Comic book characters have often come to life on the big screen in very successful adaptations. However, turning comic book stories into video games often ends in disaster.

You'd think the formula would be so simple: Take a successful and long-running comic book series, pitch a video game using the likeness of the characters and possibly the story, and then package a game and sell it to millions of people with amazing results.  Unfortunately, the formula has never really been written for turning successful comic book concepts into stellar games.  In fact, most of the comic book video games have downright sucked!

And the big problem with this is that many people have had to find out how bad these games were firsthand through actually purchasing or renting them.  There's been no pattern to which games have turned out to be absolutely awful either as it's been anything from action/adventure games to one-on-one fighting atrocities.  This is one big reason why people are so skeptical about the new Mortal Kombat vs. DC and Incredible Hulk games that will be hitting the shelves soon.  Why waste money on what could possibly be more of the same?

Many people who've wasted money on bad comic book games have sometimes pondered what makes them so cheesy and poorly designed.  Well one of the main reasons is that most comic book games lose what originally made them so good in the first place when they are put into a video game.  Much of the story and character backgrounds are shoved to the side in favor of gameplay and graphics.  

Sometimes the games have virtually nothing to do with their supposed comic book origins and are just an excuse to repackage a previous game design.  Probably one of the best examples I can think of with this is when the Nintendo 64 came out with what might possibly be the worst ever comic book video game in Superman (64).  The game was quite similar to Star Fox except for the fact that it was horrible and you were Superman flying around instead of in a ship.

But the list of games and reasons for why these adaptations are so bad extends far beyond just Superman 64 and lazily designed games.  Even those that do attempt to accurately portray a comic book story with the original characters in tact have failed in front of both critics and gamers bringing us to another problem with these comic book video games.  You can't please everyone!

Some of the people who play video games base much of their playing experience on the moments when their favorite comic book characters will be released onto consoles.  And when the games aren't adapted with true authenticity towards the comics, these hardcore fans label them a disappointment.  On the other side of the coin are the casual gamers who are attracted to popular games and big releases.  Most of the time these players just want something that plays smooth and has good action.  But when a design team tries too hard to cater to both groups, they can fall flat on their face trying to appease the two crowds.

Perhaps the biggest problem of all though is that comic book video games are just as susceptible to failure as anything else in the industry.  They often get more attention than the average release but it can be a hit or miss process just like every other type of game title put out on the market.  For those of you looking to get a game either get the Incredible Hulk or Mortal Kombat vs. DC.