PixlBit

An exciting brawler that combines X-Men, Mega Man, and Street Fighter

X-men was at the height of popularity in the 90s. Anyone remember the X-men cartoon? It was awesome! This fantastic action game was released in 1994 exclusively for the Super NES. It was developed and published by Capcom, a company that dominated the first two Nintendo consoles with some of the best games around. What's so great about this game? It combines X-men, Mega Man, and Street Fighter.

For the X-men side, the game includes five playable characters: Wolverine, Beast, Cyclops, Psylocke, and Gambit. Each character has a different moveset and style, and can perform certain functions (more on that later). On the Mega Man front, you can choose in which order to play the first five levels; each x-man has a specific mission at a specific place. And on the Street Fighter side, the characters have special moves and powers that can be unleashed with specific button combinations; for instance, right right B will cause Gambit to throw an exploding card (you can actually throw it in any direction). When enemies are hit, the blows sound sharp and satisfying, and the sprites are detailed beautifully just like Street Fighter.

So let's get into the game, shall we? Mission Mode will allow you to choose which character's level to play first. The level locations are pretty cool. Gambit's level is a base on the waterfront; Psylocke's level is a base at some kind of construction site; Cyclops' level is a jungle base; Wolverine's level is a sentinel factory; and Beast's level is a sewers base. The level design is pretty bland, but the overall presentation makes up for it. No interesting platforming, but pummeling the enemies is a delight. The best part about the levels is that they are specifically designed for the characters. In Wolverine's level, he will have to move up and up to get to the end; in order to do this, he sticks his claws in the wall and climbs. Beast can hang from the ceiling with his feet, and this is implemented in his level.

                                    Psylocke knows how to kick butt!

Each character moves with a different speed and attacks with a different style. Pressing over over attack or up up attack will cause fast attacks or dashes. Gambit and Cyclops can perform special power attacks; I mentioned earlier that Gambit can throw cards and Cyclops can shoot blasts from his eyes! Wolverine has the fastest attack, Psylocke has the most techniques, and Gambit attacks with his bo (which is an awesome and effective weapon!). Once again, the sound of pummeling your enemies is very satisfying.

The bosses in the game are not difficult, and they have simple patterns that you can master quickly. When your character is hit, he will spazz for a second, which can be frustrating because it can lead to several more hits until he falls down. The game uses a password system, and is not long at all. The game is also not very hard, and there is no difficulty setting.

After the first five levels, you will move on to a level which you can play through with any character. I found Wolverine to be the best choice for most levels because he has the fastest attack. Beast is probably the worst character to use because he is very slow. Level six has you fighting broods, gross insect creatures which were annoying because they would jump at you and knock you down. The next level had you facing Tusk. After that is probably the most interesting level, in which you must run from a deadly mudslide that is coming fast upon you. At the end of this level, you face Apocalypse (who is pretty pathetic). After this you fight Omega Red and Juggernaut in true fighting style; these are quick boss fights that are not very long or hard. Finally, you reach the final level. The cool thing here is that the level is different for each character, but the end is the same: you fight Magneto.Throughout the last level, two dudes will appear and vanish that shoot fireballs at you, and these guys were so annoying! You also face Exodus half-way through the level, and the boss fight is different for each character.

                               It's good to see Gambit get some love

Magneto is actually a pretty lame final boss. All he does is fly back and forth, summon concrete to throw at you, and occasionally throw some kind of magnetic field at you. This fight is slow and repetitive, a real downer considering the game has been so intense up to this point. And who knew that Magneto could be so easily beaten by sheer brute force? After Magneto is defeated, the character you used will say something. So the challenge here is to beat the game with all five characters to see what each one has to say. That's some incentive, right?

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

Overall, this game is a ton of fun. Great characters, beat 'em up action is solid, awesome music, plenty of X-men villains, and fantastic graphics makes this game the best X-men game on the Super NES. The biggest problem is the fact that it is not two player; how awesome would it be to have Wolverine and Gambit on screen at the same time fighting together? A difficulty setting would have also been a bonus. However, what this game lacks in gameplay is made up for in overall style and presentation. This is a very awesome and fun game to play, and you should give it a try if you enjoy beat 'em up games. Also, Psylocke is so hot, and that's a bonus!

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