I didn’t ever think I would ever have to offer this up as a reminder in 2025, but such is the time we live in: Nazis and fascists are not good, and we shouldn’t be living in constant fear of them coming back.

Controversial words, I know.

As we live day-to-day in a never ending “unprecedented time”, it makes you wish that Steve Rogers would offer up a rousing speech that would wake the world out of its apathy, or that Batman and Superman would uncover the smoking un to dethrone a president who’s not acting constitutionally. Sadly, we don’t live in a world of superheroes, leaving it up to ourselves to keep fighting no matter how hopeless it can feel sometimes.

Though comic book characters aren’t real, you can still pick up your favorite controller or device and stomp down Nazis where they stand in video games like the following starring them. As a proud Canadian, some of them even have ties to the country I call home.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: SUPER SOLDIER

Captain America: Super Soldier, released in 2011 as a tie-in to Captain America: The First Avenger, had three unique versions: One for the DS, another for the Wii which later got ported to the 3DS and the at–the–time next generation version for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The latter, developed by Canadian studio Next Level Games, is the best of the bunch and still stands as one the best titles released based on a Marvel property. No matter the flavor you choose though, you still get to punch some goose steppers.

Set in 1944, Captain America and the Invaders infiltrate a castle owned by Baron Zemo that HYDRA has taken over. The mountain surrounding the castle is rich with materials used to strengthen HYDRA’s forces and is rumored to be the home of a dangerous sleeping mechanical giant.

The armies you come up against in Super Soldier are never once referred to as Nazis, but make no mistake, HYDRA is and always has been a thinly veiled metaphor for the Third Reich. For those who have had controller time with Super Soldier, they know it’s Arkham themed combat pairs well with Captain America made all the better by the goons that fall prey to his serum enhanced fists.

Hopefully the upcoming Marvel 1943: Rise of HYDRA from Skydance New Media that sees Captain America paired with the Black Panther Azzuri will give the same thrills whenever it releases.

via Marvel Entertainment YouTube

JUSTICE LEAGE: CHRONICLES

The DC Animated Universe, or the DCAU for short, had numerous games inspired by its iconic art style and character designs. Justice League, and it’s excellent follow-up Justice League Unlimited, unfortunately never got a home console game of its very own, but the likes of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman did get to team-up in a pair of Game Boy Advance titles published by Midway.

One of them, Justice League: Chronicles, developed by Full Fat follows the structure of the first two seasons of Justice League wherein it’s broken down by chapters spotlighting certain characters. The finale is based on the Justice League season one finale “The Savage Time” and has you controlling Wonder Woman as well as Superman, a character co-created by a Canadian, who are sent back in time to prevent Vandal Savage from changing the outcome of the second World War.

Like Captain America: Super Soldier, the enemies in Justice League Chronicles are never called Nazis. As the levels are decorated with those haunting red banners and filled with enemies wearing similar colored armbands, there’s no mistaking the opposition for anything else. Justice League: Chronicles is far from a classic, but it still does an admirable job emulating the show it takes inspiration from. It’s worth giving some time to at the very least to control two-thirds of DC’s iconic Trinity as they prevent history from being rewritten for the worse.

SGT. ROCK: ON THE FRONTLINE

I like to think I know a thing or two about games based on comic books, but I didn’t even know this existed until sometime last year. Published by the defunct BAM! Entertainment and developed by Taito, Sgt Rock: On the Front Line is a reskin of Taito’s classic arcade game, well, Front Line.

If you’re unfamiliar with Taito’s coin-op history, On the Front Line can mostly be likened to Capcom’s Commando in that it’s an overhead, run-and-gun shooter where the player as the titular hero has to swiftly avoid bullets while delivering their own. As this is a reskin of another video game, the opposing force is devoid of any Nazi iconography so you have to use your imagination a little more than either of the other games discussed here.

Sgt. Rock is a character largely associated with comics set around World War II. Recently, most people know the character of Sgt. Rock from the third episode of Creature Commandos “Cheers to the Tin Man” centered around G. I Robot. In it you see a flashback to G. I’s teammates during World War II, which includes Sgt. Rock. Funnily enough, they’re also featured in “The Savage Time” though they do not cameo at all in Justice League: Chronicles.

As this was a late release on the Game Boy Color based on a license from a dissolved publisher, Sgt. Rock: On the Front Line is pricey on the secondary market. Given the daily news cycle, however, I may need to add this to my collection sooner rather than later and even stream it on twitch.