, but the second was superior, as it follows a version of the legendary Civil War storyline where you pick between teaming with Iron Man or Captain America and assemble a team, fighting for or against Super-Human Registration. Wolverine is treated more as his own man than as a full X-Men representative, but you still get bonus points for creating iconic teams like the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
Marvel Rivals
Console: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
An extremely popular game to this day despite being over 2 years old, this 6 vs. 6 hero shooter gives the player an ever-expanding choice of Marvel characters to team up with 5 others to defeat an opposing team. The gameplay is strictly online and free to play to boot (although there is the caveat of various skins costing real money, but hey, that’s the world we live in). If you liked the legendary shooter Overwatch, then odds are you will like this game. Easy to enter but tough to master, Rivals engages gamers of all ages, but only the truly dedicated can become formidable on the battlefield. There isn’t much of a story, but the gameplay and content alone keep people coming back for more.
The Marvel vs. Capcom series
When history is told about the world of fighting games, it’s hard to argue that the Capcom series of fighting games featuring the Marvel Universe will be considered one of if not the best fighting game series of all time. The games were perfectly balanced, gorgeously designed, and sported a who’s who of Capcom/Marvel greats. If you wanted Gambit to fight Mega Man, no problem; Deadpool vs. Nemesis from Resident Evil? You got it!
The games would immediately go on to become part of the competitive gaming scene, with active competitors to this day. This series appeals to both button mashers and precise input masters alike, so the range of players is vast. Wolverine looks great and is one of the best characters to choose; throw in the fact that he was voiced by the same guy who voiced him in the ‘90s X-Men cartoon, and it only sweetens the deal.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Despite it being based on a horrible movie, this is without a doubt the best Wolverine video game ever made, and it’s not even close. Using the movie’s plotline and expanding on it tenfold, X-Men Origins: Wolverine puts you in the shoes of the baddest dude in the Marvel Universe and truly gives you the tried-and-true experience of gruesomely obliterating your adversaries with adamantium-laced claws.
Making the decision to make the game 100 times bloodier than the movie itself, you can chop off limbs, impale people on trees and metal poles, chop people up with helicopter rotors, and that’s just the first couple of levels. You can put Wolverine in familiar unlockable costumes, and your damage is fantastically represented by your body wasting away until you are a metal skeleton running around. The only downside of this game is you have to face off against the early Ryan Reynolds Deadpool before he was fixed, but its more than an adequate sacrifice for such an enjoyable game.
