What I learned ....
I think my first encounter with the Green Goblin might have been on the VERY old Atari game where you try and climb up a building and get blown up. Repeatedly. It was more fun than it sounds, and I remember spending a LOT of time in my friend Nick's den hogging the controls. This would have been probably before I saw Gobby on the Spider-Friends show, and probably is what cemented him in my mind as Spidey's arch-foe. (He was the only one I knew for a while.)

Fast-forward two decades or so, to Marvel Ultimate Alliance. By the time it came out I was a jaded, long-time Marvel zombie and thought I knew absolutely everything. Turns out, I did--- but the trivia sections still tripped me up in a few places. More interestingly, the game re-introduced me to a ton of characters (especially classic villains) that haven't had a lot of screen time in the 616 in ages. Attuma, Byrrah, Krang, Baron Mordo, Enchantress and Excutioner .... like a whole motley crew of MoE types that haven't gotten any love in a while. So MUA taught me to dig the Masterworks and reprints to find appearances and backstory for some of those guys.

Lastly, the SPIDER-MAN free-roamer taught me that I am just as likely to get lost in a virtual New York as I am in the real one. (And I've lived here like five years ....)


Posted by Gentleman Jack on 2008-03-14 11:20:35
Not to sound repetitive...
But yeah, my experiences were very similiar. My first ever Marvel game was also the old Spider-Man Atari game that you climbed the building, dodged bombs, and jumped above to attack the circling Green Goblin. Web-swinging was pretty amusing on it, though I usually ended up falling further down when I tried.

Years later I rented the Wolverine game for Nintendo and was eventually forced to call Nintendo Power to figure out how to jump onto a platform that moved back and forth under a larger, fixed platform. The game expert basically came up with: "Umm...no trick, you just jump on it." I eventually made it.

I was also a HUGE fan of the X-Men arcade game. We had the six player one at my local mall and my friends and I would jump in when there were spots empty. I typically played Colossus, not because he was a favorite character, but because I could reliably find his joystick free while others fought over Wolverine and Cyclops. I still think of him fondly though I never got much into his character in the comics, and I definitely never saw him turn his armor on and off to create an electrical explosion like in the game...

I did play a little of the Spider-Man arcade game when I was around the University of Washington's Union Building (years before I was a student), the old Captain America and the Avengers, and even the very basic Punisher/Nick Fury shooting game. I also distinctly remember the Punisher shooting game for Nintendo which was sort of like a side-scrolling first-person shooter. Basically just another excuse to rake bad guys with gunfire.

Honestly, though, I'm not sure how much I learned from the video games. The Wolverine one was pretty packed with things I had never heard of, but I think I was so overwhelmed that only a few images stayed in my head to be clarified later. Most likely the Cap game taught me an assortment of random Avengers villains, most of which I really never had reason to discover later because I was never much of an Avengers fan. I am pretty sure that the Punisher Nintendo game got me fascinated with the Punisher in later years, however!

Posted by PseudoSherlock on 2008-03-14 14:13:07
Good stories, guys.
If you both played the Atari Spider-Man game, you both beat me to the punch in Marvel games (that was the first one ever, by the way, if you didn't know). Although, I distinctly remember the Green Goblin from "Amazing Friends," so I can't chalk that one up to games.

PseudoSherlock, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure I called Nintendo Power about something stupid regarding that game as well. It might have actually been how to beat Sabretooth -- which was pretty much "hit him a bunch and don't let him hit you." The same thing happened for me against Firefly in Sunsoft's Batman NES game, I remember...

Posted by Marvel_Interactive on 2008-03-14 20:02:10
Basic Instincts
What Ive learned from pretty much every single game Ive ever played...Marvel or otherwise.....is simply this:

Hit first and ask questions later. Repeat this until victory is won. Rinse and repeat for each level. Celebrate your win with an ice cold chocolate Yoohoo and move on to the next game! :-P

Posted by Howlingatthemoon on 2008-03-15 13:56:09
I know Marvel mostly because of video games!
It's funny that you talk about this...
Because the main reason why i'm a Marvel fan... it's because of my passion of video games!
I remember seeing the NES cartridge: Wolverine! I thought: "Wow, that guy looks really cool. Who is he?" So I learned that he was a hero in a Marvel comic book... and that's how I became a Wolverine addict! :)
That's how I got aware of the X-men and some other heroes (Silver Surfer, I think... and a little of Spider-Man). I knew who Spider-Man was and where he came from.
But I discovered some Marvel heroes from games.
I still have fond memories of Captain America and the Avengers on the SNES! This is where I got to know about Iron Man and The Vision! My favorite was Vision... and that's how I became a fan of the character! Funny, isn't it?
Oh yeah, X-men the Arcade game is probably the greatest arcade game or Marvel game of all time.
Yes it's still a blast.
I (and MANY other people) want this game on Xbox Live arcade!!

So games pretty much got me into comics.
Especially a Marvel fan. :)

Posted by Venin on 2008-03-16 00:44:19
The cartoons and videogames were all the expo
...when you grow up in Hazard, KY with zero access to a comic book store, and the only ones you can grab are the random and always late issues of Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America the local Winn-Dixie would put out on the magazine rack...

I think I would have a conniption if they put the X-Men arcade game on Xbox Live; It's been a goal of mine to add the arcade cabinet to my collection, but Xbox Live would do nice to tide me over!

Posted by shibadou on 2008-03-16 07:32:02
It started with the games, then the comics!
For me it started with The Amazing Spider-Man on Game Boy, and from there, I've been seeking out Marvel games, and eventually started reading the comics. Spider-Man 2 for Game Boy and Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge for SNES got me interested in who this Carnage character was. Spider-Man on the NES got me pumped to follow the exploits of the Sinister Six. If a Marvel game is good, it will draw fans of the characters, but if the games are really great, fans eager for more may well check out the comics they are based on. That's what happened to me!


Posted by mrk1976 on 2008-03-16 14:02:04
did anyone ever beat the old X-men game?
I spent many a weekend and late night trying to beat that terrible game. I remember being very frustrated! Did it even have an ending?!

Posted by jhnshft on 2008-03-16 21:54:10
X-MEN game ending
Yeah, it DID have an ending.

But to get to it, you had to unlock the last stage with a special code that was printed (INCORRECTLY) on the front of the cartridge, as I recall. I only found out much later in life about this, and never mustered the strength to go back and try it. The accurate code and the place to enter it is out there somewhere on the net if you're curious.

God that game was terrible. And yet, because of the X-Men, I was addicted.


Posted by Gentleman Jack on 2008-03-16 23:09:45
You'd better believe...
...that we're not done making fun of the X-Men NES game. Also, jhnshft and Gentleman Jack... you might wanna check this out...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-UjCb1DTeeA

Posted by Marvel_Interactive on 2008-03-16 23:24:34
X-Men Arcade
The X-Men arcade game (6 player dual/widescreen setup) was what got me into X-Men and Marvel! It was a fantastic game, though in retrospect only about half the characters used special powers that actually made sense. Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Wolverine all had abilities similar to their comic counterparts, but made more offensive and pretty weird when you think about it. Anyway, the characters were so unique and interesting it got me into trading cards, then the comics to find out more.

Posted by DanMan on 2008-03-18 13:15:03
dating myself but...
...my first Marvel video game was Spider-Man and Captain America meet Dr. Doom for DOS (that's Disk Operating System for you kids). That game was fun! It was great to see all of these villains animated and moving around (this was before voice acting....still had to read the comic panels). What did I learn?? Not a whole lot to be honest...

Posted by JBHammer on 2008-03-19 15:47:58
Hey Marvel_interactive
I have one question for you: Do you have a forum account on the Marvel Boards?



Posted by Aziroth on 2008-03-19 16:14:04
Atari Spider-Man
I think I was vaguely aware it was the first Marvel game. Though I would have guessed there'd be some awkward Commodore thing that I had never seen. But good to know!

Yeah, it's odd to imagine calling up a magazine these days to ask how to beat something. I think a lot of their answers were probably "just do it, and try not to get killed." I sort of remember the guy being sort of floored by me asking and giving me a little bit of a: "why in the world are you calling?" vibe.

Oh, and I DO remember that NES Batman game. It was pretty rad and probably one of the first darker themed games. I seem to remember a lot of difficult things to get through in that game. Then again, almost all the side-scrolling NES games had moments that were frustrating and challenging, especially since you had to play through the whole game to get back to the part.

Speaking of...I absolutely loved the SNES Maximum Carnage game! The blood red cartridge was the coolest part.

Posted by PseudoSherlock on 2008-03-20 06:42:22
X-Men Legends and MUA trivia portions taught me all about the lore i didn't know that i then had to read about via comics

Posted by Perplexor on 2008-03-20 14:29:48
Avengers Arcade
At lest that`s the oldest game I remember played in mychildhood, using Captain America was soo cool, and here in Mexico we dont have much Marvel Arcades,then when I got my SNES I play ed Separation Anxiety the game from that storyline from Spiderman,and I almost did`nt because Venom`s face in the cover was soo terryfylling to me, I was little, and then I played with Venom and I like it, his nutcraking punches, he had the same powers like Spiderman, was soo cool!!!Then I got Maximum Carnage and that was worst I hate the Doppelganger scream and the I meet Catnage, was like Venom but more horrible, and the first charachter I liked was Ghost Ryder, I didn`t now who he was but that chain was very cool!!!

Posted by Blodawn5 on 2008-03-21 20:10:50
arcade x-men
We used to have the old coin-op arcade x-men at the local chuck-e-cheeses. i was about 6 years old back then, and it blew my little mind. besides wolverine, my favorite character to play as was COLOSUS. when i was that young, i thought that colosus was 100% robot. c'mon i was only six. i haven't picked up a comic book and READ it until i was about eight. anyway, who didn't have a blast twirling the joy stick and mashing buttons on this awsome game? good times.

Posted by NinjaShred on 2008-04-19 17:22:14
Video games can teach?
Yes I have learned some things about the comic world through video games and it is great when it does happen. I did not start playing it marvel games on the atari but mostly when it was in the aracads with x-men and marvel vs capcom.
But these games seemed to peak my interest in comics not really teach me a lot, I think the cartoon series is where I really learned about Marvel and gained a love for Marvel. But it was my father who really got me into this when I was younger he would watch Saturday morning cartoons with me and we watched some old television shows of the Hulk, the live actions spider-man and than the older cartoons.
But it was when PS1 games started coming with Spider-man is when I feel the games really started taking you into the Marvel world, and they have only gained in this. Spider-man 3 really got you into the world of Spider-man and it has been fun. And all the new video games have been able to take the player into the world of Marvel more than anytime before.
And I hope it keeps it up because it is great to be able to actually play around in the marvel world, like the new Iron-man video game is just amazing how you really feel like you are Iron-man and takes into the world.

Posted by spidey0402 on 2008-05-06 09:52:12