X-Men: The Arcade Game Retro Review

It's about time I review a real gem from the golden reign of arcade games, a game released in 1992 from the exemplary gaming company, Konami, which brought us masterpieces like Castlevania, Contra, several Batman games, and of course, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, which have been praised by many turtles fans all over the world. The game is X-Men: The Arcade game, the action-packed, side-scrolling beat em up game that has become a cult classic in many gamers' books, praised for it's unique gaming style, design, and story, which was very complex and suspenseful for a video game of it's time. Released several months before the debut of what would become one of the greatest animated series ever to grace the TV screen, X-Men: The Arcade Game was one the first times we would see the X-Men at their prime, the way they were in the comics, and showed what they were actually capable of with their UNCANNY abilities (no pun intended), a HUGE departure from the dreaded gameplay, design and feel of both NES X-Men games from LJN. The game had a lot to offer, and would be responsible for getting several people into the X-Men fandom, motivating them to further study the X-Men universe and read the comics, and would set the groundwork for several other X-Men games to follow, games spanning both the SNES and Sega Genesis like X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse and X-Men 2: Clone Wars. And I extraordinary love it. Sure it doesn't hold a candle by today's standards and the voice over acting in this game is enough to make someone barf in a toilet, but it is one of the greatest side-scrolling video games I have ever had the opportunity of playing, and even with other games in the same genre constantly getting the spotlight, I always find a special place for this game, for it was one of the first superhero games of it's kind, a kick-butt, crime fighting epic with swift controls, fluent gameplay, clashy, comic book like cutscenes and effects, and something that further increases the replay  value for me, unlimited continues. No game over screens, no try again screens, you can play until the very end, making this kinda like a motion picture or better yet, an awesome episode of the hit Fox Kids X-Men television series that puts you in control, and only you can decide which characters will take part in a certain mission and what specific methods and attacks will be used.



But before we begin the savor this tasteful piece of cake, we must first go into a little bit of back story, for there is always an intriguing back story for everything and explanation as to how something came about. In 1989, Marvel Productions and Toei Animation came together in attempts to produce an X-Men animated series, producing a pilot episode entitled X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. Narrated by Stan Lee and featuring some familiar voice actors like Frank Welker, the animated short was not met very well from a critical standpoint, fans saying it was too corny and campy, different from the X-Men we all know and love from the comics, who were often involved in more darker, adult oriented situations. So the people at Marvel started from scratch and began to develop what would become the critically acclaimed Fox Kids television series, which I hold at high regards for being one of the many things that got me into comic book literature. But even with the hype of the 1992 animated series soaring to an unreachable level, X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men was not entirely laid to waste. The animated style of the short and the designs of the characters and settings would inspire the overall look and feel of the X-Men arcade game, the X-Men characters in the game wearing the exact same costumes they were wearing in Pryde of the X-Men, and I think everyone will agree with me that this game has a lot of cheesy dialogue just like Pryde of the X-Men did. I also can't help but feel that the characters carry that Jack Kirby essence to them, their designs and appeal very reminiscent of Kirby's illustrations and designs, as well of the artwork of Jim Lee, who was well known for drawing the X-Men comics throughout the early 1990s. The style of the game is also very identical to the 90s TV show at times, the characters having this shadowy, darker look to them, particularly in cutscenes and action sequences. But enough talk about that matter, let's get into the game itself, because I can't stress enough how great of a game this is, and how much I recommend it to any hard-core X-Men guru, for their are characters for everyone to choose from and play as, and visuals that really add to the feel and nature of each level.

There are six X-Men the player can play as, the beam blasting Cyclops with his optic blasts, the claw slashing Wolverine with his adamantium claws of fury, the tin head Colossus with his ability to turn his flesh into pure metal, the blue skinned Nightcrawler with his teleporting ability, the Weather Witch Storm with her ability to control the weather, and the less popular Dazzler with the ability to turn sound vibrations into light and energy beams. The game is a one and a two player game, meaning you can play the game by yourself or play alongside a buddy to kick some metallic Sentinel rump. The controls of this game can be summed up in one word. FABULOUS! They are flawless, fluent, and easy to use, unlike the controls in previous X-Men games where the characters' attacks were as effective as a toothpick. You can easily move up and down the screen, move left and right, as well as punch, kick, and use special attacks on enemies, which in my eyes, come in handy any day. You can also do several combo moves which often is useful in taking out enemies that take quite a few more hits to destroy than other enemies. The mutant attacks are very destructive, and can wipe out all enemies in your path, however, they can take away three of your health points and when a character gets below four health points, they are unable to continue using their mutant abilities. Luckily, there are several power ups and bonus powers the player can retrieve along the way, and the player can store them away to use later, similar to the Golden Axe video game series. The powers are also very prudent when taking on the bosses of the game, for they can allow the boss to get weaker and eventually bite the dust. Some characters do better than others in some boss stages, for example, I find Wolverine very useful in the Juggernaut stage, for his claws give him great range when attacking and jumping, allowing him to hit the enemy precisely and efficiently, even though Juggernaut is carrying a ginormous bazooka. How excessive!

You will be put up against many enemies in this game, members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants such as Pyro, Blob, Juggernaut, the White Queen (Emma Frost), savage beasts like Wendigo and Nimrod, Nightcrawler's shapeshifting mama, Mystique, and the big man, the head honcho himself, Magneto, Master of....okay, now I'm getting ahead of myself. The bosses are pretty easy once you get the hang of it, although I have a slight gripe with Magneto, who gets quite annoying with his protective ray shields and destructive cosmic blasts. Which brings me to many aspects of the game that really make my blood boil. Just because the gameplay is consistent and the controls are fluent doesn't mean that this game is entirely easy by any means. Oh no, there are some parts of the game that just wanna make you rip every piece of hair out of your head, trust me. As I stated before, some enemies take quite a few hits to bring to an end, particularly the multi-colored Sentinels and "Samus Arans" with over-sized sci-fi blasters. One thing I really don't get is why the Sentinels are the same size as the X-Men. In the comics and the 90s TV show, they were HUGE and it took quite a few X-Men to take out just one. But in this game, the X-Men can take out a whole herd of these mechanized freaks in no time, but hey, it's the video game universe, a lot of things don't make sense.A giant sized Sentinel eventually does make an appearance in this game, but it's only for a brief moment, the Sentinel shooting lasers from his eyes at the X-Men from a far distance. Another thing that really drives me cuckoo is the incoherent appearance of Mystique. At first you will be tricked into thinking she is Professor X, and then she will disguise herself as Magneto, and trick you into thinking it is the final battle of the game. When I first fought against Mystique disguised as Magneto and found out it was really Mystique at the end, I was really surprised and furious and ticked off that there was left one more battle in the entire game, and it was against the real Magneto, the real thing, no blue bimbo in disguise, this was the real Eric Lenscherr, magnetic powers and all. It's kinda like in Super Mario Bros when you get to the castle, beat the king koopa Bowser, and find out that Princess Peach is in another castle. What a rip off! Everybody knows how frustrating video games can be at times, and this could really add to the frustration of somebody who is playing the game for the first time, I know how it feels. And how could I do a review of Konami's X-Men and not mention the goofy voice acting of the characters of this game. I'm sure everybody's up there with me when I say that the voices are cute and funny at first, but after listening to them 700,000 times, they just wanna make you stick a banana up your ear like Ernie did on Sesame Street. The voices, though catchy and iconic, can get quite annoying at times, especially when fighting enemies and getting hit by enemies, for characters might scream or make a slight grunting noise. But one of the prominent reasons why this game is so iconic is because of some of the quotes spoken by the characters in this game, let's have a look at some, shall we?

X-MEN, WELCOME TO DIE! 


NOTHING MOVES THE BLOB! 


I AM MAGNETO, MASTER OF MAGNET! 


 GO AND SAVE THE CITY! 


X-CHICKEN! 


GO AND RESCUE KITTY FROM THE CAVE! 


HA! HA! HA! Every time I hear those lines, I burst out laughing. And Magneto's laugh heard in some parts of the game is quite funny as well, but the voices in this game are hands down some of the most repetitive, most redundant sounds ever to be put into a video game. It can really make putting a boss out of his misery a piece of work, you might wanna put in a pair of earplugs. But even with minor complaints like that, it still doesn't bring down the glory of this game. This game is visually stunning, and the attention to detail really makes this a piece of art, for if you look closely into the backgrounds of each stage, you can see things moving or things emerging to the surface, particularly in the Sentinel factory stage and the Island stage. And the final battle with Magneto puts you into a room with a huge window, showing the entire city of Asteroid M below, really adding to the depth and realism of the game, even though it is a 2-dimensional side scrolling game based off the renowned X-Men series. There are times where the game goes for a more 3-D like appeal, for the characters and platforms move in a certain manner or position, and really make the game feel more vibrant and eye popping in many ways, for it is a great departure from the standard 2-D action and movement. This game is also quite colorful, like the comics, like the 90s TV show, and each character is easily recognizable in their costumes and clad, featuring many characteristics that differentiate them from one another, allowing each person that plays the game to have a personal favorite or character they like to play as. My favorites are Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Colossus, for they have swift, agile abilities that really take the cake in sending enemies to kingdom come and fighting some of the hardest bosses in video game history. The other characters are great as well, and you can really find certain areas of the game where all characters are useful in either taking out enemies or getting from one area to the next. The same thing applies with X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, for you will often find certain areas of the game where a certain X-Man is needed to get through each obstacle swiftly and without any harm.

These are the essential things that make up for a groundbreaking video game, and Konami's X-Men arcade game meets up to these things perfectly. Sure it is similar to what Konami did with the Spider-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade games, but it has a that retro X-Men feeling to it that no other X-Men game could topple. The controls are great and really make defeating enemies much easier than what it was in previous X-Men games, and the style, the tone, and the overall look of the game really makes this a sight to behold. This is truly one of the greatest X-Men games ever to grace the face of the Earth, and you shouldn't hesitate one bit to play this awesome Marvel masterpiece that is one of the glowing marks of the entire 90s. It really shows the X-Men the way they were meant to be seen, what they are able to do and what they want to do to save the day, what they want to do to stop Magneto and his evil forces who want to vandalize society and all those who oppose mutant kind. I guess the only other thing I should say about X-Men: The Arcade Game is THE MUSIC IS EXCELLENT, CHARMING, HARMONIOUS, BRILLIANT, PURE ARCADE MUSIC GOODNESS! The music of this game is one of the best soundtracks to any arcade I have ever heard, and every time the tunes of this game grace the inners of my ear, I immediately know what game the tunes come from. From the opening title sequence to the very end credits, the soundtrack of this game is very, well, shall we say, "X-Meny", very appropriate for one of the best superhero video games ever to hit the arcades. Find the nearest arcade in town, download the game to a CD-ROM, download it to your X-Box or PS3, I heard that version allows up to six players! Do something, because this is a X-Men game all will enjoy, comic bookers and video gamers alike. You will surely not be bored!