Super Hero
I think Super Hero games are generally quite disappointing, never really exploiting the potential of the comic book genre.
First of all this game could easily feature a set of famous super heroes (Watchmen, Fantastic Four etc) and maybe even an entire universe of characters (Marvel, DC etc.) But it would also allow you to design your own super hero, down to the colour of his/her pants. You could choose powers, abilities and flaws as part of your character. Then you could start fighting crime, improving your abilities and making a name for yourself. If the game was fully licensed, you could even apply to join the X-Men or the Avengers or whoever a bit like the skating auditions in Jet Set Radio. And in a darker turn, maybe your super hero could be approached by baddies as well, thus turning the game into a tale of world domination!
The basic format of the game would be structured in such a way that you can choose where to go, and which crimes to fight. You start off at your headquarters, which you can decorate in a similar way to Animal Crossing; you can add different machines that will help you in your endeavours; perhaps you could install a healing machine, or a mass panic detecting machine etc. You can buy these from scientists that you help (or kill) and you can also recover them from people who you’ve helped (or killed.)
At the start of the game, your hero will only be powerful enough to fight criminals who don’t really have any powers; as you progress you will be able to start tackling more challenging foes. You have to make the judgment what constitutes a criminal: maybe you think Batman is actually a terrorist; maybe you think the Punisher is just too dangerous to have on the streets. Maybe you think Dr. Doom is just a misunderstood eccentric. The game will react to your decisions, and other super heroes will have opinions based upon your actions.
The crimes that you choose to fight might be ‘one-offs,’ or constitute more sinister plans made by the bad (or the good) You might discover that a whole bunch of crimes are actually linked and are the basis of Magneto’s plans to build a giant robot (?!?) If you choose to be a bad guy, you will be given options on what heinous crimes to commit.
The game could also feature multi-player action. You could form your own team of super heroes, or rival teams, or just go it alone. This would fit in with a wider story so it wouldn’t just be a four player death match; there would actually be a story based around your actions. The ultimate end of the game would to have an on-line multi-player, where a city is populated by hundreds of different player defined heroes all fighting for, or against, each other!
