The Best X-Men Games No One Played

4. Discovering A Whole New World

The first X-Men title in Raven's series arrived in 2004, a year after X2 and X-Men: Evolution's final episode. Marvel's mutants continued to rule the airwaves however, and Legends was poised to fill the gap perfectly between the franchise's bigger outings. Turns out it'd also do a whole lot more than that though, with Raven using the game as an excuse to dive deep into the comic's mythology, and provide a comprehensive education in the process.

I encountered Legends at the same time I was starting to get into comics more seriously - or as seriously as you can when you're an eight year-old in the UK. They were huge, and boasted an appeal most other properties didn't, and yet the X-Men still proved elusive, boasting a scarily detailed continuity that can prove off-putting to even the most seasoned comic book fans. Fortunately the game bore that in mind when it came to its story, setting itself in a world inspired by the comics that included a complete look into their entire history, and was told from the perspective of a new student.

Magma, portrayed by veteran voice actor Cree Summer, is that student. Players explore the X-Mansion from her perspective, and are thus able to conduct conversations with various X-Men who can then basically dump exposition in an organic way. It feels more natural that way, and as Magma grows more familiar with the X-Men, so too does the player.

It's such a clever touch, and Legends' many nods to the comics certainly helps. Players can bide their time trying out trivia, playing flashback missions and talking to other X-Men in the mansion. Factor in the huge roster of playable and non-playable characters, and it's fair to say you could do a lot worse as far as introductions are concerned.

Most adaptations of comic book source material can never really delve in as deep as they want to with a given property, but both Legends games worked as enjoyable RPGs and as a resource for fans to really explore the nooks and crannies of the X-Men's world; the stories touched upon classic arcs involving seminal heroes and villains from Marvel's library, while trivia games and different flashback stories fleshed out their decades-long history.

Comic book games never really dove this deep with their exposition, but Legends made it enjoyable and accessible - something no one ever tends to really dwell on.